What goes on in your brain when you buy?
What was the last thing you bought? For some of you it may be my new Marketing for Your Small Business online course (T H A N K Y O U!!). For others, perhaps it was a meal out, a nice bottle of wine, that bag you've been eyeing off, a USB stick, an app subscription, a gym membership or maybe just some undies (hey, we all need 'em!).
Consider how you FELT just before you bought that item or service? What was going through your mind?
Old school marketing was all about pushing something on people — shouty messages often in mediums where the customer had no way to respond i.e. TV or print advertising. Modern marketing is all about the pull — attracting and engaging clients and customers in a way that guides them to either transact or spread the (positive) word about your biz. Think engaging social media posts, collaborative events, humour-filled emails or even podcasts where the audience can make their reviews public or even request to be on a future episode.
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Regardless of the medium, good marketing today is created by the psychological equation that E + R = P.
So, what do those letters stand for?
Emotional Driver + Rational Driver = Purchase
It may seem a little strange at first, particularly if the last thing you bought was super practical - but the bulk of our purchase decisions are made using emotion. In fact, it's estimated that emotion is the leading driver behind 90% of all purchases. What does this mean? Emotional drivers may lead to us feeling things like pride, emulation, superior status, a sense of belonging, sexy or attractive, the fear of missing out or simply, the idea you absolutely "love" something. But emotion itself is only one part of the equation. Rational drivers, such as price, versatility, safety, quality and practical needs (food, shelter) are just as important.
I often consult to larger companies who are pretty sure about their marketing messages; many of them have been around 40 years or longer. Yet, when we dive deep into their marketing communications there is little mention of emotional drivers. Given humans are largely emotional creatures, why then would someone choose their product or service over a competitor? What is the attraction if not emotional? Practicality only gets you so far. Years of testing this theory, both in senior marketing roles and with hundreds of clients and students, has shown me time and time again that adding emotional drivers into your marketing makes it so much more compelling to your audience. Emotion equals connection, which is what good marketing is really all about.
Take a look at your own marketing messages— from social media posts through to website copy, pitch decks through to point of sale flyers. Are they (like most businesses) focusing on rational drivers only or are you ensuring that there's a quality mix of emotional and rational drivers to guide people to connect and, consequently, purchase?
This simple equation can have a massive impact on the way you create, and connect via, your marketing. Consider how, in the second half of this year, you can add more emotional drivers into your marketing, testing and experimenting until you get serious cut-through and connection.