If we could give every business owner one piece of advice about how to reach their customers, it would be this:
Make them feel something.
Studies have shown (and it also makes sense) that the stronger the emotional response an advertising message elicits, the more it is remembered.
That’s why you remember the commercials that make you laugh (and cry) the most.
This fact of emotion and its persuasive effectiveness is not only limited to the verbal realm. Effective use of design produces visual emotion as well. Put the two together and you really have something.
The fact of emotional appeal and its necessity in advertising is the reason so many campaigns fail. They may be technically correct – containing all the proper information and all the right reasons to buy – but they are emotionally bereft.
That’s why they don’t work.
We like to think of the creative process as a two-sided equation. On the one side you have the elements of strategy, the unique selling propositions and all the “science” stuff that is crucial. On the other side, you have the “art” part — the development of a message that touches the target audience and gets remembered. This is the magic part.
If there was only one single argument for why you should employ the services of professionals to craft your advertising message this is it. The professionals — the really good ones — know how to tell the truth well, in such a way as to persuade and be memorable.
