What do you think of when you think of the status quo? I think of failure. To continue doing things the same old way and actually expecting a different result? That's insanity! I say that only to point out that marketing is about results— not tradition or comfort. I'm not talking about business style or advertising budget. I'm not talking about abandoning traditional perspective in favor of fad and fancy. I am talking about excellence. I am talking about stirring up a passionate perspective of what you want your prospective customers to feel. Where excellence and emotion meet is where effective marketing and wasted dollars part ways.

Marketing strategies without emotion will not work.

Emotion stimulates the mind 3000 times faster than rational thought. It's an emotional world we live in. Many people say we live in a rational world but nothing could be further from the truth. Emotions drive our behavior; the world is driven by emotions. Rational thought leads customers to be interested but it is emotion that sells. People really aren't much interested in attributes; they want to know if they can have a product that suits their personality. It is all about values.

Emotional marketing is better in many instances than rational marketing that focuses on product attributes. Capturing minds is one thing; capturing hearts is quite another. Build emotions in your marketing strategies; don't always chase "share of wallet – chase "share of heart". Employ strategies that would make decisions very emotionally driven and remove the rational questions that might drive the prospect elsewhere.

Highlight the Emotional Satisfaction Your Clients Will Get

No matter what your business is, if you are serving people, you need to be able to tap into the emotions that motivate them. Describe emotional gratification do your clients get from your services.

Example: Your clients feel a sense of "pride" because they have improved skills; "confidence" that they will provide better outcomes for their own customers; "relief" that they will more easily meet some legal requirement, "joy," etc.

Use the Right Colors in Your Promotional Materials

Its very important to know which emotions or symbolizations will trigger your target audience to buy your product or service. The use of the right colors in your promotional materials – in your marketing brochures, your product packages, or on your web site – can actually increase your sales. When people see certain colors they can change their emotions or they can symbolize things related to the colors. For example, if you're selling a money-making product you should use green and brown colors, as they represent money and strength, and bring out the emotion of greed and comfort respectively.

A List of Colors With Some Emotions and Symbolizations They Can Cause

A Western View

• Black – space, night, authority
• Blue – sky, water, travel, freedom, truth
• Brown – wood, comfort, strength
• Green – money, calm, envy, greed
• Orange – autumn, youthfulness, fire
• Pink – romantic, affection, sensuality
• Purple – royalty, dignity
• Red – love, excitement, warmth
• White – purity, peace, perfection
• Yellow – light, purity, understanding