6 Important Emotional Marketing Cues You Should Use

Learn how to tap into certain consumer emotions to help market your products. Take advantage of these six helpful tips on emotional marketing cues.

Only in the 20th century did consumer psychology finally become a published science, but for hundreds and even thousands of years, business people have used the psychology of consumer emotions to promote their products. From TV ads to your supermarket’s product placement, you can see these emotional marketing cues tapping into pocketbooks every day.

  1. Turn Wants into Needs

    Consumers would like to buy what they want, but make purchases according to their needs. You may want a 1968 Stingray Corvette, but you need an economical 4-door car, which means you will most likely purchase the boring sedan.

    Whatever you sell, it must appeal to the needs of your intended consumer. Why would you need a classic hotrod car? The purchase could be justified because it is an investment automobile. It helps build your social status. Your dating life will skyrocket. Any of these reasons can turn a “want” into a “need” for a potential Corvette buyer.

  2. Use of Fear in Marketing

    If you have watched television lately, you will no doubt see all the ads for products that kill germs and bacteria. Who wants to contract salmonella? Why would you allow your children to spread germs? These commercials are prime examples of using fear to prod consumers to buy products that help kill germs and keep them protected from disease. You can find similar ways to explain to your customers of the potential hazards they could face without your products.

  3. Build Trust

    Customers want to make purchases from businesses they trust. Why do we make repeated purchases of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo? We simply trust the brand and its product – and so did our parents. There may be hundreds of other infant “no tears” shampoos available, but the Johnson brand has been the best-selling baby shampoo for decades. Use the trust you build with your customers as your emotional marketing cue.

  4. Offer Value

    Besides trust in a brand, consumers still want value. When using consumer emotions in your marketing, let your potential customers know that value they receive when they buy your products. How much less does your product cost than the competition? Maybe your product costs more, but lasts longer and has more uses. The value you promote in consumer psychology is the benefit they receive.

  5. Sense of Belonging

    Think about all the people who put the Macintosh Apple sticker on their cars and are proud to belong to the elite group of Mac users. Customers want to know that they are part of a “family” of others who have successfully used your products. This important emotional marketing cue lets consumers know that can feel part of an exclusive or highly regarded group when they buy your product or service.

  6. Start a Trend

    Consumers have forever been trendy. Part of your consumer psychology should appeal to the sense that they have the “hottest” new products that set them apart from the average consumer.

Emotional marketing cues are proven and successful marketing strategies. Analyze how you can tap into consumer emotions in your marketing to help increase sales.

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