Use emotional persuasion in CRO

Use emotional persuasion in CRO

1. Go through your website with your team and link products and topics to the emotional responses they create.

2. Talk to the marketing team to identify the types of emotions best suited for each product or service.

Use your value proposition as a starting point, as well as the benefits of your product. Ask which state of mind a user would need to be in to make a purchase.

3. Conduct qualitative research by asking a small number of participants to answer a series of questions, such as why they access your website and the emotional state they are in.

Ask about their current emotional range and what has caused those feelings: What is their state of mind? Where are their emotions being directed? Why are they feeling those emotions?

4. Design your website for emotional responses by focusing on font, color, and images.

5. Select the types of fonts that match the emotions you want to convey by scanning through a visual list of fonts like Google Fonts.

For example, a modern and strong font suggests a serious matter. Make a shortlist of fonts and discuss with your design department whether the fonts trigger the expected emotions.

6. Choose between 2-3 colors that maintain or create emotion for your users to act upon.

Color is not the only element for inciting emotion, but it complements other emotional design elements. Create ties between your brand and the colors you end up using to create associations. For example, yellow triggers happiness while red triggers anger.

7. Evaluate the images used on your website and ask if they communicate the emotions you are looking to trigger.

For example, if you want your users to make a purchase when they are happy, use images of people smiling in a bright environment.

8. Repeat words in the copy to increase emotional identification and trigger the emotions you are looking for.

Use the results from your qualitative research as a starting point to identify whether your audience has specific trigger words that trigger the desired emotions. Examine the words you want to use in your copy and those emotions they convey to you. Use words in your headlines that have a powerful emotional association with your audience.

9. Create a story with a beginning, peak, and end to connect to your audience using personification and trigger words.

For example, craft the story to deliberately play on users’ emotions such as anxiety to rouse their pain points.