When was the last time you took a long look inside your refrigerator, pantry or closet? It may have been a while, but I bet if you were to look in those places, you’d find at least a few brands that you’ve bought or used for quite a long time. There are likely brands there that you have a history with, and brands that you buy over and over because you feel connected to them. These are most often the areas of your house that provide evidence to our premise that it is more valuable to a business to create an emotional connection to their customers than extolling the features of a product or service. Put plainly, a key to sustainable brand success today requires that brands don’t just tout features, but that they also touch feelings. 

Don’t get me wrong, talking about features is important and has an enduring role in helping to sell the product or service, but I believe the evidence indicates that it is more advantageous to talk about feelings rather than features. One oft-cited study claims that as much as 95% of buying decisions are made subconsciously, or in other words, relying upon memories, associations and emotions, and not just logic or facts. Just knowing this data alone is very advantageous for those responsible for brand stewardship and brand marketing.

Why Feelings First?

Features-focused messaging tends to focus on the product or service itself, in other words, what it does. Feelings-focused messaging tends to focus, not on what the product or service does, but rather what it does (emotionally) for the customer when they have or use it. It also tends to surface or spotlight the current or continued emotions of the person without having or using the product or service. This branding strategy highlights the product or service as the means to bring about more emotional fulfillment and positivity for the customer who uses it. Features are then not the focus, but just a part of the equation that leads to the desired end result: happiness for the customer, which can be achieved through the use of the product or service. 

This approach is a function of what we call emotional branding: Emotional branding can be defined as a brand strategy that stimulates consumers’ affective state, appealing to their feelings with the aim of increasing consumer engagement with and loyalty toward the brand. The cause is connection and the effect is affection. Contrary to what some may suspect, this approach offers benefits for both parties in the brand relationship– the brand itself and the customer. 

Why This Matters for Brands

An emphasis on feelings does for the brand what an emphasis on features cannot. Inspiring and instilling feelings helps to create instant, intrinsic, invaluable connection, that “this brand gets me” feeling, that leads to a strong connection between brand and customer. You have probably heard that an emotionally connected customer is a more engaged and valuable customer over a long period. Well, the stats bear this out. One study provides even more evidence: Overall, emotionally connected consumers are 52% more valuable to a brand than those who are just satisfied.

Why This Matters for Customers

For the customer, this approach puts the focus on them. In general, people like to feel like the focus. A feelings-first, or at least a “feelings-over-features” approach focuses on what matters to your customer. By default, features are often most important to the owner or brand itself. We think that that’s what sets us apart or makes our product or service special. When customers feel connected emotionally, they engage longer and invite others to share in their positive experiences with the brand. According to a research institute’s two-year study of 100,000 retail customers, “emotionally connected customers have a 306 percent higher lifetime value (LTV), stay with a brand for an average of 5.1 years vs. 3.4 years, and will recommend brands at a much higher rate (71 percent vs. 45 percent).

No matter which perspective you look at it from, feelings matter, and they move the needle for both brands and customers. So rather than just focus on highlighting the features of your product or service, focus more energy on how you can use emotional branding to create a stronger connection with your prospects and customers. Remember, don’t just tout features, touch feelings! In our next blog on this topic, we’ll look at three specific reasons why a focus on feelings is a superior approach to just focusing on features. 

Enthuse Creative exists to help businesses utilize a strategic approach to create the powerful and profitable connections to their customers they desire. Please reach out for a free consultation.