To make your advertising campaign effective, involve human passions and emotions

Everyone has known for a long time that advertising is the engine of trade. Only here are the days when advertising simply informed about the product and its advantages, are long gone. If advertising does not affect a person’s emotions, then you are unlikely to be able to induce him to buy a product or service. So says the recognized Russian expert in the field of advertising Alexei Ivanov. In his opinion, in order to increase the effectiveness of advertising, you need to use at least one of the seven “emotional springs”: envy, curiosity, fear, love, greed, vanity or guilt, he states in his new book, Advertising. Game on emotions ”, where it gives practical recommendations of science to the correct and effective“ game on emotions ”of consumers.

Business owners are often unhappy with the results of advertising: sales have not grown - which means that the money was wasted. But in most cases, the problem is not in the advertising delivery channels, but in its content, in what kind of human emotions it hurts.

If you are not happy with advertising, start with the simplest thing, Alexey Ivanov advises: look and re-read your leaflets, check the ads in the press, re-read articles on the site. What emotional client buttons do you click on? If there are none, your ad is emotionally “frozen” and needs to be radically changed.
Any commercial message works - on the radio, in a newspaper, on a TV show or on a blog; the advertising delivery channel is not as important as the content of this advertisement.

If you build an advertisement using at least one of the emotional springs that the author designates and which prompts a person to take action, then your ads, banners, website, and commercial offers will become much more effective.
According to Alexei Ivanov, modern advertising is emotional and pragmatic at the same time, in reality there is no separately existing rational or emotional advertising. Although the truth of life is that most of the advertising messages transmitted to us do not cause any emotions, alas. But wallets open under the influence of emotions.

The general rule here is this: the more expensive and prestigious the advertised object, the greater the weight of the emotional factor.
It is widely believed that advertising is about your product and your services, about you and your company. This is not true. Real advertising is about your customer. About a living person, with lively emotions, feelings and passions.

In fact, there are many more psychological triggers that motivate people to act than the seven that Alexey Ivanov, but this seven is envy, curiosity, fear, love, greed, vanity and guilt - he considers “hot buttons” to be the most important, powerful, most significant and interesting.

Feel guilty
Non-profit charitable organizations use this technique expertly: how often they give people some drawings, calendars, photographs, bracelets created to help sick children, orphans, the elderly, and in return they ask just a little - to donate money for the needs of the disadvantaged. And a person shares, sacrifices without any compulsion, voluntarily. Because otherwise he will continue to live with guilt - a very unpleasant sensation, carrying a load of guilt is very difficult.

The great masters of cultivating guilt are our children.

In the right hands, guilt turns into a powerful psychological weapon. Food manufacturers often organize tastings of their new products in supermarkets, during which two tasks are solved: to introduce customers to a new taste and to increase sales. The feeling of guilt here works for the manufacturer in full, as soon as the consumer succumb to temptation and try a new delicacy. It is known that many people buy a product after a tasting, even if they don't like it. Guilt-based tricks and tricks are used by retailers in their work. In advertising, the possibilities for exploiting feelings of guilt are even greater, for example: in social advertising, in the format of a television commercial.

How to get a feeling of appreciation from a client?

• Become the best assistant to your client in choosing the products that you offer;

• help your customer: tell us what to look for when buying, offer a fairly large amount of valuable and useful information. It will be difficult for a person to not reciprocate;

• Serve information in small portions spaced in time. It is on this principle that a good electronic newsletter works: each time you share with your subscribers interesting numbers, information, information that they are waiting for and appreciate;

• plan an advertising campaign on many advertising media at once: people feel guilty if they encounter your advertisement in several newspapers, magazines or other channels at once. Psychologically, such a massive impact is more difficult. The same mechanism is triggered if you re-send advertising letters by regular mail.

Fear has big eyes

Which of the adults was not afraid? Anyone, and those who say that they’re afraid of nothing and no one shamelessly lie to you. Fear is a very unpleasant feeling and people are ready to pay money to get rid of it, says Alexey Ivanov. Sometimes, considerable.

One of the main fears is to lose what you have, psychologists say. The thought of a possible loss affects the actions of people more than the desire to gain. This fear of loss (losing invested or earned money, a car, real estate, health, finally) is perfectly exploited by banks, financial, investment and, of course, insurance companies. “An insurance agent must be able to do two things: first, to scare, and then to reassure,” they say about insurers.

Do not think that the use of fear in advertising is the exclusive domain of financial and insurance companies. With the help of fear, you can advertise anything you want, you just need to find the consumer’s weak spot and hit him right.

It is on fear that all actions with restrictions are built. A very effective method - a time-limited offer, for example: "Low prices / maximum discounts are valid only until the end of the week / month!" Limiting the number of products and models participating in the discount campaign also works well to increase sales.

A product guarantee is also a derivative of fear, only served with a different sauce. When a person feels his security, he becomes more loyal to you, your promotional offer and your product.

Curious barbarians

“If I were asked to identify one single key factor that ensures the success of advertising, I would choose curiosity. Despite the rapid development of technology, advertising today is not able to convey the full range of sensations from the product, Alexey Ivanov writes in his book. - Customers still need some additional steps. Go to the site. Send a brochure request. Pick up the phone and call. Walk to the store and buy a book. ”

Curiosity perfectly encourages a person to act. This is well known by airlines, car manufacturers, whose advertising is always different in style, taste and fantastic ideas, associations. But you can light a fire of curiosity not only by visual means. You can sell one thing and advertise a completely different one.

Real advertising is a skillful seduction. Offer the person you see the first time to buy a product, and you will fully taste all the bitterness and annoyance of the rejected admirer. Do the opposite.

