Connecting with your emotional homebuyer

November 2008 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
Many of the major purchases we make in life are made by our emotions. This is especially true for homebuyers. They focus on how they feel living in a particular home or neighborhood, rather than knowing all of the physical features of a house. They think about the direct benefits of the features that can improve their lives or give emotional satisfaction (like status, safety, or respect). Having high-tech appliances means doing less labor; quality construction means not having to deal with repairmen. Creating emotions in advertising lets you discover how your product truly fits into a person's life and how it satisfies an emotional need. When that truth is understood, it becomes possible to create a more relevant and lasting relationship between your customer and your business.

The first step in selling anything is to find out what your customer wants. To find out what that is, you must ask: what fears, frustrations or desires are they looking to either fulfill or avoid by making this purchase? If you can address the underlying emotion that would cause a buyer to make a purchase, then you can really dive into a great marketing campaign. That's exactly how a political campaign runs--they have no product to sell, so they must appeal strictly to emotions to solicit donations. That's why we hear so much about what a candidate can do to improve our lives or how their opponent will ruin us. There's very little talk about the specific details of their plans.

The use of fear as a motivation in advertising places emphasis on the severity of a threat. In order to be most effective (not just attention-getting), fear-based messages should present a mild to moderate threat and provide a reasonable solution. If the fear is either too severe or doesn't provide a good solution, the viewer will not be able to overcome the sense of dread or process the advertising message.

Humor is another frequently used emotional technique which should be used with caution. If you can pull it off, humor is an ideal way to get brand attention. However, it's also easy for the call-to-action or selling point of the advertisement to be lost in the message, which essentially makes it ineffective.

Also remember that marketing doesn't end after the sale. One of the best things an emotional buyer can do for your business is to refer friends or family. Referrals are one of the most important sources of new leads. When you keep your old customers in mind, whether through housewarming gifts or annual holiday cards, the emotional affect can be felt long after the purchase.

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