When you understand human emotion, anyone can master marketing

Are you sick of all the fancy marketing jargon about SEO, funnels, conversions, and open rates? Agencies have lists full of suggestions they advise you to follow and say that if you don’t, you won’t succeed.

While there is merit to full-scale marketing initiatives, for people who just want to learn how to attract clients and increase sales, it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

Read further, since this piece was written for you.

Marketing means triggering human emotion to grab their attention and then compel them to take the action you ask them to.

Easy, right?

Maybe.

Luckily, human behavior is very predictable. We like to think we have evolved, and we certainly have…. on some levels. But marketing is 100% emotional. We still follow the same basic instincts as our primitive ancestors.

Use this knowledge to your advantage to attract more interest in your content, and you may even go viral.

There really are no set rules if you can get the desired results, as long as you maintain a level of ethnicity in everything you do.

Marketers keep inventing new ways of getting attention.

People love shiny objects, just like cats love to chase string. Humans are curious and easy to draw in.

To master marketing, you need to become a master at using human emotion to create interest and one way to do this is via emotional content. The best content is created in a storytelling form people can't help but consume.

Below are five content types you should learn to master:

1/ Happiness: Good News

People love feel-good posts. We all want to believe the world is actually a good place. We naturally seek a happy ending to every story and can get very upset when it doesn’t happen.

In Your Content:

• Celebratory Announcements that begin with “I am thrilled to announce”…..insert anything and people want to celebrate with you. Examples: Graduation, Engagement, Promotions, New Job, Marriage, Anniversary, Pregnancy, New Baby, Sobriety Anniversary, Cancer-Free Anniversary, Business Anniversary, Company Goes Public, Company Reaches Amazing Milestone, Book Launch, or Your Birthday.
• Inspirational Posts, including cute videos or quotes
• Hero posts with a good story that has a happy ending
• Humorous content
• Entertaining content

Emotional Triggers: Happiness. Hope. Reassurance That Life is Good.

2/ Compassion: Sad or Touching Posts

People love a good cry, surprisingly, just as much as good news. Should you milk this fact to ‘go viral’? No! But knowing this fact can mean if you want to raise awareness, solicit help or feel supported via condolences, or to let others going through a similar tragedy feel less alone, know that it will work. Because people will like, comment, and share sad or touching posts.

In Your Content:

• Vulnerable content about real-life tragedies or bitter-sweet happy ends. Examples are the loss of a loved one, fertility struggles or a miscarriage, a battle with a major illness, poverty and despair, immigration, the story of someone who was the victim of a crime, or a loved one returning home from military service. This content will work even better if there is a bittersweet ending. Be real and authentic and never, ever lie!

Emotional Triggers: Sadness but with good meaning behind it. Empathy. Reminder to Be Grateful of What You Have Since It Isn’t a Given. Awareness Around Certain Issues. Confirmation of Your Values That You Are a Good Person.

3/ Anger: Drama Rants

The third strong emotion we will touch upon next is Anger. Be careful not to use this one too often. People love themselves some drama! A good, juicy scandal makes people feel superior and reassures them that they are better than that. It is typically hard to look away from drama. Humans enjoy being shocked. But as I mentioned, use with caution since this is the ‘hot sauce’ of your content. Avoid hating on people in all cases.

In Your Content:

• One can literally find a dramatic angle on any content. We like to complain about virtually anything, and the more scandalous, the better. Cheating spouses, flirting bosses, discrimination of any kind, being wronged, and more.

Emotional Triggers: Anger. Shock. Curiosity. Reassurance We Are Superior for Not Doing These Horrible Things Mentioned in the Post.

4/ Desire: Attraction Posts

Another strong emotion is Desire. Humans love beauty, seduction, excitement, wealth, power, and more. This releases dopamine into our systems and gives us a small jolt of positive energy.

In Your Content: Showing attractive people, beautiful places and travel, amazing views, parties of elite and cool people, scrumptious food, luxury cars, and private jets, haute couture fashion apparel, specialized top-of-the-line equipment in the audience’s industry, cute animals or kids, or anything you know your audience may find a strong attraction to.

Emotional Triggers: Lust. Desire. Fear of Missing Out. Longing. Daydreaming. Inspiration. Want.

5/ Alarm: Scarcity Posts

People often need a compelling reason to take action. One of the classic and most effective reasons is scarcity. We love to feel like we scored a rare deal that our friends, colleagues, and neighbors will be jealous of.

• In Your Content: Use titles and language that evoke scarcity, like Exclusive Access, Insider Secrets, Last Chance to Register, Only 5 Spots Left, Rare Occasion To…, Limited Offer, Time-Sensitive Registration, VIP Offer, and more.

Emotional Triggers: Pride. Satisfaction. Relief. Hope. Ego.

If you practice using emotion intentionally and strategically in your posts, you will achieve a much higher level of authenticity for your brand. This will drive an increase in engagement with your content. Just make sure to use emotional content responsibly and in moderation. When done correctly, this is marketing at its finest.