One of the marketing principles people always seem to nod their heads about when Sharon and I speak is “rational purchasing consciousness”. More simply put, consumers like to PERCEIVE themselves as smart shoppers.
Makes sense, right? Most people would agree.
The problem comes when people try to IMPLEMENT emotional benefits from the research they’ve done. For example, suppose your surveys and telephone groups for a natural weight loss supplement come back suggesting your audience is most interested in feeling “normal” again, removing the pain of “not fitting in”, particularly while shopping for new clothes.
Here’s what you don’t do.
You don’t say “Just feel normal again when you buy clothes!”
That’s because the consumer doesn’t really want to think they’re going to make purchasing decisions for emotional reasons, no matter how logically you trace the path for them from weight to feeling “abnormal”
Here’s what’s better.
SHOW a reasonably sized woman (not a supermodel) buying something nice while she talks about some more rational benefit or cognitive reason to believe (“I lost 7 pounds this month”, not this week). Or show her eating something absolutely delicious while she’s WEARING something nice and possibly saying something similar.
Get it? The main point is, because so many purchase motivations aren’t socially desirable, and because consumers HATE to think they make purchases for emotional reasons (that would make them “dumb shoppers”, not smart shoppers), you want to SHOW THEM, not tell them, while you give them plenty of rational support for their interest in feeling smart.
People might buy things based on emotion, but they don’t want to feel like a dumb-ass.
Hope this helps.
Dr. G 
PS – Here are the concrete steps for executing an effective emotional marketing campaign online. First target your audience based on keywords … one bulls-eye and a small set which surround it on the same “keyword archery target”. Then study the hell out of those keywords using social media, PPC surveys, telephone follow ups, and competitive analysis tools (not keyword spy tools – much more). Then translate those findings into a series of advertising concepts and test them on the same keyword audience until the system buzzes. To learn more, click here now
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article.
Question is… how do you paint pictures in writing? or do you mean that we actually use images in our messaging?
That was the best line in the whole post. I’m just glad none of my competitors understand this one bit.
Thanks, Glenn for the great article. It makes a lot of sense and can be carried over to all forms of communication (such as “Doctor-Patient”, “Parent-Teen”, etc), not just selling. Thanks again.
Dr. George
Dear Glenn,
Considerable observation shows this to be wrong… and very right. That is there is at least 1 if not more exceptions. Have you never heard someone, Perhaps Sharon say “Ï know it was stupid, but isn’t it loverly”. the key words here are I KNOW, meaning although this was a basicly/totally an emotional decision, I was concious, in control, and satisfied -Not a dupe, dumb ass.
If I am wrong perhaps you can explain impulse buys in a different way.
Respectfully, DSE
I have mostly the same question as Yoav. There are some environments where adding an image is difficult and one has to rely on text. Is there a way to apply this technique with just words or is an integrated set of pictures required?
I’m going to TRY to answer Yoav’s and Chuck’s questions in a recorded audio with Sharon in early January. (It’s an important issue which deserves much more than a casual post… I just have to nail down my wife’s time, which you’d think after 23 years together wouldn’t be such an issue, but she’s a popular girl with her own priorities!)
Maybe it’s just me, but I get pictures in my mind if the words are written well. I didn’t need the photo or the video to understand the concept Glenn presented. When I read Yoav’s and Chuck’s questions, I was moved to quicklywrite the following for demonstration purposes:
Claudia has been using our “Natural Weight Loss Supplement” for almost three months now. You might know her, or maybe you’ve noticed someone like her at the grocery store or mall. She’s middle-aged, attractive (but not like a model), well-dressed, obviously happy and very confident. She recently sent me letter informing me of her progress along with a photo of herself standing up straight with her hands on her waist, wearing a big smile, a flattering top and her brand new pair of size 10 blue jeans. Pasted on top of the photo was a Post-It note with the words “I lost another 7 lbs. this month!”
Good point and good indirect selling idea, thank you.