The day I understood I should associate my brand with an emotion was the day things “clicked” for me.
When I was working on my stationery brand, Honizukle Press, I had never given emotion a thought. I constantly struggled to come up with content for my emails, my Instagram feed, my blog. Sure, I had a pretty logo and nice photography but I really wasn’t clear on what emotion my brand should be associated with. What emotion my customers should feel when they engaged with my brand and my products.
After a very interesting class taught by Seth Godin, I realized my brand’s emotion was delight.
Once I came to that conclusion, I realized, there was room in the market for my product. I had struggled so long trying to sell my stationery. I didn’t feel anyone needed it and my efforts sort of felt apologetic. But my brand is about delight. My stationery and my designs bring joy and beauty into people’s lives, something we may not think we “need” but we often crave. That made all the difference!
When I decided that delight was my emotion, my entire way of thinking about my business changed.
I finally got CLARITY and with that came DIRECTION! It was easy now to answer many questions that I had been struggling with because I was approaching it from my brand’s emotion.
Everything comes together when you decide on the emotion you want people to associate with your brand.
Have you thought about what emotion you want your audience to feel when they engage with your site and your products? It’s not something we often associate with branding or marketing but it’s something that is at the heart of every decision we make and your audience is no different.
Countless studies show that people respond to emotion, specially when making decisions around what they purchase and who they follow. Features and benefits matter, of course, but the emotional connection made is something that can keep your audience with you for a long time.
So what is your brand’s emotion?
The key is to think about your audience, then think about how you serve them and come up with an emotion that they should feel about your product or service as it relates to their lives.
Think of your brand and what you offer. Maybe you build cutting edge apps or some kind of innovative software. Your brand’s emotion might be centered around fear! The fear of being left behind, not being prepared or not being up to date if they don’t have the latest in technology.
What if you offer organizational services? Your emotion might be control. Your audience wants an orderly house and everything in it’s place. This could be rooted in the need for a deeper sense of control over their life and their future that will resonate with your services.
Maybe your emotion is security. You’re a business coach whose main goal is to have your clients feel safe in your hands, knowing that you will guide them to achieve their goals.
These are all very different emotions for very different brands but they’re all focusing on what the intended audience feels about their own life.
Consumers don’t really care about brands, they care about how that brand can serve them.
How will your shiny new app help them build a better website? Will your organizational services improve their quality of life? Will your coaching methods help them achieve their goals faster?
That is why emotional branding is so powerful!
Think about it, how many times have you found yourself making a purchase for fear of missing out? It happens to me with clothes, books and even online courses. Emotions rule us all and when you position your service or product from an emotional perspective, you’re much more likely to get a reaction that is likely to end in a sale and maybe even a loyal customer.
Remember, the key is to think about your audience, then think about how you serve them and come up with an emotion that they should feel about their lives in relation to your product or service.
In that class I saw with Seth Godin, he mentioned there were only two types of emotional categories, you’re either in a positive one or a negative one. They don’t have anything to do with success they’re just the categories that emotions will fall under.
For example, fear, guilt, and scarcity are negative emotions. They might prompt a person to do something for fear of missing out on a big opportunity. While trust, security and delight are positive emotions. These might make the same person decide to do something because it aligns with a value they believe in. Same result, different way of getting there.
So, have you decided which emotion you want to associate with your brand? If you feel stuck, download my Who is your Audience? workbook so you can define who your audience is.
Once you work that out, think about your services or products and how they help that audience. Finally, come up with an emotion these people would feel about their lives in relation to your service or product. It is all about how what you offer makes them feel about their life and solves their problem.
When you get clear on that emotion, you will be more than half way to branding your business, successfully. The direction that you get from that one decision is astounding!
Here’s to branding you for success!