Do you know this secret of why people buy?

I was sitting on a Zoom call with a client brainstorming some email copy. She’s a Personal Lifestyle Designer and needed to get an email out to connect with her people about some offers and talk about summer clothing options.

Memorial Day is coming up, and it’s a good time to connect with her list about upgrading their wardrobe. All the ideas she was coming up with were good, yet they’ve been done before. We needed to go deeper on an emotional level to really connect with her dream clients’ deepest fears, struggles, and desires.

It was then that I started sharing some examples of how we could go deeper with her email copy. (Scroll down to see what I came up with.)

This is one of the biggest struggles that people come to me for help – their messaging isn’t working as well as it could be. And we know this because they’re not getting as many people opting into their list, and their course/products sales are sluggish.

The challenge in a number of markets is our dream client/customer is becoming more and more sophisticated. You need to realize that if your marketing message stays the same, it may eventually lose its appeal.

I’ve heard from countless online marketing experts about how their “thing” sold like hotcakes on FB ads until it didn’t anymore.

There are many reasons for this. And the one I want to share with you is how we need to go deeper when describing our dream clients’ struggles, challenges, and problems they want to fix.

This one statement truly got me to look at this on a very different level:

“People buy solutions to problems they want resolving.” They want it resolved emotionally because they want to feel how they want to feel after solving the problem.

This is the biggest “secret” of why people buy – They buy on emotion – we all do.

Recently my spouse and I went shopping for some new living room furniture. We wanted to buy a new couch and maybe some chairs.

We knew we weren’t interested in anything reclining or made of leather. We were looking for something made of fabric. And we were searching for something that felt kind of nostalgic. Yet a bit modern and to be a sectional with a chaise lounge.

Walking around the store, it was interesting how so many couches emitted so many different emotional reactions and also memories of grandparent’s couches or other places we’ve been. (I don’t miss that old clear plastic covering on my aunt’s couch!)

Buying a new couch was not just about functionality and comfort. It was about how we would feel having this couch in our house. We wanted it to feel comfortable, inviting, and versatile (The one we bought when putting the sectional altogether is big enough for a family member to sleep on it.)

Then we found the couch and decided to buy some end tables too. That was definitely an emotional upsell – you need a table to put your lamps and drinks on, right?

Getting down to the deeper level of what you’re selling will help you tremendously.

People either have unresolved distress (pain, fear, frustration, and anxiety) or unfulfilled needs and desires (want a better house, car, better future, etc.).

Your job as an entrepreneur is to differentiate your solution by making it superior and unique and do it with emotions that appeal to your dream clients/customers.

Something that will help differentiate you from your competition is to understand this concept:

• Their problem is not the same as their pain.
• The problem causes the pain.
• And the pain comes from how they feel about their problem.
• What they really want is for the pain to go away.

Simply stated – Your core messaging aims to show your dream client/customer that you have a unique and innovative way to solve their problem so they won’t feel the pain any longer.

Then I want to take it one step further by encouraging you to go beyond the surface level of your dream client/customer’s problems or challenges.

Instead of speaking to the same issues as everyone else does – speak to a deeper level like shame. Share with them a moment of crisis that they could relate to. For me, it’d be shame and embarrassment for the shabby old furniture we had and not wanting to have people over.

So my moment of crisis was that I needed to get rid of this pain of being embarrassed about our furniture and not wanting to have people over and shop for new furniture.

Then it’s about addressing that and saying how it’s not my fault. I had no reason to buy furniture until now. And that’s the antidote to shame. “It’s not your fault. Your old furniture served you well, and now it’s time to upgrade to something you and your spouse both picked out.”

Here’s an example from my client – the Personal Lifestyle Designer that I mentioned earlier, about going deeper emotionally with your copy.

It’s almost summer. So what is my dream client feeling right now about their wardrobe?

• Shame, fear, and dread about going into their closet to try on their summer shorts and tank tops because they may not fit.
• Fear that they’ve gained a few pounds, and they may have to replace their whole summer wardrobe.
• Anger and frustration because they don’t know where to shop to get clothes that will fit their new body.

These go deeper than just saying something about “isn’t it time to upgrade your wardrobe?.” Or talk about all the new summer fashions. Then we simply need to put them into a sentence that our dream client/customer will relate to.

When you’re writing any messaging, keep in mind your dream clients’ core emotions and see how you can create messaging (copy) that speaks to them on a deeper level.

Here are ten core emotions you can speak to in your messaging.

1. Shame
2. Fear
3. Greed
4. Anger
5. Revenge
6. Envy
7. Lust
8. Sloth
9. Redemption
10. Unconditional Acceptance

Remember – people always buy on emotion and justify it with logic after they buy.

Note 1: On another note — This was a fascinating article about how mannequins display their brand’s value.

Note 2: Do you have any fear around trying on your shorts from last summer as I did? I was pretty scared that I had gained some pounds from the winter and would have to get some new shorts. That’s when I connected with my client and friend Holly Getty (Personal Lifestyle Designer) to help me. Her years of expertise in the fashion industry can help you fix any fashion or closet challenge.