It's all about the feels

"People will soon forget what you said. They will never forget how you made them feel." - Dr Maya Angelou, Poet, Educator, and Historian

Introduction:

Have you ever had that feeling when you come across a website or walk into a store and you feel like you belong? It's like they understand you, you feel relaxed and sense a feeling of connection.

This is no accident. The reason you feel something about the brand is they have deliberately created a message that connects with you on an emotional level. It's not manipulation, it's psychology. And it's easier than you think to create this connection for your product or service. 

The benefit of doing this is clear, creating an emotional connection with customers leads to more sales. Interested? Read on...

Are you struggling to make sales despite having a great product or service? The problem may lie in your messaging. Scientific studies have shown that people make purchasing decisions based on emotions and then justify them with practical facts and figures. To be successful in sales, you need to create an emotional connection with your customers that ultimately compels them to buy from you. In this blog post, I will share with you some effective strategies to create emotional messaging that resonates with your target audience.

To do this, you would use language that resonates with the customer and appeals to their wants, needs, and values. Plus, you need to be clear in outlining the specific benefits they will receive when they purchase.

You also need to understand how their current position affects them – what are their problems around the area of your product or service? The pain-pleasure principle suggests we are all motivated to move away from pain and towards pleasure, and the avoidance of pain is typically the stronger motivating force.

To show you understand their current position, you can connect to the pain of their current situation. Using a combination of –

• Moving away from pain and,

• Moving toward pleasure.

For example, if you were a broadband service provider, you would –

• Highlight the pain and consequence of a slow connection, and then,

• Highlight how hassle-free and fun life would be when connected to your service.

Don’t be afraid of emphasising how bad life is without your solution. Making your customer feel the pain of not choosing your solution amplifies the pain avoidance motivation.

However, many business owners make this mistake – they fail to understand the true value of what they offer. Meaning, the value the customer places on the solution.

And if the business does understand its true value, many then fail to communicate this to its target audience.

How do you resolve this?

Just as you may have a range of products and services, the customer has a range of problems. By solving their problems in advance, and including this in your communication with the customer, you can increase their belief that in working with you, their problems will be solved.

STEP ONE – Identify the customer’s dream outcome.

For each product or service within your business, map out the customer’s dream outcome – what are they looking to achieve?

STEP TWO – List out all the customer’s perceived problems.

What’s preventing the customer from reaching their dream outcome? Look at the entire process of the customer, starting from where they are now to reaching their dream outcome and put together a list of their problems.

STEP THREE – Turn problems into solutions.

Working from your list of problems, flip each problem into a solution. You need to detail a solution to all their problems. Different customers will have different problems, and you don’t know which customer has which problem, therefore, you need to answer all their problems.

STEP FOUR – Look for ways to deliver solutions that are easier, faster, and more enjoyable, and put that into your messaging.

By working the solutions to the customer’s problems into your marketing, you can connect to them on an emotional level. In their eyes, you understand their problems – you are the answer to their problems. You are their solution!

Example –

Let’s look at a specific problem my customers might have in not generating enough sales – they are not sure how to position themselves against the competition.

My solution would be – “we’ll craft a powerful message to be used in all your areas of communication with the customer, which aligns with their problems and needs, showing exactly how you can help them. The result of this is the customer identifies with you and your solution and an emotional connection is made”.

This sounds simple enough, but you’d be surprised at how many businesses fail to place clear messaging about the value of the solutions they offer, in the direct view of their customers. This should be the very first thing customers see on your website and weaved into all points of communication.

The customer ultimately wants to know, “How do you solve my problems?” Your job is to make the answer to that obvious at every touch point.

When you answer that upfront, you’ve immediately created a chance to connect with your ideal customer, illustrating the benefit and value your product or service provides.

SUMMARY

Creating an emotional connection with potential customers is crucial for any business. By understanding their problems and providing solutions that align with their wants, needs, and values, you can create a compelling message that motivates them to act. The key is to identify their dream outcome, list out their perceived problems, turn those problems into solutions, and deliver them in a way that is easier, faster, and more enjoyable. By doing this, you can connect with your ideal customer and illustrate the benefits and value your product or service provides.

On the flip side, if you fail to create an emotional connection, you greatly reduce the chance they will purchase from you.

So, make sure to place clear messaging about the value of your solutions in the direct view of your customers and weave it into all points of communication.