Does it make a difference whether companies are liked or disliked, loved or loathed?
Intuitively, I think we all know the answer to that.
Yes, we are more likely to buy from a business if we like it. And less likely if we don’t.
If you’re a copywriter you already know that people’s buying decisions are heavily influenced by their emotions. People buy with their hearts, not with their brains.
There is also plenty of objective data to support the claim that emotions do the heavy lifting when driving sales.
According to researchers at Gallup, customer engagement – which they describe as a customer’s emotional or psychological attachment to a brand, product or company – is the definitive predictor of business growth.
In other words, a business will grow, or not, depending on how its customers feel about it.
How can we drive the rise of positive emotions?
Clearly, job one for a company is to be likeable. And not to make mistakes that make it look bad.
The next step is to make sure that its marketing materials stimulate positive emotions.
That sounds obvious, right?
But if you take a sampling of a few companies and look at the language they use across their digital marketing platforms, you’ll probably be disappointed.
You’ll find a lot of dull writing. Safe, boring prose that is designed to engage the intellect but leaves you cold emotionally.
And a lot of jargon, corporate speak and incomprehensible gobbledygook.
Does that kind of writing touch readers emotionally? Nope. Quite the opposite. It informs the rational part of your brain, but doesn’t make you feel anything at all.
At the other extreme, some websites, emails and newsletters are overly promotional. Too much of the hard sell. Relentless promotions and pitches.
Writing like this may well stimulate an emotional response, but usually not the kind the marketer is looking for. Push too hard to make the sale and your reader is likely to feel defensive and perhaps irritated. Angry even.
Reveal your smiling inner human through conversational language.
Again, this is self-evident. When digital marketing materials are written in language that feels open, transparent, honest and human, people are more likely to have positive feelings about you and your business.
Like I say in the video above, even fiction can stimulate genuine emotions.
And honest, conversational language on a website, or in an email, puts people at ease. Even makes them smile.
You can’t get that kind of emotional engagement by boring me with corporate speak. Nor can you do it by pushing your sales message too hard.
But you can do it by communicating with me through language that feels naturally conversational.
As always, just imagine you were sitting across the table from your prospect and customer.
Look them in the eye and share a message that makes them smile.
NOTE: If you’d like to add the craft of conversational copywriting to your online writer’s toolbox, find out about the Conversational Copywriting course here…
