Why I Want to Learn Copywriting: Emotional Selling

byMarsha5

667 followers

6 years ago

I had never thought about it before, but most decisions are made based on emotions. I'm not a textbook "left brain", but I do tend to discredit my own feelings. Today, I was presented with a concept that I need to work through, and so let me know what you think.

Here it is: People buy on emotion and rationalize their purchases later with logic.

Consider your recent purchases? What made you hand over your money? Did the product fulfill a desire or did it alleviate a fear? Let me give you a personal example:

Last week, I bought a linen shawl that I did not need. I purchased it firstly because it was on sale (I actually ended up getting it free because they had a "buy 3, get 1 free" promotion!). Secondly, I think its neutral dark tan color will look great with everything I own and, thirdly, I love wearing natural fabrics. However, had I been reasoning, I would not even have picked it up. I had gone shopping for shirts!

In a nutshell, this was a fully emotion-based purchase because it made me feel good. I got a bargain that I think looks good on me, and it makes me feel like I'm environmentally conscious. Now, the question is: how can I make this psychology work for my niche?

Just offering technical specifications or information about products and services is not enough. Customers may put off a decision if the emotional hook is weak or nonexistent, especially if a competitor's product is technically better.

If the sale is incomplete without the emotional "experience", then how do I use it to persuade browsers to become customers?

Gain and Fear

The two big motivators that cause people to buy are desire for gain and fear of loss. Actually, experts say that fear is stronger than desire for gain, so our sales copy needs to leverage that aspect.

My homework assignment (and yours, if you like) is to decide how my product/service fits into the desire/fear framework. I sell English courses and translation services. The emotional benefits are the sense of security that comes from knowing that written material is correct and well-structured, and personal confidence resulting from being able to communicate correctly in English.

If I want to focus on desire for gain, I can ask potential customers how they feel when they need to speak English, and persuade them that they can overcome anxiety and develop confidence if they take my course.

On the other hand, if I decide to cater to their fear of loss, I could mention the unfortunate name of Audi's latest car, the E-tron, which is embarrassing in French, and just say that if something like that can happen to a major car manufacturer, then it can happen to anyone. But not if you work with me!

Over to you, reader. What emotional levers do you use in your copy?