Council Post: What It Really Takes To Win Hearts And Minds With Marketing

In marketing, a phrase you often hear is “winning hearts and minds.” Intuitively, we understand this refers to the roles that emotion and information play in connecting with your audience. But when you set out to do it, it can feel nebulous. 

Here I’ll break this down into digestible parts so you can start to identify what will strike a chord with your audience. I’ll start with winning hearts because it tends to be the most elusive concept.

Define What You Are Really “Selling”  

Throughout my career, I’ve been involved in campaigns for some big brands. Many garnered attention at the time, and a select few really stuck with people.  

When we produced Starbucks’ first global campaign, the brand didn’t simply show how they make coffee in all corners of the world. Instead, they chose to highlight how Starbucks locations are the backdrop to life’s meaningful moments. We began by focusing on a common phrase – “meet me at Starbucks” – and then illuminating what that really meant. In documentary style, we filmed real moments of connection that people share with friends, family or colleagues at Starbucks. But we also celebrated moments that showed diverse cultures and people around the globe. In an authentic way, the campaign helped frame Starbucks’ larger role in the lives of millions of people.      

If you want to win a place in your customers’ hearts, figure out what you’re really selling. Put another way, what are your customers really buying, and why? 

Let these questions guide you: In our customers’ minds, why do we exist? On our best day, why do we love what we do for our customers? What role do we play in their lives? What emotional value do we provide with our product or service?

In Execution, It’s All In The Details

Strategy and execution are equally important to communicate your message. A great strategy that is poorly executed can still fall flat. Prioritize these components in execution to better connect with your audience.

• Achieve aesthetic authenticity

Decide what type of aesthetic will most resonate with your audience. What look and emotional tone is true to your brand and customers?  

For example, Apple consistently delivers a polished aesthetic, which is strategically sound because their devices are beautiful and facilitate creativity. On the other hand, for some brands, an aesthetic that is too commercial could create unnecessary distance with their audience. Google is a great example of this and a regular client of ours. Google deliberately feels intimate, real and spontaneous. They often use real people, not actors or models. This helps ensure that their brand feels relatable and authentic, which is vital for a tech company with such a broad reach.

• Harness the senses 

We experience and absorb emotion and information with all of our senses, and visual and auditory cues are particularly important in marketing. Look for opportunities to engage customers’ senses in every piece of communications, from videos and print ads to product packaging and in-person experiences. What do you want your audience to feel, focus on, remember? Every small decision is an engagement opportunity. How can you build layers of emotion using components like color, lighting, expressions, texture, music, dialogue and silence?  

• Speak with actions 

Your actions convey your values and priorities in ways that words can’t. Think about every touchpoint you have with customers. How can you use each to create a positive experience?

The experience that clients have when working with our company is just as important as the content we create for them. We try to take the ordinary and make it memorable. Once on a client shoot in Savannah, we had to cover a lot of locations around the city in a single day. Instead of hauling our clients, crew, talent and gear around in vans, we hired a pack of pedicabs to move everyone from place to place. This small decision delighted our clients and turned what could have been a negative into a fun experience. Our clients ended up taking selfies in the pedicabs, sending them to their envious colleagues back at the office. This positive energy had a domino effect on the entire cast and crew that showed up on camera, resulting in a better final product. 

Winning Minds

Once you’ve succeeded in winning your customers’ hearts, winning their minds should be relatively easy. Follow the research customers are likely to do before making a purchase decision. Or simply listen to your customers. How do they describe what they love about your product or service? Note what encourages them to purchase and what causes them to hesitate. What tangible values or benefits does your product or service offer? How does it help solve a problem better than anything else?    

Highlight the positive attributes and reframe or alleviate the hesitations. If price is a deterrent, consider focusing on value-for-the-money compared to competitors. If your product or service is complex, make it easier to understand. Leverage engaging visuals so your customers don’t have to think too hard. If the beauty of your offering is how simple it is, don’t overcomplicate your explanations.

Reflect on the following: How can we boil our message down to the fewest words possible, while still building excitement? What do our customers really want to know? Will highlighting real customer experiences and reviews help people make a decision?

Remember that a single piece of marketing doesn’t have to communicate all things to all people. Any time you create content, first look at your overall marketing strategy and your customer’s decision journey. Define what you want to accomplish with this message. You may not be able to finalize a sale right now, but you might pique a customer’s interest and move them one step closer to purchase.  

Every touchpoint of your customer’s experience is an opportunity for you to connect with them on a rational and emotional level. Customers will make decisions differently, so it’s important to get both right.