Marketing Tips Articles

To play the emotional tune is the necessity of today's marketing

Gone are the days when producers were regarded as king of the market, who would decide the product features, the size the color the feel, etc. Those were the times when customers were willing to buy what ever was available because there were no alternatives available. This was time when producers used to smile - the producers era.


Slowly the scenario changed as many producer came into the market and competition began to increase intensively. This was consumer's time to smile. Consumers began to have wider choice and the era of marketing had begun. Customers now became the kings of the market; This gave an opportunity to customers / consumers to compare products and offerings based on which they decided which was the better product to buy.


As a result the market was bombarded with number of products. Products were launched with variation and numerous features, eventually leading to a situation where the products from different producers were almost similar. This was the time when it was difficult to make differentiation in the product. Now the products were launched with lower price. For many manufacturers this was a differentiator and still is at least in countries which are yet growing economies.


Marketers realized that to survive in this competitive world there was a need to change the marketing strategies. This was the time when there was a need to find a differentiator that could help them stand out among various competitors. This brought "Emotions" into picture. Producers realized that there was a strong emotional connect between consumers / customers and the products they use. They understood if the consumers' emotions are addressed in the right way they could get more loyal customers. This unlashed the new approach to marketing which was termed as "Emotional Marketing".


Need of Emotional Marketing


The fundamental premise behind emotional marketing has now been followed by marketers from fairly long time now. It was understood by the marketers that understanding Psychology of a customer / consumer was really very important for getting that share of mind (and now share of heart). They now knew that understanding the customers philosophy helps them achieve there marketing goals. This philosophy can be understood easily for instance, consumers do not buy shampoo just to clean their hair, but to get a new look, a new feel, a new fragrance that could keep them fresh all day long. A Car is purchased not just for transport but also as a status symbol. Nonetheless, customers can not be considered as bundle of emotions at one extreme, or as objective and rational analytical machines at other.


However, adding an emotional appeal helps a company sell its product more; and marketers are increasingly restoring to this measure. Just think of the last product you brought home, what was the concealed force that ha compelled you to make the purchase; it was emotion was it not? You may believe it or not but some degree of emotion is always involved in any purchase you make. Trust me for many purchases it's more of emotion that makes you buy the product rather that all possible logics. Emotion acts as a catalyst in the engine of the purchase decision process.


Customers most often attribute logic and reasoning to the purchase and try to prove that they have made a rational purchase and emotion has not played a role in the decision making process. But the ultimate driver is emotion, which has played a major role in the final purchase decision – believe it or not. Rational only generates interest in the product the ultimate driver is emotion. Customers are not much interested in the attributes of the product; they want to know that how that product is going to suit there personality. And yes, this is not the case with some customers. All customers behave in the same manner. Customers purchase their products emotionally and rationalize their choices intellectually.


Marketers therefore follow the concept of emotional marketing. They endeavor more emotions, as emotional marketing helps in getting share of wallet. If strategically developed emotional marketing can minimize the impact of rational factors, which may otherwise take away the customer to the competitors.


My personal belief is that the products offered my any brand do get buying decisions motivated by different senses of the buyer; senses like – Touch, Feel , See, to some extent smell. Let me explain, if the product or brand is communicated with a great emotional touch, or feel I may but the product as the time when I decide to chose the product I may recall the advertisement and decide to by that's product spontaneously. And trust me this works. I may find the fabric of a product so good, soft that I might decide not to look into other options available which rationally may be a better choice, and may be cost me less. Emotional connect can be see more in cases of Perfumes – you may like ‘212 Sexy' so much that you might not even be in a position to chose a other brand. True? This is emotional connect on which marketers are now concentrating. Remember, costumers get attracted to products which effect there feelings. So the question is – how actually do customers make purchase decisions? How do they evaluate products? What are the various criteria on which they chose the product while making choices?


Hence, companies which want to stand above the competition have to take emotional marketing so as to increase market share. Effective development in emotional marketing can shift a marketing challenger or market follower to position to market leader.

Marketing constants are those who create, implement plans and different strategies for client to sell particular product or services. These plans and strategies can be life or death for a business. So be sure about the selection of a particular marketing constant. As number of things involve in it and expert knows better. We should also not mix up the advertising executive with marketing consultant as advertising is only one part of marketing mix. There are different tools a company uses for effective promotional campaign. These are often separated into what is known as four P's of marketing: product, price, placement and promotion. Marketing mix term refers to how a product or service is priced, packaged, distributed, promoted and sold. It also depends upon industry, client and individual products and services.

Now come back to main topic the main role of marketing consultant is advice clients on the best strategies for selling their products or services. These professionals also have deep knowledge of competition analysis, marketing campaign analysis, branding, and pricing. As consultant you have to research and study the competition of your prospects. As well as techniques, elements they are using in terms of marketing campaign so you can advice your clients on how to outplay those people. In marketing campaign analysis you are expected to analyze the current campaign of your clients to determine its strengths and weakness. After this analysis you will be able to recommend how to improve the strategies and get better results.

Branding is an important factor so give advice and recommendations on it so yours client's potential buyers will easily recognize the products in market. Similarly pricing is one element that is considered by buyers when they are about to make a purchase. As a consultant you may have to provide help in terms of pricing strategies. You must be able to give best advice in terms of earning a decent profit.

In general understanding consumer behavior and how to motivate consumers to purchase a certain product is an essential skill for a marketing consultant. This professional must be able to identify target audience for each product or service. This can help in reaching each audience with convincing communications. Similarly coming up with new ways of positioning and promoting products is essential.

Marketing is a creative business, since new ideas are frequently needed. Critical thinking and creative skills are the main requirement of marketing consultant. Clients hire a marketing consultant company in the hope of getting the best results. This professional can work on one specialize area like direct mail or internet marketing or can work on both areas.