Todd Heft

Have you ever taken a psychology course? If you're writing ad copy or any kind of marketing copy, for that matter, there's no better tool than psychology to understand why people do the things they do. And more specifically, there's no better tool to persuade people to take an action. Once you have a basic grasp of psychology, it can help you construct memorable copy and messaging that drives actions.

I studied psych in college and actually considered going into it as a profession. But I drifted into radio instead (what kid turns down a chance to get free music and concert tickets and meet rock stars?). I’m a naturally inquisitive person, so when I started voicing ads back in my broadcast days, I started asking, Why did commercial A work when commercial B didn't? Later, as I started learning about the principles of marketing, I understood the answer: In most cases, the copy  - and sometimes my delivery - didn't ring the emotional bell for the listener (apologies to Pavlov and his dog bell).

An ad that doesn't ring an emotional bell will never get the response you hoped for. Some say that a bad ad that runs relentlessly still works. Perhaps, but a great ad that nails the target and the emotional center of the problem costs less to run and delivers a far superior ROAS. And it doesn't matter if you're spending one thousand or one million; the principles are the same.

It blows my mind that I still see and hear advertising from major agencies and leading brands that ignore the basics. And it makes me nuts because so much money is burned.

• That "conversation" between two people discussing the "amazing" results of product X followed by, "I'm going to call right away! What's the number again?" This is so unimaginative and hasn't worked since the 90s. It creates little to no motivation to purchase, and few will remember the spot even after hearing it fifty times. IMO this is lazy ad writing.
• That ad for business software that asks you to "imagine" that you have too many software apps to run your business and it's sooooo confusing! And that this new app can replace all of them! A  business owner has a yes/no opinion on that; they don't have to "imagine" it. The tone and delivery of the ad, as well as the low cost of the software, targets small business owners, so an opening with a setup to reduce cost and improve productivity would be more effective.
• An ad whose opening sentence is about how to get out of a timeshare agreement only to use a needle drop and say, “We can’t help you with that,” and move on to their unrelated actual message. Sorry, man, I’m gone. Your ad is neither clever nor effective. And you probably irritated a lot of people.

So, back to the top. What do I mean by "ringing the emotional bell"? In most advertising, your message should identify the problem your target customer has and offer your product or service as the solution. A great ad uses emotion - usually negative - to amplify the potential problem. Then it again uses an emotion - usually positive - to offer a solution.

The slight exception to this formula is a branding ad. Great branding ads tie a specific emotion to the company brand. Coca-Cola might be the most famous example - no problem mentioned, no solution offered - just a positive association with the soft drink plus the logo and tagline (Polar Bears at Christmas, ballparks in summer).

Now, you might say that emotions work when you're targeting consumers, but what about B2B advertising? Don't info-heavy ads work better when targeting business owners? Actually, no. Emotion plays a role in reaching business owners/managers as well - they're human beings, too. And they have many issues on their plates. But the B2B marketing funnel is longer than B2C's, so there is a difference in when and where that info-heavy pitch may need to be used. But to get their attention? Emotion. They have a business problem; you have a solution. Cisco is masterful at creating branding spots that build trust, some of which you can see here.

And let's talk about using humor in advertising for a moment. When done well, humor is highly effective. When it misses the mark, it can be downright disastrous and damage your brand. Be careful.

Back in business school or in your marketing courses, you hopefully learned about the Hierarchy of Effects and, more specifically, AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. These are the guiding principles of all advertising. But what makes them work is emotion.

In psychology, there are generally six categories of emotions: happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger (there are other versions of this that differ slightly). Inside these six categories are other emotions like pride, love, lust, contentment, optimism, rage, nervousness, cheerfulness, optimism, and many more.

When planning advertising, the first step is to create customer profiles with psychographics. Each customer and psychographic has a unique problem. It’s from these customer profiles, psychographics, and unique problems that you determine which emotion/s should be used in your ad to get their attention, stir interest, and encourage that potential customer to take action. When you nail this process, magical things happen.

Resources for your enjoyment:

A test of the hierarchy of advertising effects via a panel data set on email advertising, University of Texas

Hierarchy of Effects Theory (Video series), Solve It Like A Marketer

The influence of brand marketing on consumers’ emotion in mobile social media environment, NIH National Library Of Medicine

The Emotional Effectiveness of Advertisement, NIH National Center For Biotechnology Information

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