Like any other business, you want to stand out from the crowd. In such a competitive environment, you must engage with your audience quickly and for as long as possible. Here is your guide to using emotional content to attract more business.
What Is “Emotional Content”?
Emotional content influences your customers on an emotional level, so they feel motivated to buy your product, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you make your audience cry. However, you can influence buyers emotionally to draw their attention to your business and your eCommerce site.
Advertisers commonly provoke hope, safety, fear, and sadness when they write their ads. You can probably think of a commercial that made you feel one of these emotions. The fact that these ads tugged at your heartstrings somehow is why it has stuck with you for a time.
Why Is Emotional Content so Important?
We often let our emotions drive our decisions, so you need to tap into those emotions to sell your brand successfully. When you present your brand or products with emotional content, you make your customers more invested.
To effectively use emotional content, you must involve emotion in your website’s marketing and design, which will get your audience’s attention but successfully convey your brand’s values and what it stands for.
By tapping into your customers’ emotions on several levels, you create a consistent marketing experience. The more your audience connects with your brand, the more successful your business will be. Check out Toptal for a guide to color and emotions that can help you utilize emotion and color for your eCommerce site.
How To Use Emotional Content for eCommerce
If emotional content is so vital for your e-commerce site, how do you use it? Here are some methods you can use for your business.
Exciting Website Templates
While any good business website looks dynamic and exciting, an e-commerce site needs this. A practical website is nice but doesn’t necessarily convey your brand’s unique personality. Customers will quickly click off your website if you don’t have a web design that gets an immediate emotional response.
A unique web design will allow your customers to relate to your brand. For example, are your products energetic, dependable, or luxurious? An effective website can convey this in its design and immediately draw in customers that relate to this personality. You can create unique web designs using website platform builder. It could be a quick, free and easy-to-use solution.
Evocative Images
Video advertisements are good references to use on this subject. Photos and videos are quick ways to get your audience to feel things and connect with your brand. A good product description paired with an effective image will increase your product’s success with customers.
Take pictures of your products in evocative environments, such as on location or in a studio. Using models and human faces is a quick way to get your audience’s attention. Naturally, you want to showcase your product’s benefits in these photos rather than show their features. But remember to keep a balance between emotive imagery and standard photos.
Personal Stories
People want to relate with each other, and personal brand stories are more likely for them to get invested in your brand. So instead of an “About” section, create an “Our Story/History” section on your website.
Tell your audience about your brand, how it started, and what inspires you. A good story will entertain your customers and help them relate to your brand. Even if customers don’t look for these stories, the fact that you want to share them shows that you want to engage with them.
Product Reviews
Most of your audience will read through reviews before committing to a purchase. We value personal stories, and your customers will want to see them before committing to a purchase. Since customers value product reviews, you should display them along with your products.
Including product reviews on your website opens up another can of worms. You can use specific tools and services to manage the review side of your website. But the simple presence of reviews on your site will increase your customer engagement.
Urgency and FOMO
Any emotion you want to evoke will be amplified by an urgent need to purchase your products. You can do this in many ways, but the ultimate goal is to make your audience feel like they will miss out on something if they don’t engage with you right away.
Several websites will notify customers when an item they’re interested in is low in stock. Or they will make internal pop-up notifications when other customers purchase items from their site. Whatever method you use, you want your customers to feel like they are a part of something by purchasing from your business.
User-Friendly Web Design
Just because you want your website to look enticing doesn’t mean that you should forego a streamlined design. Engaging content and products will only hold your audience’s attention until your website becomes challenging to navigate.
Keep your website well organized and easy to navigate. Your customers will be more inclined to return for more shopping if they feel comfortable navigating your website. You should also ensure that your checkout process is straightforward and dispels any concerns your customers have about security breaches.
Universal Needs
Everyone has needs, which are fundamental to what makes us human. Think about how your product can appeal to a wide variety of people and stop thinking superficially. The more your products embrace an emotional tone, the more your customers will be incentivized to buy them.
You want your audience to recognize your brand immediately. A quick way to do this is by linking your brand’s core values with the universal needs your products fulfill. Instead of numbers and case studies to back up your products, hone in on how your products appeal to people’s sense of self.
Summary
Emotional content helps you build trust with your audience and boost customer loyalty. Your e-commerce site can thrive by using emotional content in your marketing. You cut to the chase and appeal to your customers’ instinct to purchase something. Consider using these techniques for your eCommerce site if you are just beginning to grow your business or if your website needs a redesign.
Image credit: Slavko Kahovsky
