7 ways to make your audience cry….or laugh
There are certain films I can’t watch because they make me sob. Hyperventilating, snotty nose, headache inducing sobs. But I want to watch them again and again. Why? Because I love the emotions they evoke for me.
Ask someone to name a brand they like and there’s a 70%* chance they’ll say Innocent because their content makes them laugh. Why? Because they’ve tapped into an emotion that makes them memorable.
That’s why we need to be making our audience cry or laugh to build that connection with them and turn them from a lurker to a loyal follower or even better yet a happy client.
*not an actual statistic
The power of emotion
Want some actual stats? Well here you go:
71% customers rate a brand because of an emotional connection
95% of purchases are influenced by subconscious factors, usually driven by emotions
The emotional part of the brain can process information 20% faster than the cognitive area
It’s clear that we’re emotional creatures. While we might tell ourselves that logic governs our choices, really it’s emotions. That means as content creators we need to be appealing to our audience’s emotional side.
Now when we think emotion we tend to think of the sadder end of the spectrum but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more to emotions than crying and it’s your job to harness all the emotions out there.
Ready for some advice on how to do that? You’re welcome.
1.Tell them a story
The most powerful way to connect with your audience is through storytelling.
Using real life examples and building a story narrative is the easiest way to bring emotion into your writing and to really build a relationship with your audience.
Think about it, for centuries humans have used storytelling to pass on lessons, to entertain, to warn and to bond. There’s a reason why we still read fiction books and watch TV shows - it’s because of the power of storytelling.
If you’ve got a particular message you want to convey then think if you’ve got something in your personal life you’re happy to share that chimes with that message or you’ve got a client story you can draw upon. The whole piece doesn’t have to be one story, you can use smaller examples and tidbits throughout to illustrate different emotional notes.
Try it and see the impact.
2. Decide what emotion you want to evoke before you write
Before we start to write we think about what subject we’re going to cover. But do you ever think about what emotion you want to evoke?
It’s something you need to add into your writing process. Topic. Platform. Audience. Emotion. CTA.
When you know from the start what you’re trying to make your audience feel - whether that’s inspired, educated, entertained, then you have a better success rate at doing that.
Here’s an emotion wheel - packed with loads of different types of emotion that you might not have thought about using. Before you start writing, take a peek and be inspired, and focused.
3. Be sensitive to your audience’s feelings
If we go back to basics, our businesses are there to solve a problem for our audience. So when we market we need to address their pain points that the issue causes and how we make their lives better. Easy right?
But that means we need to show empathy to how our audience is feeling. Again, this is about picking the right emotion for the occasion. Think about when you’re stressed to the max, worrying about money or how you’re going to do something. Do you want someone in your face making light of your situation? Or do you want someone to be the voice of calm and reason?
There’s a time and a place for funny. There’s a time and a place for serious. There’s a time and a place for every emotion, it’s about picking the right content and platform to show each of those emotions. Helping you to show your audience that you care and you get them.
4. Stick to your tone of voice
For the purpose of this section I’m going to assume you’ve got a defined tone of voice. As part of your tone of voice you’ll have thought about the four dimensions of your voice:
Formal - Casual
Serious - Funny
Respectful - Irreverent
Matter-of-fact - Enthusiastic
When you know where you sit on those scales, you’ll be able to match what emotions are consistent with your tone of voice. For instance if you’re on the serious end of the scale you’ll want to avoid memes, gifs and banter. But if you’re embracing the enthusiastic you can be excitable, energised and brimming with positivity.
A successful tone of voice is about consistency. That means the emotions and style that you’re writing in needs to be in line with your overarching tone otherwise it’s jarring.
For those of you who’ve just read this section and thought “well I don’t have a tone of voice” - let’s talk, and I’ll create one for you.
5. Build a rapport with your audience
You’re at a bar and someone grabs you by the elbow and dives into a detailed story about their childhood woes and the struggles they’ve had to overcome. Do you:
Share your deepest, darkest secrets in return
Think they’ve got a screw loose and turn away?
I think we all know the answer is closer to b. When you haven’t build a rapport with your audience and you try to use emotions to build that connection, if you go in too heavy handed you’re no better than the crazy person at the bar.
There’s a time and a place for emotions.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t be using it from day one - you totally should. But think about the approach you’re taking and dial it up, or down, depending on how well you know that audience.
6. Take a harmonious approach
I know, you’re thinking what the heck does that mean?
Picture this…you’re scrolling through your feed and you see a meme that’s been doing the rounds but with a different caption. Thing is the caption doesn’t make sense with the image. The image is a send up of two politicians but the caption is deadly serious.
When you’re using any visuals, colours, or text alongside your content they all have to be harmonious. Colour is a really powerful tool for evoking emotion so it’s important that you - or whoever is putting the finished product to life, takes that into account.
There’s loads out there about colour theory but this article is a really great intro to the subject, have a read and make sure your colours and your content work together.
7. Be real
Above all else, please be real. If you can’t harness an emotion sincerely and authentically then don’t use it. People know when they’re being sold to, they know when someone’s being fake, and in the long run, it’ll do more harm than good to your brand.
That’s not to say you can’t try something new, you absolutely should be trying things all the time. But you also need to evaluate their success. If you’ve tried to be sympathetic and the content has bombed, or it jarred with your existing content then make a note not to do it again and move on.
In this day and age content moves quickly. Unless you really offend someone then they aren’t going to remember that Facebook post from two months ago - sorry if this offends you, but you aren’t that important to them. That means you can mix it up and try different emotions until you find the one that vibes with your brand and, most importantly, your audience.
Whether you’re making your audience cry or laugh or teaching them something new, the power of emotion is something you don’t want to miss out on. But it takes practice, it takes time and it takes courage. Courage to try something new and stand out from the crowd. I promise you though that if you commit to it and keep working at it then your content will improve, you’ll build better relationships and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
TLDR: You need to be using emotion in all of your content and if you don’t, you’ll be missing out.
