Marketing to the Senses
Ponder this: Every piece of information you have about the world reaches your brain through your body’s many sensors. This sensory input triggers emotional responses that we validate (rationalize) using our logic. Senses to emotions to logic. That is the human decision-making process.
The marketing implications are clear: Market to the rational mind and you’re asking people to synthesize emotions from logic- a backward process with totally unpredictable results. Marketing to the emotional mind puts you on the right track but lacks the raw sensory input. What about marketing to the senses? Do that and you’ll trigger powerful emotional responses that people will rationalize into “I need because .”
What do I mean by marketing to the senses? Humans have five means of sensory input: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Craft your marketing to trigger these senses in the same way that Pavlov used his bell to trigger salivation in his dog. In this example, the dog associated the bell with taste and that delightful sense of relaxed well-being that only a full stomach can provide. Make your marketing the bell that triggers delightful senses in your prospective customers.
I did some work with a small company on the East coast that offers cruises aboard a rustic sailing yacht. I suggested that their marketing tell the story of a short cruise beginning with pulling up to the dock. Talk about the smell of fresh sea salt, the feeling of a refreshing breeze wafting through the hair, the sounds of seagulls and rigging slapping against the mast, the gentle rocking of the boat at night, the taste of hearty meals prepared over the stove. Close your eyes a moment and imagine all this. What emotional response does that trigger in you? Do you feel the call of the open ocean, the freedom from the daily grind, and maybe a bit of pioneering and exploring spirit moving within you? Does this make you more or less likely to want to learn more about this ship?
Don’t like ships? No problem. Think about any product or service you use and trace that usage back to your five senses. I don’t care if you sell cruises, insurance, real estate, computer repair, tires, food, chotchkes, whatever. There is always a way to tie what you offer into one or more of the five senses. After describing the sensory input, describe the emotions triggered by that input, then rationalize those emotions.
Every business is unique and has certain features and benefits that appeal to different people. We call this the Unique Sales Proposition (USP) or competitive advantages. How can you tie your USP into sensory input and go from there?
Begin by exploring. Put yourself in your customer’s position and imagine yourself walking into your business for the first time. What do you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste? Take plenty of time to examine each of the five senses. For sight, look at things such as color, textures, neatness, dÃ?©cor, product arrangement, employee attire, lighting, signs, and layout. For sounds, look at music, ambient noise, sound effects, speech, telephone conversations, product noises, etc. Does your business smell appealing? Depending on your industry, you may not consider smell important, however consider this: What does a bad smell say to you about quality and suitability? Associate a bad smell with just about any business and chances are you won’t be in a hurry to return. Do you do business over the phone or via the Internet? How many senses do your customer communications directly access?
Armed with this raw data, how can you emphasize your USP by tying each of your competitive advantages to one or more senses? How can you implant the desire to buy by connecting those evoked senses to specific emotions? How can you have your customers taking the next step of beginning the relationship process with your business by showing them why acting on their emotions is such a good, logical idea? Finally, once you’ve started this process, how can you keep it going in order to build long-term relationships with your customers?
Figure this out and you may well be on your way to marketing bliss.
