Using emotion and logic to write kick-ass conversion copy
If you’re spending all your time, energy and money getting people to visit your website without putting the same effort into their journey once they get there, your bounce rates are going to look like a kangaroo at a trampoline park, and you’ll be wondering what’s happened to all the sales you were supposed to be getting from your marketing campaign.
The key to better conversions is understanding how people tick. How do they think? What information do they need to get them over the line and say ‘hell yeah’ to what you’re offering?
It all comes down to the two main types of decision-making: emotional and rational.
The two types of decision-making
As pop psychology books go, Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow is probably one of the best and most widely read. (I don’t have my copy any more; I lent it to my friend Marie, who moved back to Prague and never gave it back. Cheers, Marie.)
So you’ve likely heard about Kahneman’s theory that there are two systems we use for thinking: emotional (system one) and rational (system two). He reckoned that, as humans, we use emotions to drive most of our decisions and then justify them with logic afterwards.
For example:
Emotional decision: ‘I’m sad, so I’m going to buy some new jeans, which will make me happy and cool like Beyonce in the Levi’s ad.’
Rational justification: ‘My cheaper jeans keep ripping, so I need something higher quality, like a pair of Levi’s.’
Writing for emotional and rational decision-makers
Understanding how people process information and come to their decisions is like the Swiss army knife of conversion copywriting tools – if you know how to use it.
Appealing to emotion
As we know, emotional decisions happen quickly and pretty instinctively. So, if you want to make someone act fast, appealing to their emotions is likely your best bet.
Think charities showing us heartbreaking footage of donkeys to attract donations or brands like Bloom & Wild appealing to our mushy feelings about our loved ones (‘Go on, care wildly’).
Emotional decisions happen in all walks of life, but they’re most common in B2C transactions, where the person you’re talking to has the final say in what, when and why they buy.
Appealing to logic
On the other hand, rational decision-making is more common in B2B, where people usually have to make a strong business case to spend company money.
To appeal to these kinds of decision-makers, you need to lead with cold, hard facts about why your solution is the best thing on the market for your audience’s business.
SaaS brands are usually great at this, going straight in with stats and guarantees that procurement teams can use to justify the spend.
Finding the balance
The thing is, we all use a little bit of emotion and logic in our decision-making, depending on a whole host of factors like our level of product or brand awareness, our finances, and what else is going on in our lives.
Whatever your organisation or product, you’ll have people visiting your site who are more emotional or more rational in their thinking. Well-researched customer personas and insights will help you work out where your audience sits on the scale, but you never want to completely write one off in favour of the other.
Writing for emotion and logic
Instead, use what you know about the two types of decision-making to your advantage.
Emotional decision-makers work fast. If you don’t hook those emotional wrecks in quickly, they’ll bounce. So pack the beginning of your funnel with vivid storytelling and emotive language to hook your audience up top.
Rational decision-makers are in it for the long(er) haul, so most of the time, you can appeal to them further along the process – especially as you move towards the close. Here’s where you get out your stats, your reviews and your price comparisons to really deal the deal.
So next time you’re scratching your head and wondering why your visitors aren’t turning into customers, ask yourself whether your copy is appealing to the two types of decision-making at the right time and in the right place.
If not, it could be time to go back to the drawing board with your copy, or to bring in some experts to help you get there.
