Emotional engagement is an advanced technique for generating that “must-have” reaction to your promotions.
Of course, knowing it even exists is just the beginning. The trick is to make it a consistent part of your marketing communications. Let’s look at how you can do that.
How do you create emotional engagement?
Emotional engagement is the strategic combination of:
- A powerful idea.
- A promise that raises your product to hero status in the eyes of your prospect.
- Plus all the factual and social proof you’ve got.
This powerful technique requires some preparation. So before you begin writing, you’ll need to gather your resources:
Step 1: Create a Buyer Profile
Let’s face it, emotional appeal is a pretty subjective thing. The trigger for an emotional response depends on your prospect.
That’s why you must begin with an in-depth buyer profile. You need to know your prospect inside and out. What does she value? What makes her angry or sad? What makes her jump for joy? What are her dreams? Before you can write copy that connects, you need to be intimately aware of what she’ll respond to.
Next apply this information to your product. Based on what you know about your prospect, why would she buy it? How would she feel about? What dangers does it save her from? What hopes does it make possible?
Finally, look at the details of her life, the way she talks and what she cares about. Then decide which emotions would connect with her. These will become the core emotions for your promotion.
Step 2: Find your Big Idea
Most writers think of the big idea as a theme or metaphor that ties your package together. It may be an image associated with your brand (Budweiser’s Clydesdale horses, for instance). It could also be a historical or literary reference or a new way to look at a particular subject.
A great idea will resonate with your reader. It will be new, compelling and emotionally stirring. Make sure it works well with the dominant emotion you plan to use in your promotion.
Step 3: Find the right problem/promise
A great promotion offers the reader inherent and future benefits. In other words, your prospect must feel that she’ll learn something valuable simply by reading your promotion — and that she’ll gain even more if she buys your product.
The trouble is, if there’s not a problem to solve, you can’t hook your reader with the promise of valuable information.
Find the problem your product solves. Then prove you can solve it.
Step 4: Gather your Proof
What kinds of proof do you need?
- Statistics.
- Customer testimonials.
- Expert testimonials.
- Research.
- And more.
If it gives you credibility, use it.
How to put it to work
To inject emotional appeal into your package, you must weave all these factors seamlessly together.
Start by getting your reader’s attention. Look for an entry point that will create an immediate connection with her. Your promotion shouldn’t feel like an interruption, but welcome news. In order for that to happen, you must ignite her imagination and stir her strongest feelings.
Write your headline and lead to do three things:
- Suggest a problem that your product can solve.
- Arouse your prospect’s emotions.
- Make a stirring promise that’s tied to your big idea.
Remember to weave your core emotion throughout the entire package. Then close with a strong offer and call to action.
Give them a reason to believe
At its root, emotional engagement is a measure of your promotion’s emotional power. You see, your prospect doesn’t buy for logical reasons. Most purchases are primarily emotional, with logic as the justification for the decision. So boosting the emotional power of your copy raises the urgency to buy without relying on hype.
Once your prospect chooses to read your package, she’s already given token assent to your proposition. At this point, she’s looking for a reason to believe. By injecting emotion into your promotion, you can get her imagination as well as her emotions involved.
This deep level of engagement frees your prospect to trust you. And that, my friend, will dramatically up your chances of making the sale.
What do you do to inject emotion into your promotions? How well do you think emotional engagement could work for you? Post your comments below.
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