HOW EMOTION-BASED MESSAGING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A WINNING MARKETING STRATEGY

There’s a reason why certain movies and TV shows are labelled “tearjerkers” but others have us howling from laughter – video has the potential to stir up powerful emotions. Our emotional attachment towards characters and storylines motivates us to line up at the box office or binge watch television episodes.

Emotions are just as compelling in video marketing. Remember this tear-inducing ad entitled “Maddie” for Chevrolet in 2014? In the era of advertising overload, engaging consumers in a way that makes them experience genuine emotion helps your brand stand out from the pack:

The use of emotional appeals in video content attracts and engages viewers, even encouraging them to respond to marketing CTAs. If you are producing video content, you must focus on how to evoke an emotional response in your viewer.

STORYTELLING AND THE HUMAN BRAIN

It’s no secret to any marketer that telling an engaging story is the best way to sell a product. A good story pulls the viewer or reader in and pushes them to empathize with the presented scenario.

Powerful statistics from a study by Tempkin Group in 2016 show that when a consumer has a positive emotional association with your brand, they are:

• 8.4 times more likely to trust your company.
• 7.1 times more likely to make a purchase.
• 6.6 times more likely to forgive a company mistake.

No matter how enticing the features of your offering are, it’s the emotional association that will linger with a consumer.

VIDEO MARKETING AND THE SCIENCE BEHIND EMOTIONAL RESONANCE

Video content is best at creating emotional impact in marketing. Human beings process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, and a strong video will hook a viewer in the first few seconds alone.

The human brain is also hardwired to be empathetic towards others who we interact with, and this presents a huge opportunity for brands. When watching a video that stirs up powerful emotions, your brain releases oxytocin. This hormone puts us in a more empathetic and affectionate state of mind.

When you elicit an emotional connection with a viewer, they will trust you more. For marketers and brands, trust is the foundation of establishing brand loyalty and creating a conversion.

TECHNIQUES TO TRIGGER EMOTIONAL RESPONSES IN YOUR AUDIENCE

Videos can use a variety of emotional trigger techniques. The resulting emotions can either be positive or negative, and savvy content creators can go either direction to achieve the effects they want.

Below are some of the most powerful and universally recognized emotional triggers in video marketing, with examples of how brands use them.

S.H.E.E.P.: 5 EMOTIONAL TRIGGER TECHNIQUES TO STIR EMOTIONS WITH VIDEO CONTENT

1. STORYTELLING

Narratives feature characters – whether fictitious or real people – and great characterization lends itself to emotional performances. In turn, these performances stir up emotions among viewers. Storytelling is a powerful method in which the viewer relates to the protagonist and how your product or services helped them achieve a goal.

The “Maggie” ad by Chevrolet is a perfect example, as are the series of ads by FedEx where they aren’t just delivering packages, but “comfort:”

2. HUMOUR

Emotions don’t always have to be serious or dark. Laughter creates joy, which is one of the most powerful emotions that human beings experience.

Exaggerating an everyday situation is one way to make your product or service relatable. Consider this ad for Adobe Marketing Cloud where a group of space launch technicians become a metaphor for a confused marketing department:

3. ENLIGHTENMENT

To enlighten an individual is a more rational approach to creating content. This approach leverages an emotional response, often referencing a problem the viewer knew they had but didn’t know how to articulate.

This CrazyEgg video ad enlightens marketers to a problem, the need for click-rate optimization, and demonstrates how this practice will help them solve their conversion woes:

4. EMPATHY

With empathetic appeals, your content aims to put your audience in the shoes of someone else. They evoke emotions, positive or negative, that motivate audiences to take action. Empathy appeals work well for social awareness campaigns where donations or community involvement may be requested.

This powerful ad for The Girl Effect helps us relate to the experiences of impoverished girls so that we become advocates for change:

5. PERSONALIZATION

Personalizing video is one of the strongest ways to create an emotional bond with a viewer. Average brand communications are designed to speak to a large quantity of people, whereas personalized content speaks to one person. You can leverage any of the above emotional triggers while making the viewer the protagonist of the story.

When users who have an account with you visit your website, you have the opportunity to delight and engage them with personalized messaging in your videos. You can tailor your videos with a user’s name or account-related information, and serve different offers based on context.

For example, see how IndiVideo offers a personalized video platform for financial institutions looking to acquire credit card customers.

EMOTION IS THE FOUNDATION OF SUCCESSFUL VIDEO CONTENT

While video continues to grow as the internet’s dominant content format, it’s becoming more important to know how to produce videos for maximum impact. There are many elements to consider, but emotional appeal is the most crucial one.

To make your prospects the hero of the story you want to tell, try IndiVideo. Our platform allows you to tailor your own video content with personalized messaging served to customers at the right time and right place.

To learn more about how IndiVideo can boost the emotional conversion factor of your marketing, contact us today.