Which fond and happy memories of your mom do you have? This is the question P&G asked in its “Thank you, Mom — Strong” ad, which sought to discover what kind of impact mothers exerted on different athletes. In the video, we watch these athletes remember the journeys that led them to compete in the Olympics, and how their mothers encouraged them along the way.
The ad created a global, authentic connection and it resonated with people around the world. After all, we all experienced those moments where our mother’s strength was passed on to us, encouraging us to try harder. For P&G, “Thank you, Mom — Strong” increased global incremental sales and impressions.
And that is the true power of emotion in video marketing.
With developments in technology, today’s customer base has many opportunities to research what they don’t already know. At the same time, they are bombarded with advertisements on any website they visit. This makes it harder for brands to create content that will help them stand out in the busy marketing industry.
But, is there something they can do to draw attention?
There is! Marketers can use one component that influences purchase decisions — emotion.
In this article, we’ll guide you through emotion in video marketing and tell you why you should use this component to approach your target audience.
What Is Emotional Marketing?
First things first, what is emotional marketing?
Emotional marketing refers to marketing and advertising efforts that deliberately convey powerful messages that tap into human emotion to establish a personal connection with the audience. It makes customers notice, remember, and buy from your brand. To be as effective as possible, emotional marketing tries to arouse one emotion such as happiness and sadness to get a response from viewers.
An effective use of emotion in video marketing can lead to an increase in social shares and sales of the advertised product. It can also inspire customer loyalty because the audience finds your ad relatable.
What’s more, one report concluded that customers who are emotionally connected to brands have a 306% higher lifetime value than customers who are just satisfied. Additionally, emotionally connected consumers rate brands higher than satisfied consumers.
Basically, emotional marketing can bring your company closer to your existing and potential customers. Regardless of the message you want to convey and the emotion you try to tap into, it makes people act with an emotional response.
And as you can see in P&G’s case, the results are impressive when your marketing campaign elicits some kind of a response.
But, why is emotion in video marketing so effective? Let’s find out.
Why Your Brand Should Rely on Emotional Marketing
Emotion is a strong force. It is so powerful, in fact, that it can influence a decision and urge people to take some action. It’s no surprise, then, that brands have turned it into an effective marketing technique — one that inspires customers to move down the sales funnel and help companies reach their goals.
Moreover, emotion is even more effective when you use it together with video. 78% of people watch online videos every week, whereas 55% do that every day. So if you want your emotional message to spread like wildfire, present it in your video content.
But, the question is, “Why does emotion in video marketing work?”
Here are some of the reasons.
Emotion in Video Marketing Leaves a Good First Impression
First impressions are important. This is especially true in the marketing world where you only have a few seconds to make a great first impression. You should use this time wisely and create content that will make people notice your brand and your products or services.
Just think about it. You’re surfing the internet and you come across advertisements on Instagram. One ad simply talks about products and has a data-driven sales approach. The other ad, however, makes you laugh or cry. Which would you remember? The second one because of all the emotions it evokes!
So, if you have a new product or service to promote, think how you can introduce it through a video that connects you with your audience. Trust us, this will make a good first impression and get customers to notice you!
Here are other reasons why emotion in video marketing is effective.
Emotion in Video Marketing Moves People Down the Sales Funnel
People often can’t decide between two products when they’re about to make a purchase. They spend some time comparing prices and reading about each product to see which one would come close to solving their issue. But when it’s time to decide, they usually go with their gut rather than logic. Those positive emotions they feel because of an ad nudge them in the right direction.
In fact, studies show that customers rely on emotions rather than information to reach their decisions. In addition to that, the consumer’s emotional response to an ad has a greater influence on their intent to buy a product than the ad’s content.
Furthermore, another research analyzed 1,400 successful advertising campaigns. It concluded that campaigns with purely emotional content performed about twice as well as those with only rational content. Therefore, it’s easy to see that emotional marketing helps customers decide with their hearts when making a purchase.
Ensure your video content marketing efforts appeal to the emotional side of people!
Emotion in Video Marketing Gets People to Act
As you probably know by now, emotional marketing is a powerful tool when you want to increase sales. But it can also help you achieve other goals you set before developing a marketing strategy. As a result, you’ll be able to grow your business and reach new people.
Let’s take a look at how emotion in video marketing gets people to act!
- Happiness makes us share: Social media is a great place to post your branded videos if you want to get more exposure. Internet users are quite active on these platforms, and if they see an emotional video, they’re likely to share it with their family and friends. In fact, studies show that positive content spreads like wildfire on social media. People want to share any content that makes them smile!
- Sadness prompts us to empathize and connect: Video has the ability to evoke strong emotions from viewers. One of those feelings is sadness. When we watch a video that focuses on someone’s sad but inspiring story, we feel the need to help others. We’re motivated to act and do something that can positively affect someone’s life.
- Surprise and fear make us turn to what we’re familiar with: Rarely do marketers decide to leverage fear in their advertisements. They believe that this might paint a wrong picture of the brand or get consumers to associate negative feelings with it. However, this isn’t quite true. One study revealed that fear can lead customers to love your brand. Marketers should offer up their brands as something customers can cling to when something bad happens.
Okay, we now know why emotion in video marketing works. Let’s go over some emotional video marketing tips!
Emotional Video Marketing Tips
Once you emotionally connect your audience with your brand, you’re ready to build a strong and lasting relationship. But what’s the best way to go about using emotion in video marketing? We’ve selected a number of best practices to make sure your next campaign generates good results with the help of emotion!
Understand Your Customers on a Deeper Level
Your marketing efforts will be more successful if you understand your target audience on a more personal level. Therefore, spend some time analyzing your customers to get to know them. Discover their problems, struggles, and motivations to understand what makes them purchase a product or service.
If you haven’t created accurate buyer personas yet, you should do it before launching any campaigns. This will help you during the video production process. Also, you will know how you can use emotion in video marketing to your advantage.
Tell a Compelling Story
After getting to know your target audience on a personal level, you can use this knowledge to develop a compelling story that they can relate to. If you want to have more video views, your content needs to inspire people and help them learn something new. Make something that will encourage viewers to share your post with their family and friends.
Be Authentic
This practice isn’t only useful for emotional video marketing but for marketing in general as well. Your brand needs to be as authentic as possible if you want customers to stick around. If they feel you’re fake or say something you don’t believe in, they’ll likely go to your competitor. Be authentic and sincere because your audience will sense and appreciate that!
