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You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll buy stuff.:
5 strategies for 'emotion-based' marketing
 Not long ago, I was at an event where an expert from the great white north (Canada) was talking about social media as a marketing tool for businesses. In the middle of his talk, he stopped and said:
"Of course you would never use emotions in B2B (business-to-business) marketing."
Kind of caught me off-guard. Because in my book, business-to-business and business-to-consumer have something quite obvious in common.
Consumers are people who buy stuff. And businesses are run by people who buy stuff.
All people have emotions. All people feel.
5 strategies for emotion-based marketing
Inside that business owner in the stuffy shirt is a real person. She laughs. She cries. She likes songs and movies because they make her feel. He has a heart and a head. And when her emotions are touched, she tends to remember the message more.
Sure, that business owner still has to justify the purchase and you had better appeal to her logical mind, too. But that part comes after you have connected with her feelings. Here are some ways to do that:
1. Tell her stories. You can do a lot with the right story, one that appeals to the senses, one that shows your personality and voice and paints a picture. 2. Use analogies. Your readers love an analogy because they "get it" right away. And because they are visual, good analogies touch a deep, emotional part of that brain. We explained in a blog post why we dumped our brand new (second) business by comparing the needy "baby" to our jealous 16-year-old (and first business), Cat's Eye Marketing. Use this powerful tool when you can. 3. Make her laugh. The actor John Cleese said it perfectly, "If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas." I'm not talking about cruel, sarcastic humor here, or just telling jokes. I mean the kind of humor that makes us all see how much we are alike. The kind that brings us together. 4. Scare her (in a nice way). We all have fears of losing something or someone. Of not doing something right. Of our business failing because we made the wrong decision, went with the wrong vendor, spent too much money on a solution that didn't work. Find a way to identify that fear, then walk your prospect to the solution, which is, of course, your product or service. 5. Satisfy other emotional 'cravings.' There are tons more. It takes a little time and skill to hit on the one your customer may be feeling, but it's worth it. Put yourself in their shoes, find the right emotional craving, then satisfy it.
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