Most businesses would like to think it is logic, not emotions that cause a new customer to buy their product or service. Wrong.

Hang around a bunch of seasoned copywriters and they will tell you that customers buy with their heart and justify it with their mind.

In other words, because a dominant emotion was triggered with the copywriting, the prospect decided that she absolutely had to have it and then used logic to explain why she had to have it.

Emotions overrule typical marketing strategy

So you can spend a lot of time writing copy that you hope will produce the following:

• The prospect recognizes the superiority of your product or service
• The prospect appreciates the features and benefits
• The prospect believes in the brand

And this is all well and good. However, none of these are the primary reason your prospect will respond to your offer.

They respond to your offer because they’re afraid. Or angry. Or disappointed. Or any of a dozen or so emotions that drive them to make a change in their life.

You may have heard of the acronym FUD. It stands for “fear, uncertainty, doubt.” This is the most common group of emotional triggers used in B2B marketing. However, there are many more to tap into and we’ll be talking about them over the next few weeks.

For instance, what about greed? Most people don’t like to think of themselves as greedy but yet walk into a grocery store the day before a big snowstorm is predicted. You’ll see all sorts of greed taking place as people worry they won’t have enough milk and bread.

Emotions fuel action

A recent post on Branding Strategy Insider explains the science behind our emotions. It basically boils down to people making choices based on their emotions rather than their rational thinking.

From their article, “Rethinking Emotions In Marketing”:

What do these neuropsychology findings teach us as marketers? It is crucial to re-evaluate the role of emotions in our marketing approach for a couple of reasons. First, they have a direct impact on consumer decision-making. Emotional thinking works much faster than rational thinking. Our gut feeling directs very quick reactions. The emotional brain processes sensory information in one fifth of the time our cognitive brain takes to assimilate the same input.

Second, emotions have always had an important evolutionary meaning. Our capabilities for detecting anger, fear or disgust have served as powerful indicators for dangerous situations. Similarly, positive emotions have re­ assured us that we could safely engage in certain activities. Emotions are therefore important attention grabbers. We are wired to pay attention to emotions. Using emotions in communication will therefore draw your customer’s attention.

This is the whole point of copywriting: to get your prospect’s attention long enough to read the rest of your copy and then, take action.

Let’s go back to talking about greed. Greed can skyrocket your sales.

As Gordon Gekko said in the famous film Wall Street, “Greed is good.” Some may shy away from capitalizing on greed, but smart marketers know how to do it without feeling slimy.

I’ll be doing a deep dive on specific emotions and how to use them in your copy. And as always… test! Try out these approaches yourself and study the results. Soon you’ll be able to clearly see which emotions in your copy resonate with your target market.

Start reading ads in magazines and online and try to figure out which emotions they use to convince you to buy the product or service. How are they nudging you to take action?

The more you know about how emotions drive sales, the more profitable your business will be as a result. Hone in on emotions and use them in your marketing. Your bottom line will love you for it.