Proven Copywriting Techniques: Incorporating Emotions in Your Copy

Being a copywriter, you must know that it’s all down to human emotions for your copy to be truly compelling. Every buying decision that a person makes is based on emotions, whether it is the excitement of a sale or a need for something. So, by incorporating emotions in your copywriting and backing it up with a logical reason, you can seal the deal!

In this blog, we will discuss how you can connect to your readers using emotions. You need to know what makes your audience tick; it all comes down to this, really. Find out what they are annoyed about in life or what they love the most or their passion life or a secret desire or anything that’s jam-packed with emotions. Although this might be a hard nut to crack, once you have your answers, you will be in the lead to craft a persuasive copy that will win good sales for you.

Now, if there is a secret doorway to successful copywriting, it has got to be the use of emotions in your copy. Even if you are creating a copy to drive B2B sales, remember at the end of the day, you are still interacting with humans only.

Here we will look at the following aspects:

• Ways in which emotions influence people’s buying decisions
• How self-interest is the biggest motivating factor for humans
• How you can use benefits to provoke emotions
• How including some facts will help the readers confirm that they are making a wise and logical decision.
• At last, you will learn to write a persuasive copy that will hit your potential customer’s sweet spot.

However, let’s first discuss ways you can find out the hidden emotions in your copywriting to connect to your audience using some proven methods.

At the end of the day – it’s the emotions that sell.

Now, before moving ahead with this, first, you need to become aware of the way your readers think. And for that, you need first to find out the answers to these questions:

• Who are you selling (emotions) to?
• What are you selling (all the emotions you are giving to them?
• What are they really buying (emotions)?

Self-Interest Is the Biggest Motivating Factor for Humans That Drives Them to Take Action

Keep in mind that most humans do not do anything that doesn’t suit them. Maybe that’s the reason why convincing people to do you a favor today is so difficult unless there is a win-win situation. And maybe that’s the reason why some people are just way too nice to interact with, surprisingly. Now reading this in cold print might sound too cynical, but in the end, even people who are very helpful towards others gain something out of their action – they get to feel content and happy. In essence, everyone takes actions keeping their own gain in mind.

What is going on in the minds of your readers?

In order to successfully advertise your product or service, first, you need to be connected to your potential consumers completely and know what they are thinking about all the time.

Basically, you have to figure out their –

• Thoughts
• Wants/Desires
• Needs
• Frustrations
• Fears
• Passions

The best way to find out more about your target audience and know them inside out is to immerse yourself in living ‘their’ life. Perform the activities they do, read the newspaper, magazine, or blog they read, go to the places they visit. And if you can find a trade fair for these people, then go there too and socialize.

Being a copywriter, it’s your responsibility to get into your readers’ heads and influence them by igniting their own emotions. And then all there’s left for you to do is show them how your product or service can help the customer overcome the challenge they are currently facing.

Does it sound like manipulation? It isn’t! If you are capable of offering them something that will actually resolve their issues and make their lives better, then what’s stopping you from doing so? There’s nothing wrong with it. All you need to do is be a part of the little chit-chat that’s already taking place in your prospect’s mind. As far as selling your products/services is concerned, the key to success is to tap into your prospective customers’ thoughts. You need to have a mindset like your target audience. You need to know what’s cooking inside their heads so that you can swiftly be a part of their chat.

Psychoanalysts and psychologists very well know that people keep wandering all day with empty-headed non-stop babbling going on in their minds. Now, it’s our job as a copywriter to craft a copy that is persuasive and appealing enough to grab their attention and present them with the solutions to the problems that have been bothering or frustrating them but will also satisfy their need for emotional satisfaction, the desire of gain, comfort, convenience, fear of loss, and pride of ownership among others.

Keep in mind that you’re selling the emotions that your customer will get once they have bought your product or service. You are not selling the cake that an oven makes. Instead, you are selling the feeling that the customer will have once they have prepared the cake, holding it in their hands, enjoying the delicious smell, and getting ready to eat it all.

Identifying the Benefits of Your Product and Going Beyond

Let’s talk about the easiest way of extracting the benefits of your products. Take a piece of paper and a pen and draw a straight line dividing the page into two halves. Now, on the left column, write down all the features of your product, and on the right column, write down what those features mean to your consumers.

