Why Emotion Is The Most Powerful Tool in Marketing

At Databowl we are proud to offer the most powerful software in B2C Marketing. We can measure this empirically when it comes to comparative features and tools available for your marketing needs. There is, however, one tool which cannot be placed on any “Feature List” and cannot be commodified by any company. It also happens to be the most powerful tool available to any ambitious creative. I am talking about emotion.

Although marketing teams now have access to a range of powerful new tools, in some ways the job has never been harder. We are all blind, are we not? Adverts in the digital age are now what we click through to get to the content we seek. Banners are blank shapes and spaces in the corners of our vision, trying to manipulate us at every turn. We all turn away from this. We are all cynical. We are all cold...

And yet, despite this, we all still crave warmth. Ultimately, it is this glimmer of hope we must chase. Human connection has never been more important to marketing. Emotion is the tool we must wield to tap into this connection and cut through the white noise of the digital age.

Market To People, Not Numbers

“Data is information that has been translated into a form that is efficient for movement or processing. Relative to today's computers and transmission media, data is information converted into binary digital form.”

I have quoted a standard definition of Data. I now advise you to ignore it. Data should not be viewed as lifeless ones and zeros; it should only be viewed as an efficient measure of the people it represents. Behind every number is a real, living, breathing person, full of warmth and complexity and emotion and creativity. It is our job to appeal to that.

In an age where marketing teams are expected to deliver fast results there has developed a temptation to market to numbers. This will never work. We must always market to the people the numbers represent. When it comes to our own creativity we should pull away from thought and go in hard with feeling. Now, more than ever, visceral marketing campaigns have the power to energise and engage fatigued modern prospects.

The Way Forward

I recently wrote an article for The Future CMO featured in The Times. This article discussed Databowl’s new Artificial Intelligence Department and how that can be used in marketing going forwards. You can see the full article here, but the key message was:

“We are at the start of creating a new marketing paradigm, the shape of which will be formed by the possibilities of new marketing technologies.”

My assertion that emotion is the most powerful tool in marketing in no way goes against this idea, but rather, is designed to complement it. New technology is exciting. It can change the world for the better. It can make our jobs easier. But it will never, ever replace a human for one simple reason: Although Artificial Intelligence may understand emotion, it can never FEEL it.

The most successful marketeers of the future will be those who embrace new technologies, but not all who embrace technology will be successful. The key, as with all new tools, is how we use them. Those who can use powerful technology to tap into the human condition will unlock the next steps of the new marketing paradigm. Those who use the next generation of incredible tools in conjunction with the everlasting human qualities of emotion and nostalgia will lead the way. Those who can think of ways to make people feel will be the most successful.

At Databowl we offer the most powerful software in B2C Marketing. You decide where you go next.

Powerful tools inspire brilliant minds.