Messaging to be compelling needs to be predictable enough that our minds recognise it and then fires the memories of previous associations. However, it needs to be different enough to catch our interest and stand out from the messaging of competitors who are competing for our attention.
SENSORY STORYTELLING
Compelling storytelling is more than good content management. Storytelling creates trust. Trust creates connection and understanding, making conversations with clients more than simply selling a product or service [1]. When clients feel that connection, they are more likely to act, for engagement is rarely a rational decision-making process. One way of building relationships is by engaging the sense of our clients.
We may acknowledge the importance of engaging our client's emotions; however, in the day-to-day pressure of meeting deadlines and creating the next marketing campaign or social media post, it is easy to fall into the trap of appealing to the intellect and a good picture. The picture, we hope, will reinforce the facts about the service or product we are advertising.
There is nothing wrong with a good picture. It does create visual engagement, and if there is coherence between the visual and the factual information we are providing, it can assist in reinforcing the message. The challenge, however, is that visual reinforcement is only using one of our senses. We still have another four senses that are not engaged.
Studies have been done on the effect of engaging the senses in marketing. For example, the fragrance industry is built on engaging people's sense of smell and the memories and feelings evoked by the fragrances. Researchers believe smell is the sense that is powerfully linked to emotion, with over 75% of our feelings generated by odours [2]. We have all had the experience of walking past a person wearing a particular perfume and instantly recalling memories associated with when we first smelt a similar fragrance.
Accepting our customers' decision-making process is not simply rational but influenced by emotional factors; we need to evoke positive emotions around our brand [3]. The easiest way to do this is to engage as many of the five senses as possible. The more senses appealed to, the effective the branding and advertising will be [4]. One of the reasons for the effectiveness of appealing to the senses is that customers do not perceive them as marketing messages and therefore do not react with the usual resistance to other ads or promotions [5].
If we are engaging the senses of our clients and customers and influencing their decision-making process in this way, we must do so ethically. In the previous blog, we outlined the three stages of the customer's journey. These are, firstly, letting our clients know we exist. Secondly, we build likeability. The customer not only knows we exist, they like the services we provide. The last stage is trust. We build trust with our customers and clients because we demonstrate we deliver on what we promise. If we act unethically in how we influence clients, we breach this trust.
The challenge, is that visual reinforcement is only using one of our senses. We still have another four senses that are not engaged.
If we are engaging the senses of our clients and customers and influencing their decision-making process in this way, we must do so ethically. In the previous blog, we outlined the three stages of the customer's journey. These are, firstly, letting our clients know we exist. Secondly, we build likeability. The customer not only knows we exist, they like the services we provide. The last stage is trust. We build trust with our customers and clients because we demonstrate we deliver on what we promise. If we act unethically in how we influence clients, we breach this trust.
How do we constructively engage the client's senses?
Once again, we come back to the importance of knowing your clients and having your clients fixed in your mind when you are writing. For example, there is no point in writing about the "dry, sweet scent of freshly cut hay" if your clients are all inner-city dwellers who have never smelt harvested hay. Suppose you were trying to market a new men's fragrance that was crisp and fresh. In that case, writing that it is "as bracing as the southerly winds, carrying the freshness of the ocean and the intriguing intimacy of its depth" may be irrelevant to someone living in Alice Springs who has never been to the south coast. However, the person in Alice Springs could relate to "fragrance as chilled as the morning desert wind, carrying deep within it the hint of heat to come".
Utilising senses in our messaging is most effective when the senses we are using build on existing associations. It is essential to know our customer base and what experiences most of our customers have had, so when crafting messages that engage the senses, we know it will spark associations from past experiences.
The other aspect of using the senses is balancing predictability with a difference. Our minds require predictability. It is easier for us to remember information when we can predict and know it. However, predictability can create boredom which is why we need difference.
Messaging to be compelling needs to be predictable enough that our minds recognise it and then fires the memories of previous associations. However, it needs to be different enough to catch our interest and stand out from the messaging of competitors who are competing for our attention.
We may be convinced our product is the best thing on the market. However, if we rely on logic and facts alone, our messaging will likely be ignored. We need to engage with our clients at a sensory level. To do this, we need to know our customers and the possible experiences they have encountered, so engaging their senses links with previous associations they have. We need to provide predictability to enable them to hear our messaging and difference to catch their attention. This is the skill of messaging using the senses.