“Attract people's attention with a clawed headline and paradoxical illustration. Then drag into the text with the first sentence. As the classic said: “The first phrase is like the first kiss in love!”, Recommends Alexey Ivanov. - Why is the first line so important? It performs the most important task: to interest a person so that he wants to read at least one more sentence. And then the third, fourth, fifth ... Pull the bowstring of curiosity to the limit. Do not let the reader go. Do not let him slip out of the affectionate trap until he reads your advertisement to the end. ”

Curiosity works wonders, but keep in mind: the older your audience, the more difficult it is to engage its curiosity. Alas, over the years, people become less curious ...

Envy has no color

But this feeling remains with us for life. Envy hides tremendous psychological energy, it is a very strong emotional spring, a feeling of discomfort and annoyance. What people do not envy! But wanting to get rid of envy, many struggle to go ahead and try to leave the ranks of those who are jealous. They are willing to pay any money to become those who are envied. The number of envious people is an indirect indicator of a person’s success in life.

Alexey Ivanov writes about the rule of the three "B": do not want envy - be poor, mediocre, sick.

Envy has penetrated deeply into human nature, it is useless to fight it, so it makes sense to learn how to use it in advertising your product. White envy or black - it doesn’t matter, says Alexey Ivanov. This is indeed one of the strongest psychological springs in the human structure, but not the strongest.

Love will turn all the mountains

According to Alexei Ivanov, a more powerful incentive is love.

In sales theory there is a technique called cross-sell - cross-sell. For example, you buy a billiard table, and with it you sell a cue and balls. Or you get a business jacket, and you pick up a tie and a shirt for it.

This principle also works in advertising. If you can sell a person a strong love feeling from the opposite sex, then selling the product itself will become a natural, organic continuation. So, in advertising jewelry, flower delivery services, expensive underwear brands, phrases are used that, in theory, a man should hear from a moved, grateful lady of the heart (wife, girlfriend, bride) after giving her, for example, a ring with a diamond, or a huge basket of roses, or chic underwear.

But such a powerful psychological stimulus, like love, works not only for the benefit of manufacturers of diamonds, body and corsets. The most common technique in advertising is the revitalization of an inanimate object and ascribing human feelings to it. Motor oil loves the engine of your car so much, your intestines sincerely enjoy life after you regularly began to eat the right bio-yogurt or cottage cheese ... In the case of shoes, classic tricks are: that you will like lady legs; your legs love comfort and warmth; your legs say tired goodbye.

What would your body write if you could skillfully express your thoughts on paper? We read the advertisements of one of the brands of sports shoes for women: “I know that you were very busy yesterday, but I have an idea. Let's meet in the gym. I promise that I will fix 90% of what bothers you. Come on baby. It helps. I know what I am saying. Love you. Your body". With the same care, with the same sympathy, other love messages were written - to the woman on behalf of her body.

Greed is a universal feeling

This emotional hook is so universal that it acts on any audience. From simple housewives to major businessmen on the Forbes list. Alexey Ivanov believes that there is no product category in which it would be impossible to touch the strings of human greed and get an excellent result.

“Get more for less” - this is the main propaganda motto of advertising, playing on greed. It is well known and actively used by airlines, automakers, travel agencies. Retailers and department stores also often build on this principle their advertising campaigns and sales promotions.

There is a flip side to greed. The opposite approach in advertising is that it does not speak directly about price reductions, discounts and sales. On the contrary, the emphasis is on the additional value that a person receives from a purchase.

There is an old joke. Great thing - high heel shoes: put on - a beautiful woman, took off - a happy man. How to advertise such not so comfortable, but so necessary shoes for ladies?

The Deichmann shoe retailer, one of the most popular shoe stores in Europe, invites women to think about the men who will be with them after the wedding. According to the Nuremberg Institute for the Study of Employment, men taller than 180 cm receive job promotions 1,3 times more often. Tall men earn 10% more. 80% growth of senior executives exceeds the mark in 180 see. What do we see? An advertisement for a shoe store is entirely “sewn” from statistical material, and its main message is this: tall women for tall men who have achieved high results in life. The retailer convinces customers that high heels will help young ladies feel more confident with high, socially successful gentlemen. “Go hunting!” - Deichmann's advertising posters are displayed, which depict stilettos (rear view).

Dedicated to the vain and proud

It is sad, but true: there are people, and there are many of them who consider any communication as rivalry, a way to assert themselves and to rise above others. If your products, knowledge, experience, information will help them succeed in this, then the issue of price immediately recedes into the background.

In France, in St. Tropez, people pay tens of thousands of euros, chartering a yacht for just a few days. However, they do not even think about leaving the harbor. Tenants of expensive yachts are sitting on the deck and sipping champagne with an arrogant look. They watch crowds of people on the pier, who, in turn, look at them, resting on decks and sipping champagne.

People are afraid to seem ridiculous to others, people are very vain, anyone who is not even greedy for flattery and insincere compliments can be proud of himself if he is surrounded by skillful flatterers. Many manufacturers like to add fuel to the fire of human vanity, the most common wording: “Car / financial product / bank / radio station / magazine for smart people”. Well, who does not want to once again feel smart, meaningful, intellectual? The question is rhetorical. Manufacturers flatter consumers their goods and services elegantly, witty, subtle. The female audience is very greedy for flattery, as, indeed, the male one. Remember the slogan - “Clothing / shoes / car / toilet water for real men / off-road conquerors / conqueror of women's hearts, etc.”

Manufacturers of elite goods love to play on the thin strings of human vanity, which focus the consumer's attention on the element of selectivity, uniqueness. Such advertising makes the consumer value himself more and, as a result, not spare money on goods that will make the life of the chosen one better, more comfortable, more beautiful, more interesting, more intense, brighter.

This article was published in the 135 issue of the print version of the magazine.