How digitally native brands drive higher conversion using emotion

David Rekuc Strategy, Creative

Consumer purchase decisions are driven primarily by emotion. After all, humans are emotional beings on a never-ending quest to create a better version of themselves. The key to brand success is to understand this and make use of it in your communication and user experience. To achieve these ends it’s critical that you lead with emotion because shoppers need to connect with and like you before they’ll ever dig into a logical bullet point list. Once you’ve sunk that emotional hook it’s much easier to gain trust on the way to purchase.

So how does a brand appeal to this very human nature of wanting a “better self?” An effective landing page needs to create a tension that stimulates an emotional response. For example, “A lot of shoes look great, but XYZ brand shoes look great and don’t destroy the earth because they’re biodegradable.” In the copywriting, a tension point is raised, then the XYZ brand story is delivered. Making XYZ brand the hero. It is important that you find emotional connections that resonate with your product and the target consumer. Voila, emotional connection made.

But why is this so good? Well if you consider that, according to Harvard School of Business professor Gerald Zaltman, “95% of purchase decisions are made by the subconscious and emotion is what really drives the purchasing behaviors, and also, decision making in general.”(1)

There are 3 key steps to optimizing conversion rates. First, tell a compelling brand story. Second, ensure that your content inspires trust of your product and brand. Finally, it’s critical that friction on the path to purchase is reduced as much as possible.

In the shoppers brain it works this way.

Brand Story

How the brand looks, how it acts and what it says create an emotional picture in the shoppers mind. This is about the words you use of course, but even more importantly, don’t forget the incredible power of the images that communicate your brand. An outdated or low quality image says your brand is outdated and low quality. Superior visual content is critical to achieving brand love and increasing conversion rates. Just think of the brands you love. Mac, Yeti, Casper, Mini and other extremely successful brands that have leveraged the power of visual storytelling to propel them to new heights.

Trust

A shopper with brand love in their heart and on the way toward a purchase now wants to believe that XYZ brand can deliver on their promise. This can be achieved effectively through:

• Company reviews
• Product reviews
• Guarantees & return policies
• Credibility to claims

Remember that reviews are not only important on-site, but through a wider brand reputation in search engines, word of mouth, influencers, etc.

Another effective approach to gaining shopper trust is offering a compelling reason why XYZ brand can do what they’re promising. This is where the credibility of your claim comes into play. For example, there might be case-making evidence such as patented technology, ‘skipped the middleman to reduce prices’ appeals, suggesting that the brand is disrupting old bad practices and many others.

These approaches help move a shopper to purchase by increasing their confidence that they are making the correct decision; thus making them feel more comfortable. A key factor in conversion success.

Elimination of Friction

Complexity erodes brand love faster than a jack-rabbit running downhill with a strong tail-wind. A website must make answers easy to find, processes simple to understand and things like return policies should be friendly & super-easy. Put simply, no one wants a hassle and human beings want to know they’re going to be treated fairly and if trouble arises with their purchase they want to be confident that this brand they are in love with has got their back.

Many companies have come to understand the importance of gaining trust and reducing friction within the purchase journey. However, so many continue to struggle with creating a compelling story to which customers can quickly relate. Many companies don’t even recognize storytelling through creative content as a critical pillar of conversion rate optimization. Effective user experiences(UX) that move shoppers through this journey toward purchase is critical. It’s incredible what a compelling brand story can do to move the sales needle and ultimately increase brand love. Isn’t it time your brand got out of the “friend-zone” with shoppers and started making them swoon?

Create highly persuasive Shopify websites and engaging brand content to drive digital growth and strengthen brand loyalty. Ripen is your digital commerce experience partner.