Try to recall the problems your target audience faces and then see which ones your product is capable of solving.

Let’s take a look at an example to understand the kind of connection you can establish among features, benefits, and emotions.

Suppose the company XYZ manufactures televisions, and they have to sell it in the USA where the winters are chilly, and the economic downturn has hit hard.

Now, if you were selling only by benefits, your copy would look something like this, for example, “Watch, Record, and Save Your Favorite Family Shows.”

But if you were selling by both benefits and emotions, your copy would look like this, “This Winter Enjoy Staying Home… Watch, Record, and Save Your Favorite Family Shows.”

Now, this one clearly is an effective copy because it states the product’s benefits as well as taps into the emotions of the prospects. It conveys the message that the chilly winters are on its way, and while this time can be a little tough, you can enjoy it better with this television. This device will enable them to catch live shows, or if not, they can record, save, and watch it later whenever they want. However, this can also be seen from a different perspective that amid this cold season, while most people are experiencing the impact of the declining economy, they don’t need to go out and spend lots of money to enjoy instead, they can have a nice family time at the comforts of their homes!

Moreover, you can always spice things up by adding more flavors of emotions. For example, you could go on to mention things like how they’ll feel when they are all tucked in a blanket while it’s snowing outside, eating hot chocolate, and watching one of their favorite family movies together. Do you see what we are doing here? – Stirring emotions!

Adding Some Logical Reasons

People like to think of themselves as a wise and logical person when it comes to making buying decisions, even though that isn’t the case at all. If a man purchases a brand new Ferrari, he will never confess to his parents or wife that he bought it to show it off in front of his mates and become the center of attraction whenever he goes out. Instead, he will give all logical reasons like it’s all about the engine capacity, maintenance schedule, power, stability control, and how this new car uses much less gas as compared to his old worn-out Mercedes Benz. He will say everything and anything that sounds logical and wise, but he will never admit why he actually got it.

Similarly, when people get their teeth fixed, their actual motive is not to have a set of teeth that will allow them to chew whatever food, have less sensitivity, and avoid expensive dental problems in the future; the real reason is they want to improve their smile and look good! While there is nothing wrong with these reasons, the problem is people think they are logical in buying decisions when they clearly are not.

When you start incorporating emotions in your copy, you will see a surge in your sales, but make sure to sprinkle your copy with some logical reasons, too, to satisfy your customer’s logical side of the brain when making a purchase.

If you have also purchased something that was a little costly, you must be familiar with that feeling when you are unsure whether you should spend all your savings on this smartphone for real just to return to your pals and look cool. But then you take a look at the product specifications, and you realize that your decision is absolutely right. After all, you have been facing many charging and storage issues with your old phone, and having a new one with better capacity and quicker charging is just what you need. Plus, the camera is great, and the design is sleek and stylish; it’s perfect.

Pro tip: Using emotions and logic in your copy can give your sales an instant boost.

Read this copy – “Stay Fit & Fine This Winter! Lose Weight in Just 10 Steps.”

“Stay Fit & Fine This Winter!” is an emotionally appealing line and conveys something that we all want to but fail to do. It evokes positive feelings. On the other hand, “Lose Weight in Just 10 Steps” presents a logical and practical aspect of the things explaining the process.

When these two are joined and brought forward as one, they build a copy that is irresistible to prospects who want to stay fit and fine. Moreover, it also demonstrates the benefit of reading it further.

Bear in mind, while you are working on your copy, think of your target audience. Think about what will appeal to their mindset the most.

Conclusion: Adding emotions in your copy

1. Write down some power words for your product to trigger an emotional response. For example:

• Exclusive
• New
• Unlimited
• Awesome
• Timeless
• Inspiring
• Personalized

Pro tip: Use the thesaurus to explore terms that will help you connect better with your potential customer.

2. Think about your prospective customers and answer the following questions:

• What is bothering them?
• What do they love the most?
• What fears do they have?
• What are their secret desires about, but won’t ever tell it to anybody?
• What are they passionate about?
• How do they make their buying decisions?

3. Write down 10 to 20 copies that have both emotion and logic in them. Pick out the best one.

There you go! Now you have successfully crafted a compelling copy that contains emotions as well as logic. Keep this guide in mind when you sit to work on your copy, and you will be all set to go!