Connect with Shoppers Through Emotional Marketing

Written by Dealer Spike

What is emotional marketing? Hint: It doesn’t have to do with how you feel as you create social posts or paid ads (although, if you’re harnessing the power of emotional marketing, you’ll no doubt feel the emotions you’re trying to target).

Emotional marketing is the use of persuasive messaging to tap into your audience’s emotions and form a connection, with the intent of motivating your audience to take certain action. We’ve seen emotional marketing play a role in consumerism for years—studies have shown that buyers are more influenced by their emotions than the actual ad content. But thanks to the events of 2020, its popularity and impact have increased. Now consumers are analyzing the emotional response that brands have displayed toward the pandemic and other disasters. The brands that have provided educational content and support have fared better than those that continued to generate direct sales pitches.

While some pre-pandemic shopping habits are expected to resume this year, the shift toward emotional marketing is one of the many 2020-inspired practices that will remain highly relevant. This leaves many trailer dealers asking the question, “After the events of 2020, how do I know which emotions will resonate with my audience?” While we as a nation are slowly settling back into routine, consumers still want to see messages of empathy, reassurance and hope from the brands that promised to stick with them during the tough times.

Be Part of Your Community
Whether your dealership has been around for years or was established recently to fulfill a growing demand, your business is a piece of the cultural infrastructure. It’s important that shoppers know how much your business values its connection to the community when they read your website copy and social media posts. Your messaging should make it clear that anyone who interacts with your dealership is now part of your extended family.

Real People Form Real Connections
While shoppers ultimately are interested in your inventory, it’s your people who will hold their attention. It’s no secret that happy, smiling faces create the strongest audience response, so don’t hesitate to feature your friendly sales team on your website, social media and paid ads. To further engage your prospects, ask your current customers if you can share their experiences with your dealership and how you helped them solve a pressing problem.

Show, Don’t Tell
Even if you don’t have the capacity to feature authentic candidates, you can still create videos to walk customers through your dealership’s operations. People retain 95% of a video message, according to Forbes, because it evokes specific reactions and emotions. The most-shared videos are those that elicit laughs, surprise, excitement and happiness. Regardless of the tone you’re aiming for, it’s important that your video strike the intended response so that your audience is inspired to take the desired action, such as contact your dealership or browse your latest inventory.

You’re no doubt familiar with the saying "It’s not what you say, but how you make them feel." This could not be truer when it comes to engaging with your sales leads. If we could expound upon the phrase, we would emphasize that it’s "how you make them feel welcome, heard and appreciated" that compels consumers to take the step from prospect to customer.

About Dealer Spike

As an industry leader in digital marketing strategy, Dealer Spike provides custom responsive websites and a suite of additional marketing services to accelerate online leads for your dealership. To learn more, please visit www.dealerspike.com.