Emotions are powerful things. If you really want to have an impact with your video marketing campaign, then your most effective tactic is to take control of your viewers’ emotions, if only for a moment, and evoke a specific feeling in them. If you can create video storytelling that builds emotion, then you can get your audience more deeply invested in your brand, more quickly. Here are a few emotional triggers for video storytelling that you can target in your video creation for the most effective results.
- Fear: One of the most powerful emotions you can appeal to is fear. What are the problems that your company helps to solve? Now, what will happen to your customers if those problems continue unchecked? What will happen if they try to solve them with an inferior product or service (i.e. not yours)? Create a branded video showing the potential consequences that that problem can lead to. Do a reenactment, and show the worst case scenario. You can even use scary music and eerie lighting, to heighten the effect. Then let them know how they can prevent that scenario from occurring.
- Desire: You were probably expecting joy or happiness to be on the list somewhere. But those emotions are actually less effective than you’d think in marketing. Happiness is, of course, the ultimate goal. But if you make your audience happy with your branded video, then they’ve already achieved the goal and have no real reason to continue on towards buying your products. However, if you can show them happiness and get them to want it for themselves, then you’ve put them on the road that eventually leads to a purchase. Create a video of something fun, or delicious, or beautiful, or worthwhile, that you can ultimately provide for them. Give them a sense of longing and position your brand as the solution that can give them what they want.
- Belonging: Everyone wants to feel like they’re part of the club. To be wanted and accepted by someone, be it a person, group, or organization. If you can make your audience feel like they’re connected, both to you and to each other, they’ll be loyal to your brand. You may be familiar with the YouTube channel, vlogbrothers, and the minds behind it, John and Hank Green. What started as two brothers making videos to keep in touch with one another ended up generating a huge following. And a huge part of that is the sense of belonging that their viewers have. Their fans belong to a group called “Nerdfighters.” John and Hank regularly engage with their Nerdfighters, make them part of their videos, answer their questions, encourage them to get involved with causes, create fan art, and more. The result is a sweeping, incredibly profitable, media empire, full of fans who love the feeling of belonging.
- Curiosity: The entire point of a marketing campaign is to make your viewers want to know more. So if you can create a video that piques their curiosity, your job is half done. Say you have a big event coming up for your brand: a new product release, a trade show appearance, etc. You could easily make a video announcement, telling your viewers all about it. But if you really want to get them excited, try making a teaser video first. Drop hints that something big is happening, but don’t say what. Be a bit cryptic, and perhaps end it with a relevant hashtag. The first thing they’ll do when they finish the video is to look up the hashtag on Twitter or other social media, to see what other people are saying about it. They may even use it themselves, adding to the conversation. Start your viewers on a journey to find more information. By the time they get to the end, they’ll be hooked.
Be careful, when using emotional triggers, not to abuse them. If you’re constantly building up your audience’s excitement for something that turns out to be nothing, or trying to scare them needlessly, then they’ll end up resenting you for it. But if you can create a real emotional bond between your brand and your audience, then you’ve built a powerful connection that will last a long time.