Throughout 2017, marketers focused on the opportunities virtual and augmented reality pose within the industry. While they are trends to watch, there is a new type of technology garnering a lot of attention.
Emotion analytics can identify and analyze the full human emotional spectrum including mood, attitude and emotional personality. At BusySeed, we prefer to use a mixture of both manual strategies and software to track emotional engagement. Whenever a client’s post goes viral, we do extensive research on why certain posts can be more successful than others. We then repeat these strategies in all future posts. When customers leave behind reviews on social platforms like Facebook or Yelp, we analyze sentiment by using technologies similar to IBM Watson’s API. The combination of these two methods helps us develop the most successful and emotionally engaging campaign.
Paired with existing data and technologies, we will be able to create a marketing strategy that is more precise and effective than ever before. Companies like Affectiva analyze facial expressions while others like Beyond Verbal analyze emotion in speech. Of course, emotion can be present within written mediums, so companies like Clarabridgeoffer natural language processing services.
Why focus on emotions?
Scientists have uncovered that humans feel first and think second. When confronted with sensory information, the emotional section of the brain can process the information in one-fifth of the time the cognitive section requires.
Emotions also have a large impact on brand loyalty, according to the Tempkin Group. In a 2016 study, they found that when individuals have a positive emotional association with a specific brand, they are 8.4 times more likely to trust the company, 7.1 times more likely to purchase more and 6.6 times more likely to forgive a company’s mistake. Nielsen released a study in 2016 which revealed that ads with an above average emotional response from consumers caused a 23% increase in sales compared to average advertisements.The Harvard Business Reviewhas also stated that a positive emotional bond with a company is more important to consumers than customer satisfaction.
Emotions can boost an ad’s virality online. Unruly, a video ad tech company, reported that 2015’s most shared ad was Google Android’s “Friends Furever” campaign. Oliver Smith, EMEA MD of Unruly, noted that the use of animals in adverts evokes “strong feelings of warmth and well-being.” He explained that emotional intensity is one of the deciding factors for video virality.
When starting an emotionally driven marketing campaign, a shift in focus is necessary. Consumers are no longer just consumers — they’re individuals with similar emotions. Businesses need to promote an experience and a feeling rather than a single product. The emotions a business chooses to feature in a new campaign need to fit within the brand so it seems like a natural extension of the marketing strategy. Try to think of emotions other than just happiness, sadness or anger. For small businesses, pride and passion for their local area can be enough for a very strong campaign.
How can emotion analytics help?
By scientifically measuring the emotional reactions to different campaigns or individual advertisements, you can identify and repeat the successful elements in future campaigns. If something doesn’t work, you can use data to figure out what should be improved to create the best ad possible.
Look to the future.
The big question is the ethics of the entire situation. Emotions are personal, so under what circumstances should brands or advertising agencies have the right to access and analyze them? This question can only be answered over the course of time.
While the mainstream use of emotion analytics software may be a ways away, it is important to implement emotional content in all future marketing strategies.
Consumers who are emotionally connected to a brand are worth two times more to a business than the average highly satisfied customer. They will trust the brand more, make more purchases while exhibiting lower price sensitivity and follow different communication channels more intently. An emotional connection with consumers is the secret to a powerful marketing strategy and considerable financial gain.
[“Source-forbes”]