Tips for Triggering Emotion or Reaction in Your Sales Copy

• Written by Michael Bass

The use of emotion in marketing goes back hundreds of years. Though, in the past hundred years, triggering an emotional reaction has become a science. Businesses have spent millions of dollars trying to learn which phrases, colors, layouts, images, and words are most likely to connect with people.

You don’t need to spend millions to gain these same benefits. You can learn from the research that’s already been performed.

There are 4 Primary Emotions

Science tells that there are 4 primary emotions that human beings are capable of. Though, these can be combined in various ways to create a large array of emotions. With that being said, it becomes easier to include emotional triggers in your sales copy when you focus on the 4 basic emotions:

• Fear
• Anger
• Happiness
• Sadness

Triggering the Emotion of Fear 

Fear and surprise are used to spur action. For example, insurance companies promote the fear of not having insurance when tragedy strikes. Fear is commonly used on landing pages and in sales copy.

When writing your copy, the first section of your content should address a common fear or issue that your customers may experience. You want to start by bringing up the problems that your product or service will address. Discuss the issues that your customers face, before making a pitch.

Triggering the Emotion of Anger 

Anger is often used in a similar manner as fear. It also helps encourage people to take action. You can see this in commercials for the humane society, relief efforts, and charitable organizations that help abused pets or children. Anger then spurs people to do their part to help with these efforts.

Anger can be used in your sales copy, using a similar approach as with fear. If the problems that your customers face are likely to cause anger, then use that to your benefit. For example, “don’t you hate it when” or “isn’t it irritating when this happens”.

Triggering the Emotion of Happiness

When should you trigger happiness in your copy? When you want people to share your content with their friends and family. This helps generate word of mouth advertising.

The next time a commercial break comes on the television, pay attention to the commercials. You’ll definitely see plenty of examples of happiness being used as a primary motivator.

How can you make people happy with your content? By offering them relief. After you have brought up concerns in order to elicit fear or anger, you can turn the tables by discussing the benefits of your product or service. Offer customers a solution to the problems that you brought up.

Triggering the Emotion of Sadness

Sadness impacts the same region of the brain that is triggered by happiness. This is used to make an emotional connection with customers. They’ll feel a bond with the business.

Sadness can be difficult to work into your sales copy. But, it can be used. If you have a story that you want to tell, such as an inspirational story of what led you to start your business, you can include this in your copy.

Delivering an inspirational, motivational, or uplifting example of how you’ve transformed your life helps build the same bond that you get by triggering sadness.

While there is more to the emotion wheel than just fear, anger, happiness, and sadness, these are the four basic emotions that you should focus on. Look at other sales pitches that you see online. You’ll notice at least two of these emotions being used in almost every product landing page that you visit.

Emotion is an important part of marketing. Even if you don’t realize it, you’ve probably used emotion in your content in some form. In addition to emotion, there are many ways to increase your success.

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Image Sources:
Floorwalker, M. (Posted: July 23, 2013). Featured image of emotion: 10 odd scientific facts about emotions. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2013/07/23/10-odd-scientific-facts-about-emotions/
Indo-Asian News Service. (June 12, 2014). Image of fear: Why stress, fear trigger heart attacks. Retrieved from http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/why-stress-fear-trigger-heart-attacks/
Self Help Zone. (Posted: September 8, 2007). Image of anger: What types of angers trigger your anger?. Retrieved from http://www.selfhelpzone.com/anger-management/what-types-of-angers-trigger-your-anger/

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