Introduction to Emotional Marketing for Customer Relationships

We all have emotions. We've laughed, cried, and felt fear, concern and surprise. It's a major way that humans connect. But what if your brand could do the same thing? Emotional marketing is connecting with customers through feelings to build stronger relationships. The theory is that emotions, rather than rational arguments, can influence customer behavior. And this can be a key tool for your business, as it helps create an emotional bond between your customers and your brand — one that keeps them loyal and buying from you repeatedly.

Emotional marketing is based on the concept of “customer-centricity," which is the idea that a company should be focused on its customers’ needs and wants. Understanding your customers' mindsets and behaviors allows you to develop marketing campaigns and strategies that tap into their emotions and create a positive customer experience.

Of course, the success of any emotional marketing strategy depends on identifying the right triggers and tools to create an emotional connection. There are many different approaches to doing this, but here we'll discuss six ways to make emotional marketing work for your business.

Telling Strong Stories

Everyone enjoys a story — being whisked away to another place or time, following characters we can sympathize with and relate to. Stories can evoke emotions like happiness, sadness or even anger. As a brand, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools for establishing an emotional connection with customers. Stories help them relate to your brand personally, providing a window into your values and mission. For instance, a story can highlight how and why the founder of a business chose to create its flagship product and the challenges overcome along the way.

To effectively use storytelling as a marketer, you must tell relevant stories to your target audience. Understanding your target customers' needs, wants and values are critical. Once you do that, you can create stories that will grab customers' attention, stir their emotions, and not let go.

Personalizing Your Customer Experience

Personalization involves creating a unique experience for each customer by understanding their needs and desires. This could involve offering personalized discounts, emails, or product recommendations. Personalization helps customers feel valued and appreciated, creates a deeper bond with your customers, and increases their loyalty to you.

Making an Emotional Appeal

An emotional appeal involves using words, images, videos and other content to evoke happiness, nostalgia or excitement. Brands use emotional appeal in their advertising and branding initiatives to create a strong emotional connection with customers. Many use heartwarming stories in their advertising campaigns. For example, a dog food brand might feature a pet owner and a puppy they adopted, evoking feelings of love, happiness and caring that customers will associate with that brand.

Building Trust

Trust is essential for creating a strong emotional connection with customers. Your customers need to trust that your brand is reliable for them to form an emotional bond. Focus on being authentic and transparent about what the brand stands for, what services or products it provides, and how customers can contact you.

Creating Empathy

Empathy involves understanding customers’ needs, wants and feelings, and then responding to them with understanding and care. It's an important part of customer service, as it helps create a sense of trust and connection. You can create a stronger emotional bond by understanding customers’ needs and responding compassionately.

Measuring Impact

To measure the impact of emotional marketing, track your customer behaviors, such as purchases, loyalty and engagement. This way, you can determine your emotional marketing campaigns' effectiveness and make adjustments if necessary. Tracking also allows you to better understand how customers feel about your products and services, allowing you to improve the customer experience and build stronger emotional connections.

Using the right triggers and tools, you can create emotional connections with customers to strengthen your bonds and ensure they choose your brand.

Mike Szczesny is the owner and vice president of EDCO Awards & Specialties, an awards company that is a dedicated supplier of employee recognition products, branded merchandise, and athletic awards.