“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
This oft quoted and deeply insightful bit of wisdom from American poet, Maya Angelou brings into focus the tremendous emotional impact that we as people can have on one another.
It’s important for marketers to pay heed as well, as more often than not the same holds true for effective marketing. It’s less about what we say or do as brands and businesses and more about how we make people feel that matters.
Everything we produce adds to the clutter
In brainstorms and boardrooms all over the world, there are people asking the question: How can we cut through the clutter? The irony is that anything that’s cutting through the clutter is also contributing to it. What we really mean when talk about cutting through clutter is, “How can we connect with people who are already overwhelmed by information?”
Human psychology has a suggestion for us. When we push through the incessant noise of our words, and look beyond the illusory veil of our actions, only then can we bring our attention to the essence of what really moves us as humans: our feelings.
Many of today’s most successful brands and businesses already recognise the power of this, and work hard to occupy the visceral space inside where gut decisions are made, brand affinities are forged, and brand evangelism is born.
Humans are complex emotional beings; we’re all programmed to feel. Every waking moment is one of sensation. Much of what we feel is a function of our environment. It sure is hot in here. That humming sound is getting on my nerves. What’s that delicious smell?
Other feelings are a product of our lifestyle. Did I get enough sleep last night? I probably shouldn’t have eaten that whole plate of food. Working out in the morning invigorates me. And then there’s biochemistry and the hormonal fluctuations that influence our moods, contributing to all kinds of random feelings throughout the day. Exuberance. Irritability. Optimism. Malaise. Enthusiasm. Ad nauseum.
We are all amorphous masses of emotions and feelings, wants, needs and desires that can change quickly and without warning. This is all an inextricable part of the human experience. The opportunity for those in marketing is in identifying how our feelings influence our behaviour and then optimising our efforts to appeal to, and connect, with people on a more emotional level.
Emotions are the heart of effective behavioural marketing
There’s one area where many marketers continue come up short, and that’s understanding the deep-seated emotional drivers that subconsciously direct our behaviour. Beyond the many surface emotions we have, it turns out there are some relatively basic human desires that run much deeper. These are feelings we’re born with that drive us in unseen ways, countlessly, each and every day.
Consumers today are savvy. They’re also tired, and not just of advertising. They want us to read their minds, but they don’t want to feel like they’re being “sold to”. Our job is getting past that and, ultimately, engaging with them authentically and in a way that feels like it’s on their terms.
The only way we’re going to do this is by understanding what drives people at their core. It means rethinking and reframing our marketing challenges in a way that lets us solve for the variable of emotion.
Common marketing challenges reframed:
What aspects of our brand would appeal to someone on a more emotional level?
Which core desire(s) can our product or service trigger in someone?
What basic emotional need is satisfied when someone talks about our brand?
What feeling will compel someone to investigate what we have to offer?
Appealing to the four core human desires
Based on the four core human desires, savvier marketers are already manufacturing brand appeal rooted in feelings.
1. A desire for safety
It’s our survival instincts that have gotten us this far in the evolutionary chain. Humans will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that our homes, our finances, our families and ourselves are safe and secure.
2. A desire to acquire
Marketers are always selling something. The fear of missing out (FOMO) strategy was born of this basic human driver. How many times have you seen an ad that uses, “Don’t miss out!” in the copy? It may sound overdone to you, but there’s a very good reason for it. No one wants to feel like they could have had something but didn’t get it—even if they didn’t necessarily want it in the first place. Smart marketers know how to tap into this need (and nurture it through the funnel) until someone fears the potential regret of missing out and compulsively opts in.
3. A desire to connect
Humans crave connection, so it’s no surprise that we seek and value relationships with businesses and brands that make us feel part of something bigger. If you want a loyal and engaged customer base openly talking about your brand, don’t just promise them authentic connection—deliver it.
4. A desire to know
Have you ever missed an important meeting and then found yourself feeling out of the proverbial loop? We’ve all been there. Co-workers are all speaking intelligently about the topic at hand, and you’re desperately playing catch-up. That disempowered feeling is the outcome of an unsatisfied fourth driver of human behavior: the desire to know.
Last line
We will undoubtedly forget 99.99% of what thousands of companies are telling us, and showing us day after day about a myriad products and services. What we will ultimately remember, however, deeply, somewhere near the very core of our being, is how—or even that—they made us feel.
