For those who make content production and marketing a part of their life, neuroimaging shows that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions rather than factual information.
As a part of the Digital Video Technology Program at Florida Panhandle Technical college in Chipley, Florida, an emphasis is placed on marketing, advertising, branding and imaging of products, so that students who become self-employed have a basic sense of the entire industry.
Emotional content is as important to brand creation as it is for traditional advertising commercials, and we can see the power of emotional content at work in marketing that has gone viral.
For content creators, using emotion can be an incredibly powerful engagement tactic, but it must be used artfully.
Here is a short exploration of the science of emotion and how we can use it in an empathetic way to create more meaningful content.
Science of emotion
Emotional engagement is affected by scientific principles that directly impact content creation. Here are four key areas:
- Design
- Color
- Images
- Branding
Design
Designs often fall into patterns around the latest trends.
However, designs that evoke the greatest emotional response tend to involve something out of the norm.
Elements of surprise can prevent your content from being filtered out by Broca’s area in the brain.
Additionally, introducing schema incongruity, that is, information conflicting with an established schema- has the potential to increase interest, memorability, and persuasiveness in consumers.
As an extreme example, the video for consumer product ‘Squatty Potty’ went viral precisely because it was weird and surprising, but it’s hard to argue with over 38 million YouTube views.
Persuasive? The company earned $30 million in revenue in 2017.
Color
Color can have a powerful impact on a viewer’s emotional response.
Studies show visuals in color can increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%. Using specific colors can have a significant impact on mood; for example, red evokes strong emotions, while yellow can foster happy feelings, and blue creates a calm, trustworthy atmosphere.
Coca-Cola consistently uses red as its brand color. Red not only evokes a strong emotional response, it cultivates a positive, friendly energy that makes consumers want to participate.
Images
MailChimp uses yellow to stand out from the crowd, as it did in its out-of-home and digital brand campaign.
A large body of research confirms the emotional power of visuals, Visual Teaching Alliance quotes David Hyerle’s field guide that says 90% of all information transmitted to the brain is visual.
In fact, images can increase trust and belief in the information being conveyed- a known phenomenon that comedian Stephen Colbert calls the truthiness effect.
Images also evoke emotional responses.
For example, photos of people have been shown to increase empathy, and photos of babies tend to be more engaging than other types of imagery.
In one case study, a South African financial institution sent 50,000 direct-mail pieces featuring an image of a person.
In some, the person was the same gender as the recipient; in other cases, the person in the photo was the opposite gender. For male customers, using a photo of a female in the offer letter significantly increased response; the effect had about as much impact as if the bank offered a drop in the interest rate by 4.5 percentage points.
Branding
Most consumers have an unconscious aversion to being persuaded.
They see a piece of branded content and are immediately resistant to the message. Experiments have shown that a more subtle inclusion of branding can increase views by as much as 20%.
The Kate Spade brand has done a fantastic job of creating content that highlights the company without explicitly talking about its products in its #loveinspades 2019 campaign. Each commercial features a group of friends hanging out and getting dressed, but the focus is on their interactions with each other, not on brand placements.
Art of emotion
Knowing the science that impacts our audience’s emotional response is useful.
However, it takes an artful approach to turn this science into impactful, engaging content. It’s all too easy for brands to misuse psychological levers in an attempt to make an impact on viewers or readers.
As content creators, how do we walk the line between good emotional engagement and audience manipulation?
It takes empathy, continuous refinement, and above all, a relevant story.
What do your audience members really want from your content: Inspiration? Education? Practical advice? Latest news? Depending on their motivation, the emotions you cultivate, and the way you go about cultivating them will differ.
For example, if your audience is interested in inspiration, you want to evoke emotions like awe and curiosity.
Conversely, if your audience is interested in financial news, you want to go after fear or reassurance, depending on the news.
The best stories immerse the audience in the action.
Allowing your viewers to actively participate provides a deeper channel for emotional connection. With interactive content, your audience is in the driver’s seat, following their own path, answering questions, drilling down for more information, and exploring topics through multiple lenses or perspectives.
This, in turn, provides you with insights into what your audience cares about.
Refining your approach and figuring out the precise topic, tone, and slant that resonates with your audience requires testing. As you publish new content with an emotional thread, look closely at your performance metrics to uncover what’s working and what isn’t.
Content analytics platforms like Contently’s measure content performance by individual piece and by topic, persona, or funnel type, providing data to refine your approach.
Emotion is the key to driving strong engagement with your content.
Using the science of emotional resonance and the art of creativity, you can design stories that appeal to your audience in a meaningful, real way. These stories will inspire members of your audience to share and will keep them coming back for more.
-Courtesy Content marketing Institute