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15 Dec 2015

Everything You Need to Know About Emotional Marketing

Regardless of how advanced or logical we become as human beings, the fact still remains that we rely heavily on our emotions to make decisions. In fact, psychologists have revealed that humans tend to feel first and think second. When confronted with sensory information, the emotional part of the brain processes the information in one-fifth the time it takes the cognitive part to do so. As you can see, emotions play a major role in our day-to-day life and that is why it is important to understand and make use of emotional marketing in your business model.

Emotional marketing was designed to tell a story that connects every audience with their favourite brands in a personal way. When used correctly, this form of marketing tends to help companies and industries differentiate themselves from their competitors. The key to achieving the desired result is creating a campaign that feels authentic and honest.

What is Emotional Marketing?

This type of advertising refers to the marketing and promotional efforts that use emotions to make the audience notice or remember particular brands. It taps into specific emotions like fear, anger, sadness, or happiness to provoke a particular response from the customers.

Why it Works:

Regardless of how much we try to suppress them, human beings experience intense emotions. It’s in our nature. Emotional marketing tends to make a great first impression on the audience. If we were to choose between two different products – one that made you laugh or cry, and another that only talked about the product itself, which would you pick?

Obviously, most people would pick the one that elicited the most emotion out of them. In this case, the first impression they get from the brand plays a major role in the decision process. Emotional marketing helps shape our impression of a product; making it stand out in our minds.

Studies have revealed that individuals, most times, rely on their emotions instead of the information presented to them to make decisions. It inspires them to act. High engagement levels in marketing only happen when emotions are involved.

Different Emotions and What They Achieve:

While there are several branches of emotions humans’ experience, the four basic ones are happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. The way individuals perceive these emotions determine how they make some of their complicated decisions.

Even though the human brain is pretty complex, the truth is that a lot of our emotions come from a handful of our base feelings.


This sentiment has a knack for increasing shares and engagement rates. It’s a known fact that people tend to give more attention to positive posts than the negative ones, which makes it easier for the content to spread faster online. And as a result, most companies and brands want to be associated with happy and smiling customers.

This phenomenon can be likened to the “social smile” for babies when they mimic the actions of others around them. Happiness is often mirrored, which leads to more sharing of the content that put the smile on our faces in the first place.


Different emotions promote different reactions. Just as happiness encourage sharing, sadness increases empathy and connections. This form of emotional marketing tugs on the heartstrings of the audience.

The emotion allows individuals to empathize and connect with the product, which often leads to increased giving. Studies show that feeling empathic towards something often leads to altruism and the desire to act on behalf of people who can’t help themselves.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that charitable organizations often feature sad pictures of kids along with a moving soundtrack while asking people to make donations for their cause. Feeling sadness for others often inspires us to act and help in any way possible.

Anger (and Passion)

Anger about a particular subject tends to make us stubborn, which leads to viral content and loyal customer base. Just as it is with happiness, strong emotions like anger or disgust inspire individuals to share content. It can shake them out of their daze and into action.

While most companies avoid angering their clients, under the right circumstances, this emotion can have a powerful impact. It allows people to find their drive.


Fear of the unknown leads us to cling to what we know, which often leads to increased brand loyalty. Since fear is a natural human instinct, it prompts people to act based on their desire for self-preservation.

According to Tom Fishburne, the famous “Marketoonist,” the best advertisement doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels natural and allows the audience to connect emotionally with a particular subject.

Regardless of whatever tactic you decide to adopt, it’s vital to remember not to take it too far. Ensure that you know your audience and then find a way to tell a great story.