We tend to think of ourselves as rational, logical creatures. After all, it was out intellect that created so many of the great advances in our world. Even our schooling teaches us to use logic to solve problems and arguments.
However, in all of those advances our intellectual curiosity was driven by fundamental human emotions.
Now, Spock may have an argument with me but humans tend to buy with their hearts and emotions. We use our minds to justify what we want to do emotionally.
In fact, the most famous brands in the world leverage emotion in ther marketing:
Apple - sexy, stylish and hip
Harley-Davidson - independent, powerful and free
Nike - achievement, success and strength
Now, as important as the quality of your service (or the listing you just put on the market) is to your success, it’s your ability to engage the emotions of your market that will really open the financial floodgates.
If you want to persuade someone to enter your sales funnel or to increase the appeal of your listings, the quickest and surest way to do it is to appeal to their emotions.
It’s the emotional part of the brain that says “I want that.” The logical side then responds with a yes or no. But, if the original emotional appeal isn’t there, the logical part never gets a chance to chime in.
So, if your marketing materials and presentation lead with features and/or your own credentials, you’ve lost the battle before it’s even begun.
Benefits appeal to Emotions
Features appeal to Logic
Logic validates Emotions, Emotions drive Sales
This extends beyond the benefits and features comparisons of selling 101. This is the psychological side of selling.
Let’s take a look at some postcard marketing examples (mailed to a targeted list, of course.) Go ahead and take off your marketing cap and put on your consumer hat.
Which postcard message would most likely inspire you to act?
Example A
“Want to find your dream home? Search national and local listings at www.AgentXYZ.com”
Example B
“Discover how real estate professionals buy and sell their homes with a powerful free tool now available to you at www.AgentXYZ.com”
In the first example, it’s pretty easy for the reader to say “No, I don’t want to find my dream home” and toss the postcard.
The second example packs more emotional punch. Let’s break it down:
- Curiosity and need for knowledge is aroused by the word “discover”
- Trust is stimulated since this is the tool expert “real estate professionals” use
- Greed is satisfied by the fact that this new tool is free
There’s more psychological pop and more emotions triggered in the second example making it more difficult for the logical side of the brain to say no. A non-interested person receiving this postcard may even check out the offer, simply because of the emotional appeal.
The two most basic emotions hard-wired into us humans are: avoid pain and maximize pleasure.
However, through social and technological advancement we’re now free to expand on our “must have” emotions to include:
- Security - the need to feel safe
- Adventure - the need for excitement and a “rush”
- Freedom - the need for independence
- Exchange - the need to contribute and share
- Power - the need to be an authority
- Expansion - the need to build and grow
- Acceptance - the need to belong
- Community - the need to be around others like us
- Self-Expression - the need to reveal our individuality
- and others
If your marketing can demonstrate that you (or your listing) can meet any of these basic needs - or better yet, satisfy several of these needs - then you’ll be able to attract more clients and sell more homes easier and more profitably than hyping features all day long.
Now, some folks view emotion based marketing as negatively manipulative and that a simple features and benefits approach is the way to go. What do you think?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Mark, just like Seth Godin pointed out to us last week, marketers create unhappieness.
The emotional appeal to get people disenchanted with their own home is what starts the engine.
Consider this: Who are the world's best home marketers?
Easy: Home builders!
What is their primary method of engaging eye balls and luring people into their ads?
Beautiful people looking happy!
Many of the ads don't feature the homes but the “shiny, happy people”
Emotional appeal first.
Then, perhaps they'll add a logical appeal as a 2nd or 3rd punch (”reduced price” or “no closing fees”)
Good stuff though Mark, I even cut/copied a part to text msg remind myself once a month to help me keep my marketing on the E-appeal (so hard for numbers minded guys like me!)
yeah, builders definitely try to hit emotions… they know they can't simply sell a home, they have to sell a vision.
i was watching a BMW commercial the other day (they do a fantastic job tying emotions into their ads.) same thing… they created a vision full of emotional appeal without saying squat about the features of the car.
however, i don't think they're necessarily trying to create disenchantment with current products (homes, cars, whatever)… i think, for the most part, that's already present in a person's mind to some degree.
as people, we tend to have a “grass is greener on the other side” point-of-view of things (”i could of, i should of”) that comes from the fact we're emotional creatures and, i don't care who you are, you've probably got low self-esteem somewhere in your life.
this isn't the fault of marketers. it's simply how we're hardwired (and why the self-help yahoos make bank).
i believe it's copywriter john carlton who sits down and imagines that he's writing to some fat lazy slob, sitting in a reclining chair, glued to the football game with a six-pack, potato chip bag and remote control at his fingertips.
why does he write to this person? because that person, no matter how many facts and figures you throw at him, he is not going to move out of his chair. probably won't even listen.
to make this guy move you have to appeal to him at an emotional level he understands… like telling him the cast of “Girls Next Door” are giving away free Harley-Davidson's right outside his door. he'll move for that.
now, i realize this could be read as a rather bleak outlook on humanity but it's not… emotions are our driving force. they are how we seek to connect with people. my friends aren't my friends because they were a logical decision… but because of some emotional connection we made.
frankly, it's how we really think (in emotions). think back to when you were a kid and the first time you rode a roller coaster… you remember the fear and exhiliration more than the number of seats the car had.
people seek out emotional connections… whether it be to other people, or to products. and marketers try to create those connections.
for marketers, emotions are a direct path of least resistance to another person's “get up and go.”
now, there are definitly unethical businesses out there that promise the moon but deliver cheese… that ain't cool and i hope they keel over and die. that's my emotions talking
wow… i've really wandered on this comment so let me bring it all back around.
emotions transcend anything we could ever hope to describe in language and figures. if you're leaving emotion out of your marketing then you're performing at 1/100th of what you could really be doing.