February 14 is always a day when the sale of chocolate in the shape of hearts, sugar-coated candies with provocative sayings, and fine wines all tend to spike in preparation for a day of romance.
The feeling of love, in business, has been harnessed for decades in order to boost revenue.
The cinema embraces our desires for romance by filming passionate love stories; clothing companies print massive quantities of garments which display a call for affection, and restaurants across the nation drop their prices in order to attract would be seducers.
But the fact remains that leveraging the power of emotion is not just a tactic we employ once a year. Smart marketers have known since the invention of the Piano Tie, that marketing on emotion sells more than a sleek female model with pearly white teeth.
Our emotions drive our every action. Whether it is love, fear, security, helplessness, physical appearance, or the desire to feel included, we all spend money on items or services that make us feel good!
Since Valentine’s Day is here, I want to concentrate on the business of marketing love. Love can be perceived as both objective and subjective. If we look at the emotion from a subjective viewpoint, we uncover the most thought about definition of what it means to really love something or someone.
Love is an experience that we as humans feel toward each other. Some of the wisest poets, directors, and movie stars have become experts at portraying the psychological effects of love.
A broken heart can cause temporary loss of control or drive us into deep depression. But finding love can send us into a tizzy of raw euphoria that leaves us floating on the proverbial “Cloud 9.” Both results have been the driving force of big purchases.
Think of the concept of retail therapy, when a man or woman spends money on items to make them happy. As a marketer, you have to be able to spot those emotional recoils, and act to ensure your product is the first thing that pops in their head as a form of rehabilitation after a broken heart.
Looking at love from an objective point of you, we realize that loving behaviors will increase if they are reciprocated by both satisfaction and reward. Simply put, if a gift presented to a loved one from a certain store hits a massive home run, what business do you think will be on the mind of that same shopper come the following year? On the flip side, what business will float to the bottom of the list if the gift is a complete bust?
Now you can’t control the wants or needs of someone receiving a gift, but what you can do is bet on the fact they will love their new possession. You can build an offer that provides a special discount if the purchaser decides to come back for a new present next year. Look toward the future to find a solution today! Most business owners don’t look any further in advance than a couple of weeks. But to be truly successful, you have to look far into the future, and plan your strategy around a long-term result.
Every piece of marketing or advertising material that leaves your office needs to appeal to someone’s raw emotions. Don’t count on someone making a purchase solely based on a discount, or coupon that they cut out of the paper. Most buyers will only take advantage of a discount if their previous purchase resulted in a massive amount of satisfaction. Even then, you are flirting with the creation of a customer which only shows their face when they have a chance to save money.
You can drive your business deep into the ground by doing something I like to refer to as "Death by Discounting." What you sell or offer is worth paying full price for! More people in the front door waving coupons in your face does not equate to a successful business.
I hope my babble introduced some nutritional food for thought. Start to develop your marketing brain, and soon you will be targeting audiences you never thought were possible. There are no chains holding you back from stepping out from your comfort zone. The only restrictions you place on your ability to market effectively will be the lack of a desire to learn something new.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Be sure to show Bent Business Marketing some love this Valentine’s Day by cruising over to our Facebook page and clicking the Like button. Smooches! - Andy
photo credit: San Diego Shooter via photopin cc
Andy Sokolovich is the owner of small business marketing firm Bent Business Marketing. He can be reached at andy@BentBusinessMarketing.com.
