Are Your Potential Clients Feeling The Love?
Why emotional design matters more than you think....
Let’s have a little design heart-to-heart today, friend.
>> Long-term emotional impact WILL make or break the success of your brand. <<
In other words, when someone interacts with your brand, how do they feel?
Safe? Well-informed? Excited? Sophisticated?
Or uneasy? Put-off? Confused? Nothing at all? 😅
I’ve been designing and growing brands for over 7 years, and I can confidently say the brands that create positive emotional connection with their audience are the ones that have the most loyal client and customer bases.
"Attractive things work better. When you wash and wax your car, it drives better, doesn’t it? Or at least feels like it does. The same is true of teeth, clothes, and of course, websites."
–Donald A. Norman, ‘Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
The same is true of all aspects of your brand! ^
The visuals, tone of voice, and storytelling you use all have big impact on your prospects’ conscious or subconscious decision whether or not to buy from you; every branding decision is a chance to build authority, humanize your work, or stand out from the crowd.
Think about it: Are you likely to pull over and visit a shop if their sign is rusted out and ugly (antique stores don’t count 😉)?
If they don’t even care about their signage, what does that say about their product or service?
Or, let’s break down a brand that typically evokes positive emotion: Publix, a grocery store chain in the south that most people regard highly.
➡️ Their tagline “Where shopping is a pleasure” holds true.
➡️ Their logo itself is green, a calming color (just wait till I expand on color psychology 🤓), with a rounded P which evokes comfort and predictability.
➡️ Their advertising campaigns always bring a smile or tear to my eye (like this Christmas commercial that had me in my feels).
All this, combined clean, easy-to-navigate stores and excellent customer service, creates a grocery store brand people will return to time and time again even if it’s the pricier option!
So, how can you infuse more emotion into your brand?!
Here are some questions to ponder:
How can your story be incorporated into the brand design or marketing efforts?
What colors/imagery/typography can be chosen to feel like your brand and what emotions do they evoke? Are those the emotions you want your brand to represent?
How does my brand solve the emotional need of customers - does it offer comfort, inspiration, joy, power?
Can my brand foster a community or sense of belonging? (tip - user generated content can help with this!)
TLDR; Emotions matter for the long-term success of your brand. Make sure you (or your brand designer 🙋🏻♀️) think through what emotions you want your brand to convey and ways to evoke them in both the design and implementation!
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