Emotional branding or how to engage customers emotionally
Do companies know how to engage their customers? Or do they lose that battle in front of their competitors, which sell the same products and services? It is no secret that customers emotionally filter what they buy – if they like or appreciate something, they will buy it. As such, companies should be able to trigger positive emotions in their clients and build strong connections with them.
It is well-known that long term relationships are very hard to break and leave behind, but this raises another question: how should companies build a proper emotional connection with their customers? One can try many different methods for achieving this goal, but from my perspective the most important are the following:
1. 5-D branding
For a long time marketers created bi-dimensional brands, focusing only on two senses: sight and smell. But in this changing business world, companies need to have a greater sensory approach to include all five senses: taste, smell, touch, sight and hearing. Products or services which incorporate most of the five senses have a larger success rate on the market. Let us explain each of them:
- Taste
Brands may find it difficult to incorporate taste in their products, if they are not fit for consumption and as a result, the food industry has a very solid foothold in this area of expertise. The products generated by this industry can be sour, sweet or bitter – the challenge lies in forecasting the tastes which potential customers may appreciate. After the taste test, a client decides if an item is worth his/her money or not . In this case, the emotional response triggered by their sense of taste plays a big role.
- Smell
Specialists estimate that 75% of clients’ emotions are generated by what they smell. It is a noteworthy trigger in the emotional memory of a customer and it may develop a willingness to buy large quantities, repeatedly. The perfume and food industries take advantage of the way they can recreate this sensory addiction and try to attract more clients by placing their products in front of shops or in big commercial venues, where their aromas can charm more individuals.
- Touch
Packaging is an essential element for a product. Many customers want to touch what they buy, to feel the shape of the product held in their hands. Some brands succeed in creating an unforgettable package and even if broken, it can be easily recognized. Many clients consider this sense the most important one after sight, because they can evaluate goods via touch.
- Sight
Brands focus their attention on the image of their products or services: shapes, colors, sizes, because they know how important appearance is to their clients. The first sense used by customers, when checking out a product is sight. If a product has an innovative design and the right hues, then the chances to be bought by prospective clients will increase. A very important element to be taken into consideration is the color used on packages or in the logos. All brands know that coloration can trigger different emotional responses in a client’s mind and influence moods and behaviors. For example, red makes clients feel energized and alert, blue means peace, sincerity and confidence, green stands for nature and life and so forth. It is crucial for brands to use the right color in their logos and products in order to communicate the most suitable message for their buyers.
- Sound This sense can trigger many emotional retorts in a client. Sounds can make him smile or cry, thus generating a plethora of emotions from happiness and fascination to sadness and boredom. Customers like to listen to music, dance or even play an instrument and in this way, brands can leverage an advantage in their own favor, by using specific and unique sounds to win over clients.
2. Building trust
The second method for creating a strong emotional connection with clients is by meeting their expectations. This way, they garner fidelity for your brand and trust it. If a brand has quality products or services and it is client-oriented, then the company becomes more trustworthy and reliable. Although these elements cannot be obtained overnight, that firm may gain respect and loyalty from their customers in time by being patient and strengthening its’ existing patterns, if they prove successful.
3. Triggering positive emotions
When a customer buys a product, the entire process is filtered through his emotions. If he/she loves a brand, then he/she will buy its products or services no matter what. A company should focus on this aspect and make people need its products. A brand must stimulate emotions like amazement, joy, happiness, surprise, curiosity and satisfaction, in relation to the company’s products. It is not easy, but it’s vital for a company to do this and one surefire way is by creating innovative products and services.
In my opinion, by using a full sensory palette in a product, being creative and meeting clients’ expectations, brands are able to build strong emotional connections with their clients, which are very difficult to break. Any business triggering positive emotional responses in their customers can become a dominant force on the market and their return on investment will be increased. A more humanized brand can create a closer relationship with its customers, it can empathize with them and offer the most well-suited products on the market.
By combining these factors, it is safe to assume that your company will be well on its way to becoming a market leader.
- Image source: Pixabay
