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In today’s fast-paced digital media environment, simply touting features and benefits are hardly ever effective on their own. To stand out, and connect with your customers, you have to make an emotional connection.  This begins by determining what your brand truly stands for, and using that to inspire those who share the same beliefs.

The most successful brands tap into their customer’s emotions. Connecting with human emotions requires a nuanced approach, with art and science at its core. Begin by figuring out which features and benefits of your product or service are the most important, and which of those are emotional.

A feature is an element of what something does or is. It’s usually a noun. For example, a computer’s features may include a fast processor and an upgraded display. A benefit is a positive result that the feature delivers.

Then, determine whether each benefit is functional or emotional:

Functional Benefit: This benefit is directly related to the functionality of the feature. An upgraded display provides higher-quality visuals, workflow and experience.

Emotional Benefit: This benefits the user’s feelings. An upgraded processor may make the user feel like technophile who can tackle any difficult task.

A feature often has multiple benefits, and sometimes the emotional benefits are less obvious. Traditionally, it takes a detailed research campaign to determine their emotional response, but it really all boils down to one question:  Why?

Why does your customer buy or engage your product/service?

Why is it important to them?

From here, you can keep asking Why until you get the emotional response. If you’d like to learn more about how to leverage the power of your brand, feel free to contact us.