Advertising is everywhere. The rapid digital transformation of our world has created an almost infinite number of opportunities for tech savvy marketers. On our phones, on public transport, on the radio and in every magazine, adverts are unavoidable.
How then do you make sure that your adverts get noticed? Many marketers have found that prompting an emotional response is the most surefire way to stick in a customer’s mind. Getting remembered builds an awareness of your brand so that next time they see one of your adverts or products, it will connect to a wider emotional story.
In this article we’ll explain what emotional marketing is, and why video is the best medium to use for it.
Emotional marketing
Emotional marketing. Essentially it does what it says on the tin: uses emotion as a key part of a marketing campaign. As much as we like to think we are rational creatures, studies show that it is usually emotions that make our biggest decisions.
Here are a handful of statistics that show just how powerful emotion can be as a marketing tool:
- Customers who develop an emotional relationship with a brand will have a lifetime value up to 306% more than those who don’t.
- An MRI study found that someone’s emotional response to an advert had a bigger impact than the advert’s actual content.
- Emotional advertising content performs almost twice as well as purely ‘rational’ content in terms of boosting profits.
It should be fairly clear to see that using emotion in your marketing strategy has a multitude of advantages. But what kind of emotion should you evoke in those adverts? And what are the best ways of getting that response?
Why video is vital
If emotional marketing is your focus then video advertising is the way to go. Video is both visually engaging and allows you to include music or dialogue. Music plays a huge role in prompting a specific emotion. Just think about any iconic movie soundtrack! Visuals can get the content across, sure, but it’s usually the music that tells us what we ‘should’ feel.
Okay so that’s the mushy heartfelt stuff out of the way. Why is video so great from a business perspective?
It boosts your SEO
Anytime you learn SEO, you’ll find that websites with video content get put to the top of search engine results pages and are far more likely to be clicked on. Google lists video results as ‘rich snippets’ which will get them grouped together with some of the best SEO proposal content out there.
The other reason video content is so popular with search engines is that it increases the length of the average visit to your site. This is another factor that ups your page’s ranking in search results.
Ask yourself honestly: when was the last time you went to page 2 of Google results? If you’re anything like me then that answer is almost never. Making good video content is a great way to get onto that all important first page!
Reduce bounce rate
Bounce rate tells you how many visitors leave your site after just one page view. Video content reduces bounce rate because, with a clever UX interface, people are encouraged to just watch another video straight after one ends.
This autoscroll or autoplay technology used by Facebook and Instagram are great examples of this. Everyone loves convenience – why search for a specific video when the algorithm can just provide an infinite stream of content tailored specifically to you?
The difference between bounce rate vs exit rate is also something you should consider. Exit rate is a statistic generated for each page on your site, whereas bounce rate is averaged across all of your content. Well made videos will reduce your bounce rate overall, but you can use exit rate analytics to see which ones are performing best.
Tears of joy or sadness?
Prompting a strong emotional response is the goal of your video content. However, the type of engagement you get from viewers will depend on which emotion you choose to focus on. It affect on the style of copywriting do you need to build.
For example, anger usually triggers the quickest reactions. Unfortunately on the internet that comes in the form of hate comments or hundreds of dislikes. Not really the response you’re aiming for!
Happiness, on the other hand, is what makes us share content. We want our friends and family to feel just as happy as we did watching it!
Sadness is a tricky emotion to get right. There is a perfect level where the advert pulls on heartstrings just enough to promote a call to action, but isn’t so distressing that the viewer immediately changes channel or closes their browser tab.
When done right, sadness can evoke a very sympathetic response from viewers. This is useful for bringing attention to an issue that your brand is passionate about.
Who is your target audience?
When deciding which emotion to go for, consider your customer base. Not everyone will respond to an advert in the same way. For example, a brand marketing towards new mothers might draw more on empathy, compassion, or nurturing. But a company that makes products for a mostly young male demographic might be better off evoking pride or a competitive streak.
This article is focused on emotional marketing and video adverts, but having a strong understanding of your customer base can provide useful information across the board. Everything from the colors you use, the language in your slogan, even your pricing strategies should be influenced by your customers.
Storytelling
The best stories have a clear beginning, middle and end, with some kind of emotional development along the way. Even the shortest of videos can hit all three of these points. This is why storytelling needs to be at the heart of your video advertising strategy.
Focus on an individual, or a single family. Viewers will find it much easier to connect with just a couple of ‘characters’, especially in a short time frame. You’ll also want them to be relatable, so look back at the target audience we mentioned previously.
Add a personal touch
Like we said at the beginning of this article, customers are surrounded by advertising almost every minute of every day. That means they can usually tell if a brand is being sincere or not. If your company wants the benefits of emotional marketing, it has to come from a place of authenticity.
Your employees and colleagues are the best people to consult on this topic. Everyone has a story. Have open-ended, collaborative meetings where everyone on the team shares which adverts they’ve connected to in the past. It might help to use a meeting notes app to keep track of all the ideas that come up in these brainstorming sessions.
Every colleague is also a consumer in one way or another, so it’s helpful to get their perspective from both sides of the table. By understanding your team you build a stronger brand personality and identity.
Types of video
Even within video there are so many different ways to tell a story. A conventional linear advert structure is great, but don’t be afraid to experiment with something new.
The interactive video is a format with huge potential. It lets prospective customers engage with content in a wholly new way, where they are active participants rather than passive viewers. Any emotional element to the story will then have even more weight for the viewer because they’ve been more involved.
Again, your team is one of the best resources at your disposal. Ask them which video styles have grabbed their attention recently. You could even encourage colleagues to bring in examples of these successful adverts on their own devices, just make sure to have a BYOD policy established first.
Distribution
Crafting a heartfelt, thought-provoking video is only the first step. Now you need to get it out there! This is where video marketing strategy comes in.
You will probably have certain platforms in mind when putting together the advert. Something over five minutes is good for YouTube, but you won’t want anything over 60 seconds for Instagram. On Instagram, you can apply micro-influencers strategy.
Different platforms will also have their own version of affiliate marketing programs. These programs are a fantastic way to connect with influencers in your industry and reach a much wider customer base. It can also add another layer of credibility and trust to your content, as you have the affiliate’s existing reputation to support your own.
Trust is just as important as the big emotions like happiness or sadness when it comes to subconsciously influencing a purchase. So don’t underestimate it!
Measuring success
Knowing when a video campaign is successful is the last step we’ll address in this article. Listening to customer responses and feedback is the only way you’ll truly be able to find out if your video campaign is triggering the right emotions.
This means training your team in top quality customer care. Optimize WFM tools so that any customers who get in touch receive the best possible customer service.
Besides direct customer responses you can also look at in-built analytics to see how the videos are performing.
