Viva’s Blog: Money isn’t everything

As you likely know, we’re big fans of metrics, quantitative analysis, and ROI. However, strict devotion to these tools without understanding the emotion behind decision making leads to suboptimal results. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there’s a human being on the receiving end of the ad, email or message. People make decisions based on many factors, both rational and emotional. Savvy marketers get that.

Money isn’t everything.
We’re in the middle of college graduation season and astute school leaders have fine tuned the art of the emotional pitch. They don’t ask for money, but they certainly hope to receive donations from their graduates in the coming years. They don’t ask graduates to chat up their alma mater with top high school students at home, but they certainly hope they will. What do they do?

They create and share videos to remind students and their parents how much they grew, how much they experienced, and how they are now part of a special group with a special bond. They roll out the red carpet and spoil students and their families with strawberries and champagne receptions, impressive speakers, and constant reminders of the good times. They talk about the power of the alumni network with the vast number of successful alumni around the world. The result? An emotional hug that will touch the heart of even the toughest skeptics in the audience.

Money isn’t everything.
Some companies have learned the same lesson. They know that while customers buy out of self-interest, they also buy because they “like” the supplier and its people. What do companies do to create these emotional bonds? Smart marketers call customers, not to ask for the next order, but rather to just check in and ask about their customer’s business. They call, not email, to see how they can better serve them. They may just say thanks or mention an article they thought their customer might enjoy reading.

Money isn’t everything.
We’ve written about creating brand ambassador programs where employees and customers become advocates for your organization and help both retain existing customers and entice new ones. Brand ambassadors won’t do this to make a dollar or hit a quantitative target. Rather, many are motivated at an emotional level, because they believe in the organization, its service or its product.

So this season, as you stop to smell the roses, take a moment to create an emotional connection with people who are important to your organization and cause. Yes…the money will follow.

Editor’s note: Laura Sheridan, President of Viva La Brand, was recently selected to be the Brand Blogger for Crain’s Cleveland Business.