EMOTION VS. LOGIC: THE CREATIVITY TRAP OF A DIGITAL MARKETER
By: Alireza Ameri
Tags: Creativity, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, SEO, Web Development

What comes to mind when you picture a digital marketer? It could be an eccentric girl with a cute geeky hairstyle. One working in front of several Thunderbolt displays.

Or, do you imagine a digital marketer as one who is preoccupied with A/B tests and other web analytics?

Looks aside, let’s consider the strategy of your average content creator.

Nowadays, digital marketing is increasingly leaning towards sensationalism. You’d be lucky to find an agency that depends on logic alone to make its copy persuasive.

The primary argument is that emotions sell. Do want a guy to buy that expensive car, for example? Show him that it will make him look cool. And guess what? The buyer, who’s probably just landed his first job, will make the purchase.

But, it’s not always been so. The 1963 campaign by Avis asked, “Avis is only №2 in rent cars. So why go with us?”

Avis asked its target audience to reason. See, the company was not the market leader in car rentals. Since it was second place, it had to work harder. It had to offer the best possible service. A logical sell, if you ask me.

Then what’s with the current obsession with creativity that shuns reasoning?

THE DECISION TO BUY IS MADE IN A HEARTBEAT

Ever had a moment in a mall when you felt that you just had to buy something? Or, have you come across an email newsletter that made you itch to get that kitchen upgrade?

Impulse buying is a common occurrence. From smartphones, home appliances to fashionable items — most people would buy if they get convinced enough.

Sadly, this has spawned a whole industry based on illogical ads. Take spamming, for instance. The amount of digital content that’s trying to make you sign on to dubious deals is overwhelming.

EMOTIONS CREATE SALES MOMENTUM

You should make a potential buyer feel good about the offer you’re making. So goes the thinking of digital marketers.

That’s right to some extent. Yet, there’s no denying that the customer’s reasoning will kick in at some point.

Yes, you’d need to be creative to make people aware of what you sell. It keeps them interested even. And yes, if the sale went through, feelings of loyalty would keep them coming.

But remember, before you close a deal, your offer will undergo evaluation. Let’s say your company is the type that gives out samples. That trial period allows the user to make comparisons with similar offers.

So, it’s pointless if you were out to sell a dud — you’ll fail.

BUYING DECISIONS ARE ULTIMATELY EMOTIONAL

Mark you; I’m not insisting that you should be all logic — all the time. If you introduce facts and figures in your copy too soon, you’ll put some people off. At worst, you’ll be ignored.

Yet if you do it the right way — are creative and relevant — but still, fail to provide the backing evidence (valid data) at the right moment/point, you’ll lose your audience.

Okay, let’s say you’ve beaten all these creative traps. And, have managed to get readership below the fold.

Your content’s just managed to meet the rational and emotional needs of your audience.

But there’s more.

Turning the lead into a sale depends on how well you conclude the engagement. How you make the consumer feel good about the buying decision they’re about to make.

THE NEED FOR LOGIC

We’ve seen that creativity needs to be both emotional and logical. It should work for the left- and right-brain thinkers.

So, it’s essential that your digital content can at least make sense.

Be careful, though. Piling on the data can lead to website abandonment. In an age where digital content is bombarding readers whenever they look, information overload is a bonafide nuisance.

Nonetheless, it’s at the backend of content creation where logical creativity seems genuinely helpful. After the analytics on big data and A/B tests, digital marketers can decide better on how to craft and position their copy. And which markets they need to target more.

LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS

Digital copy takes its consumers through a process — from courting attention to maintaining brand loyalty.

In the middle stages, though, the buzz of extravagant promises will wear off. It will get to a point where consumers will ask the hard questions.

Like:

Can you prove that you are the best (as your copy claims)?

How can you offer me a better ROI (compared to the competition)?

The only way to live up to expectations is by generating sensible content.

Think of how Avis did it. It claimed that since it tries harder to make it in the rental car space, it wouldn’t: “afford dirty ashtrays. Or half-empty gas tanks … Or unwashed cars.” It gave logical justifications — that worked.

THE RIGHT CREATIVITY FOR CONTENT CREATION

Here at Buzz Design, we use an innovative process to increase conversions and drive traffic. Instead of focusing on whether our digital marketing is rational or emotional — we combine both convergent and divergent content design strategies.

It’s convergent in the sense that we get all the facts right before coming up with answers. And it’s imaginative and playful in generating unique, compelling ideas — thus divergent.

We’ll measure how well your campaign works for you. And repeat the whole process until we meet your digital marketing goals.