Believe it or not 69% of millennials state fear of missing out (FOMO) as a key driver in their motivation to purchase a product or service, with 60% purchasing it within 24 hours of their first interaction – be that on social media or whilst out shopping. It is understood that this stems from the expectation of results given by using/ experiencing it rather than the actual use itself.
Marketing now must capitalise on this and provide a gateway to becoming an idealised version of oneself, showing something that moves us to envision how a purchase can take us one step closer to ‘living the dream.’
The dream state conjured produces an array of chemical reactions in the brain, leading to the warm and fuzzy feelings that we all experience. The brain leads us to believe that this feeling is only the tip of the iceberg and if we possessed a certain product, the feelings, instead of being momentary would lead us into a prolonged state of bliss. The main chemical responsible for this is dopamine and we have become a society addicted to it, always looking for the next fix.
This creation of a dopamine craving civilisation is marketing gold. We not only crave a dopamine hit, we crave it instantly and continuously which has led to us jumping from trend to trend spending continuously beyond our needs, instead focussed on working towards our dreams in order to continuously provide those dopamine hits.
So how do we use this without becoming merely a trend that provides a one-time hit?
Using Emotion as Part of Your Brand
New research has shown that consumer’s want to be able to emotionally relate to a brand’s values more than ever, with 80% stating this is important to them according to consumergoods.com.
It is therefore essential that we build brands that provide powerful core values with a clear identity in order to establish those all-important lasting emotional connections. The connection to a brand goes beyond the single hit of a one-time use or single product, it leaves consumers returning time and again.
A brand’s emotional journey can, in itself be a gift to a customer. It can leave them feeling special and valued giving that all important dopamine hit. Here at Dupree International we believe that every brand should use emotion to gain a true connection with their customers as we must remember we are creatures of emotion NOT logic.
How to Create Emotional Connection?
Emotion is easier to convey when you have as previously mentioned, a solid set of company values that your customers can relate to. These values form the basis of your brand and must be as authentic as possible, created based on who you are and what you represent. We use a bespoke customer journey to establish specifically what our client’s values are and believe this is the secret ingredient in each of our customer’s successes.
In an age where the cost of living is on the rise and the world of marketing is over diluted, thanks mainly to the ease of mass marketing products online either via ads or social media, brands are latching onto every unique method to encourage a sale.
Harvard Business Review conducted research across multiple sectors and has proven that customer satisfaction is 52% higher when a company’s values are used to stir emotion during the marketing process and customer retention is more than doubled when relating to who ‘a brand’ is rather than the products they are selling.
Adding your values throughout the business
It is not only in digital and print marketing that emotion is useful. If your values are used throughout the customer’s journey such as in a store’s physical branding, layout and sales processes it can increase sales by up to 25% they have found. For example, if your store makes spaces for breastfeeding mothers, it is seen as sensitive to their needs. If you use recycled materials (and of course highlight this) it is seen as sympathetic towards the environment and sustainable for the future.
The client’s perception of these acts is that, not only are you authentically yourself and true to what you believe, but also intelligent and providing something that is high quality in every way. This further boosts their perception of your product or service.
When these strong relatable values are clearly demonstrated, you are more likely to create a repeat customer who will then go on to buy multiple products.
How to convey your values
Once your values are created they must be demonstrated clearly and consistently. We like to spend time with our clients as part of the creation of their brand, explaining how their customer’s will buy into the ‘idealism’ of their values, but what will clinch the sale is the ‘realism’ of the demonstration of their values in their products and service everyday.
As Simon Sinek says, people will never love what you do until your employees love what you do.
If you have clear values these need to be linked to a clear marketing campaign so that your logo(s) and strapline(s) become closely associated with these.
5 Easy Ways to Convey your Values to Your Customers
· Videos On Your Website or Social Media.
· Having a team who embodies your values.
· Supporting relevant charitable organisations.
· Setting your space up to embody these values
· Contributing a little towards them every day
Start selling the Dream today.
Selling your customers a slice of their dream reality need not be daunting. Start with your own fundamentals and work outwards looking at how you can relate who your company is and what your company can do for them emotionally rather than pragmatically.
If it does all still seem like a little too much, please reach out to the team and see how Dupree International can support you.