Emotions are powerful. They can influence our decisions, actions, and behaviors. They can also make us loyal to a brand, product, or service. As a marketer, you want to use emotions in your content to connect with your audience and persuade them to take action. But how do you do that? How do you write marketing content that generates emotions? Below are some tips and techniques for writing emotional marketing content that will engage your audience. 1. Know your audience and their emotional triggers One of the first steps in writing emotional marketing content is to know your audience and their emotional triggers. You need to understand who they are, what they want, what they need, what they fear, what they value, and what motivates them. You also need to know what emotions they associate with your brand. To know your audience and their emotional triggers, you need to do some research and analysis. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, social media listening, etc. to gather data and insights about your audience. You can also create buyer personas that represent your ideal customers and their characteristics. Once you know your audience and their emotional triggers, you can tailor your content to appeal to those emotions. You can use words, images, stories, testimonials that resonate with your audience and make them feel something, leading them to action. 2. Choose the right emotion for your goal Another step in writing emotional marketing content is to choose the right emotion for your goal. Different emotions have different effects on your audience and their behavior. For example: Happiness: Happiness is a positive emotion that makes people feel good and optimistic. It can also make people more likely to share your content with others and spread positive word-of-mouth. Fear: Fear is a negative emotion that makes people feel anxious and insecure. It can also make people more likely to take action to avoid or prevent a negative outcome. Anger: Anger is a negative emotion that makes people feel frustrated and outraged. It can also make people more likely to challenge or confront a problem or an injustice. Sadness: Sadness is a negative emotion that makes people feel depressed and hopeless. It can also make people more likely to empathize with others and seek comfort or support. Surprise: Surprise is a neutral emotion that makes people feel curious and intrigued. It can also make people more likely to pay attention to your content and remember it. To choose the right emotion for your goal, you need to consider the purpose of your content and the desired action you want your audience to take.
If you want your audience to buy your product or service, you might use happiness to show them how it will improve their lives or fear to show them what they will miss out on if they don't.
If you want your audience to sign up for your newsletter or course, you might use surprise to pique their interest or anger to show them how they can overcome a challenge or injustice.
If you want your audience to donate money or time to your cause, you might use sadness to show them the problem or the need or happiness to show them the impact or the reward.
3. Use power and sensory words
Another tip for writing emotional marketing content is to use power and sensory words. Power words are words that trigger an emotional or psychological response in your audience. They can make your content more persuasive, impactful, and memorable. Sensory words are words that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. They can make your content more vivid, immersive, and engaging.
To use power and sensory words in your emotional marketing content, you need to:
Use active voice: Active voice is when the subject of a sentence performs the action. It makes your content more direct, clear, and energetic. For example: "Our product helps you save money" (active) vs. "Money can be saved by using our product" (passive).
Avoid weak adverbs: Weak adverbs are words that modify verbs but don't add much meaning or emotion. They can weaken your content and dilute your message. For example: "She ran very fast" (weak) vs. "She sprinted" (strong).
Add descriptive adjectives: Descriptive adjectives are words that modify nouns and give more information or emotion. They can enhance your content and make it more appealing. For example: "A car" (boring) vs. "A sleek red car" (interesting).
Pinch the information with sensory details: Sensory details are words that describe how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels. They can enrich your content and make it more sensory and emotional. For example: "A cake" (plain) vs. "A moist chocolate cake with creamy frosting" (delicious).
4. Test and optimize your content
The last step in writing emotional marketing content is to test and optimize your content. You need to measure how your content performs and how it affects your audience's emotions and actions. You also need to experiment with different elements and variables to find out what works best for your goals.
To test and optimize your emotional marketing content, you should:
Define your metrics: Metrics are the indicators that measure the success of your content. They can be quantitative (such as views, clicks, conversions, etc.) or qualitative (such as feedback, comments, reviews, etc.). You need to choose the metrics that align with your goals and track them over time.
Use tools and methods: Tools and methods are the ways you collect and analyze data from your content. They can be online (such as analytics platforms, surveys, heatmaps, etc.) or offline (such as interviews, focus groups).
Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/1/2023 (1) 5 Emotional Writing Tactics to Consider in Content Marketing. https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/emotional-writing-tactics/. (2) 13 Examples Of Effective Emotional Marketing (And What Your ... - Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2019/12/04/13-examples-of-effective-emotional-marketing-and-what-your-business-can-learn-from-them/. (3) Emotional Marketing: A Guide (Plus 8 Key Strategies) - Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/emotional-marketing. (4) The five most important emotions in B2B marketing today - LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/content-marketing/the-five-most-important-emotions-in-b2b-marketing-today. (5) 244 Insanely Powerful Words That Sell in Emotional Marketing. https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/words-that-sell.