What Feelings Do Your Messages Create?

In Gary Vaynerchuck’s book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook he points out for us to “sell stuff” we need a message that creates an emotional connection. When the message is carefully planned and skillfully crafted using the three elements of video, light, sound, and motion, our message produces an emotional connection with the viewer. At the beginning of each video project, I ask clients, “What do you want the audience to think, feel, and do after watching the video?” This article focuses on the feeling part of that question. The feeling or emotional bond that we create will motivate the viewer to buy.  

The three elements in creating an emotional connecting story are relevancy, sincerity, and truth.

Make it relevant. Address a need that exists now or something the viewer does not need now but will in the future. For example, legal services. Generally, we don’t contact a lawyer until we need one. When we do, we generally go to Mr. Google, phone a friend, or pick the first brochure/letter that arrives in the mail after an accident. LegalShield provides its members 24/7 access to legal advice and services. Their headline “Affordable Legal Access for All” demonstrates a feeling of inclusion and fairness. A sub-headline reads “With LegalShield, finding solutions to your legal issues doesn’t have to be stressful, complicated, or expensive.” This empathetic statement demonstrates they understand their audience. They know their goal, dreams, and desires.

Make it sincere. Listen to the needs and wants of your audience then deliver the solution in a conversational tone. Seth Godin’s book “This is Marketing” identifies this as being “Market-Driven”. Being Market-Driven means discovering the audience’s hopes, dreams, aggravations, and frustrations and committing to helping them improve their lives, we establish trust and earn the right to ask for the sale. The LegalShield sub-headline is a good Market-Driven example.

Make it truthful - deliver what you promise. Our stories become true because we make them true with our actions, our products, and our services. Truth is also conveyed in the words and phrases we use. Too much jargon and advertising slogans cause the viewer to question our veracity. Truthful, relevant, sincere messages establish the emotional bond of trust without having to say, “you can trust us”.

“Always tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember what you said.” – Mark Twain.

What emotional connections are you creating? What is the focus of your story? Are your messages relevant to the audiences’ needs, wants, and goals? Is your message Market-Driven? What do you want the viewer the think, FEEL, and do after watching your video?