The biggest brands in the world don’t just deliver value for money. From Apple to Mercedes-Benz, successful companies have been able to establish significant market share because of clear identities, excellent customer experiences, and thinking different from the competition. But apart from these factors, one other key element drives profits: emotional connections with customers.
Engagement and Satisfaction
The payoff can be enormous when businesses connect on an emotional level to customers. A Harvard report cites the following results:
- After a bank’s credit card was designed for millennials, to draw an emotional connection, it raised usage by 70 percent and new accounts by 40 percent.
- After a retailer reshifted its merchandise and customer experience to its emotionally connected customers, it saw same-store growth increased to three-fold.
When you build relationships with customers, you can expect improvements in your sales, brand recognition, and overall results for your business. An emotionally connected consumer is an engaged consumer. That person will buy more often or visit your establishment more frequently—even when your prices may be at a premium.
An engaged consumer is likely to derive more satisfaction from your products or services, delivering greater value for your company. Why? Emotions drive buying behavior. This applies to businesses serving customers or companies serving other businesses. Each market may differ in how they decide; a retail buyer may be guided by trends when choosing a smartphone, whereas a CIO may think about optimal performance when choosing a communications system. Ultimately, both will be motivated by emotions.
Making That Lucrative Connection
According to Harvard, people follow 10 significant emotional motivators. These are the ones that drive high value for businesses:
- To stand out
- To be confident of the future
- To have a sense of well-being
- To have a sense of freedom
- To feel a sense of thrill
- To belong
- To protect the environment
- To be the person they want to be
- To be secure
- To succeed in life
Whether you’ve just taken on a janitorial franchise opportunity or own a fashion retail store, these motivators can help improve your bottom line. Use them to inform your marketing campaigns and secure favorable results.
One way to do so is to apply Google’s micro-moments, which illustrates how consumers behave and plots out their journey. Marketers use micro-moments to figure out how to target which customer segment. Naturally, a customer who’s still in the I-want-to-know stage would not respond to the same ad as a person in the I-want-to-buy moment. Both customers would not be interested in the same marketing material.
So aside from learning about your customers’ emotional journeys, knowing which consumers fall into a specific motivator is essential.
Another strategy to forge those emotional connections is to talk, interact with your customers. This is especially crucial for local businesses. Have a quick chat with your shoppers. Learn about their experiences in your store. Establish a rapport that will compel them to return and buy.
If you’re strictly online, connect with your customers on the social networks they use. Seek feedback. Respond to queries or complaints immediately. Address their concerns. Take the time to build a relationship, and it is sure to pay off.
Business success is achievable when you have the right elements in place. And when you aim for an emotional connection with your customers, you can expect better brand recognition, improved sales, and healthy profits.
