How to create emotion in your content marketing.
This is the tool that will have your customer’s saying “they just get me".”
The emotion wheel is a powerful tool for content marketers
Great marketing evokes emotion.
The moment you can articulate what someone is feeling - better than they can articulate it themselves - you'll capture attention, build rapport and trust.
Human beings rely on emotion to make decisions.
As much as we like to think of ourselves as rational creatures who rely only on information to form opinions and make decisions, countless studies prove otherwise.
Emotion pushes us toward action.
“When we feel something, we feel compelled to do something. ”
Just look at some of the most successful marketing over the last decade, campaigns like Nike's Just Do it campaign or Proctor & Gambel's Like a Girl campaign. Both campaigns had cut through and sustainability because they evoked strong emotion within us.
But emotion isn't just found in big-budget ad campaigns. It's the ingredient that has fueled the success of social media platforms like TikTok - where you'll find an endless lineup of 15-second videos that either make you piss-your-pants with laughter or break into tears because that poor abandon puppy just needed someone to love him!
TikTok has integrated itself into our culture because it makes us feel something.
If fact, content that goes viral is always emotionally charged. A study at the University of Pennsylvania confirmed what we already knew intuitively - content that arouses emotion, whether positive or negative, is more likely to be shared.
The Ocean Spray viral TikTok video is another excellent example of emotion in action. Backed by a legendary song, the now-famous skateboarding truck driver rode his way into our hearts because he tapped into our deep-rooted desire to feel free, joyful and a little cheeky.
But for marketers, the challenge is: how do we articulate what our customer is feeling better than they can articulate it themselves?
Beyond the basic emotions of happy, sad, angry, or fearful, it's hard to talk about feelings and even more difficult to describe them.
But there is a fantastic tool that can help you called The Emotion Wheel.
The concept of an emotion wheel was first developed by psychologist Robert Plutchik's to help his patients make sense of their feelings. Since it's birth, Plutchik's "Wheel of Emotion" has been used extensively by psychologists, marketers, writers and sales professionals.
Today, you can find a variety of Emotion Wheels to choose from. One of my personal favourites is the one you can find on All The Feelz, I've included a PDF HERE.
As a marketer, empathy is a vital element of what you do. You must be able to step into your customer's shoes. You must take the time to understand how they feel, what's keeping them up at night, what they dream of? Once you have a sense of how they feel and what drives them, you can use the emotion wheel to help articulate it for them.
The emotion sheel helps in brand marketing and content marketing. This emotion wheel comes from website All The Feelz.
The emotion wheels helps you go deeper. It helps you pinpoint the more complex emotions, it gives you the opportunity to be clear and specific.
Let's say you're trying to connect to your audience while they are commuting to work on a Monday morning; there's a big difference between acknowledging they feeling bad vs feeling sleepy, unfocused and possibly resentful.
Or your customer is searching for the perfect wedding venue. There's a big difference between telling them they'll feel happy when they see your venue vs feeling in awe, enraptured and relieved.
The emotion wheel can help you in a number of ways, three of the most important are:
It can help you get clear about the feelings you want your brand and product/service to embody.
Empathy and customer insight! It helps you understand where your customer is now, how they feel, the emotions they have around their pain or pleasure points and how they want to feel in the future.
Your marketing messages, communication and creative. The wheel empowers you with insight and understanding you didn't have before.
For content marketing specialist and content creators, the emotion wheel is an amazing tool for you too.
Different emotions have different effects. Thanks to the team at Neurotrend this summary gives you a good place to start:
Happy and uplifting content spreads. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "good news travels fast". Neurologically, people tend to share happy and positive news more, as we care about how our friends and family react when we share something with us. Tapping into positive emotions will make your content more shareable.
Fear is a powerful motivator when used in a helpful, mutually beneficial way. Where good news travels fast, bad news sells. People will go out of their way to avoid missing out (FOMO) or avoid change. If you help your customer feel comfortable, give them refuge from what they fear and help them solve a pain point, you will move them to action.
Sadness touches heartstrings and inspires acts of kindness, generosity and connection. You will see many charities use sad images and stories in their marketing and communication. We all know what it's like to feel sad, so we have a lot of empathy with messages that make us feel sad.
Anger can also be a strong motivator if you wish your customer to take action or share your content. P&G's Like a Girl created a movement because it spoke to a deep-seated anger within us about gender-biased.
You can leverage the emotion wheel in many ways, from brand development to copywriting. Give it a shot. Try it. I promise you; it will soon become one of your favourite marketing tools.
If you'd like to learn more about emotions and purchase decisions, I encourage you to check out this article from Psychology Today HERE.