Video ads have become hugely popular lately. Brands are using them to showcase their stuff in cool, attention-grabbing ways. One big key to making good videos is tapping into people’s emotions. Videos that make you feel something tend to connect more and stick in your mind better. In this post, we’ll look at why emotion matters so much in videos and how to use it effectively.

Why Emotion is So Important in Marketing

Before just talking about videos, it helps to step back and think about why marketing that pulls at your heartstrings works.  

We humans are emotional creatures. Our buying choices aren’t just based on cold hard facts. How something makes us feel plays a massive role. So if a company can stir up feelings through their ads – whether it’s laughter, nostalgia, inspiration, or something else – we pay more attention. Their content sticks with us. And we see their brand in a more positive light.

Video in particular works well for making emotional connections. It has some advantages over other formats:

– Video lets you show your product in action through real demos, customer reviews, reenactments, and more. This helps people connect with it emotionally.

– The sights, sounds, and movement draw us in and engage our brains naturally. It’s easy to get lost in a good video.

– Facial cues, body language, music, and tone of voice can trigger specific feelings. Videos leverage these well. 

– YouTube and social media allow brands to study emotional feedback through likes, comments, and more. This data guides future video plans.  

Clearly, video’s multi-sensory aspect gives lots of opportunity to tap into emotion. Let’s explore some specific tactics.

Ways to Build Emotion Into Videos

When making video ads aimed at driving emotion, some key things to think about:

Pinpoint Your Main Emotional Goal

What’s the main feeling you want viewers left with? Here are top emotional targets for marketing videos:

– Happiness – Create a feel-good ad with humor that leaves folks smiling. 

– Inspiration – Motivate and uplift viewers by showing how you can improve lives. 

– Nostalgia – Play to fond memories to link your brand to happier times.

– Excitement – Fire up thrillseekers with high energy scenes.

– Trust – Highlight happy customers to build credibility and assurance.

Once you identify your primary emotional goal, keep it front and center as you develop the rest of the video. Everything should feed into achieving that desired reaction.

Understand Your Audience 

Tapping into emotion requires truly knowing your viewers. Go beyond surface stuff like age and gender. Figure out what makes them tick on a deeper level. What values matter most? What gets them fired up? What tugs at their heartstrings? Use those insights to shape the mood you aim for.  

Learn about your audience through surveys, forums, and feedback channels. See what goes viral on social media. Use what you discover to refine your video vibe.

Tell an Engaging Story

Storytelling draws people in and sparks emotion. Instead of just a product demo, tell the whole backstory. If it’s a new drug, share the journey of how it was discovered and helps real patients. 

Use tried and true storytelling tricks – establish a relatable lead character, build tension, incorporate conflict people identify with. And weave the brand purpose seamlessly into the narrative. The right story makes an emotional connection.

Use Striking Visuals 

Pairing bold visuals with your story amplifies the emotional effect. Use moving imagery, poignant b-roll, thoughtful color schemes to set the mood. Quick cuts, close-ups, and transitions also grab eyes while conveying feeling. 

Look for authentic moments rather than overly posed or generic shots. Rawness adds emotional power. Make viewers feel like they’re really there with the people on screen.

Add Strategic Music and Sound 

Thoughtful audio choices enhance the video’s emotional pull. Pick music that builds up the desired sentiment – fast and energetic or slow and somber.  

Incorporate natural sounds and conversational flow when it fits the story. Moments of quiet can also pack an emotional punch when timed right. Dialed-in audio brings viewers further into the experience.

Optimize With Emotional Cues

Maximize emotional impact by providing the right setup and context. Give people reasons to care through backstories and character details. Build the story arc slowly for more satisfying payoff. Start and end on an emotional high note rather than falling flat. 

Formatting tools like titles and chapters can guide viewers through an emotional journey from start to finish. Optimization focused on emotion keeps people invested. 

Test and Refine Based on Feedback

Do lots of audience testing before finalizing your video. Get second-by-second emotional feedback through surveys, biometrics, etc. Flag any moments that miss the mark on your goals.

Use these insights to tweak things to better hit the right notes emotionally. Keep testing until you see consistently strong reactions. Investing in that analysis is crucial for truly mastering emotional video marketing.

Using these tips, you can make videos that authentically connect on an emotional level. Those connections drive branding, shares, conversions, and more.  

Examples of Emotional Videos Done Right

To make these ideas more concrete, let’s check out some great examples of effective emotionally-driven video ads:

Apple – “The Song”

This Apple ad tugs at the heartstrings by showing a daughter growing up through touching home videos set to music. The nostalgic parent-child connection makes the goal of preserving memories really land.

Dove – “Real Beauty Sketches”

Dove’s award-winning “Real Beauty Sketches” video sparked an emotional conversation about beauty pressures through a cool social experiment. Contrasting actual vs idealized sketches revealed women’s self-doubts in a memorable way.

Google – “Parisian Love” 

Google’s “Parisian Love” ad takes you through a couple’s ups and downs using Google products. From falling in love to relationship challenges to happy milestones, viewers invest in the romantic story.

Always – “Like a Girl” 

This 2014 viral ad campaign flipped the meaning of “like a girl” into a positive. Interviews with girls revealed how many lose confidence at puberty. Always inspires them to stay strong and buck limiting stereotypes. 

Luvs – “We’ll Wait”

Diaper brand Luvs took a common parenting moment and made it touching. A dad determined to get a perfect first steps video shows devotion with humor. The tagline “We’ll wait” lightens the emotional punch. 

Apple – “The Human Family”

Apple’s moving ad shares diverse people’s lives across races, religions, orientations, etc. Pairing inclusive visuals with a unifying poem makes you feel connected through our shared humanity.

As you can see, video ads can tap emotion in endless creative ways. Identify your core goal and audience, then craft a narrative, visuals, and music to support it. With strategic emotional pull, your videos foster authentic connections and get results.

Measuring How Videos Make People Feel

It’s not enough just to make emotional videos – you also need to measure how viewers respond emotionally. Some top ways:   

– Surveys: Ask directly how people felt at certain points, their emotional takeaways, connection level, etc.

– Biometrics: Advanced tools track biological factors like facial cues, heartbeat, brain activity to detect subconscious reactions. 

– Sentiment Analysis: AI analyzes YouTube comments to categorize emotional language and find patterns.

– Engagement Metrics: Things like views, likes, comments indicate how emotionally invested viewers are.

– Conversion Tracking: If aiming for sales, signups, etc., track conversion rates as evidence you hit the right notes.

– Focus Groups: Get qualitative insights on emotional response through real discussions with target audiences.

– A/B Testing: Try video variations with different emotional approaches and see which performs best. 

Data-driven optimization makes for better emotional video marketing. Combine quantitative and qualitative insights to understand the full viewer experience.

Staying On Top of Emotional Video Marketing 

Doing emotional video marketing well over the long-term takes some best practices. Here are some to build in:

– Keep tabs on new emotional video trends and update your strategies accordingly. What creative tactics are resonating now?

– Keep trying new things – test different emotions, stories, formats, platforms. See what hits home through A/B tests. 

– Optimize based on data like sentiment analysis, focus groups, etc. Have a process to continually refine what works emotionally.

– Build up a video library so you’ve got emotional content to pull from for different needs. Repurpose existing videos when you can.

– Partner with influencers who know how to tap into emotion with videos and reach new audiences. 

– Train your team on emotional video skills through online courses, workshops, coaching.

– Make emotion central in all video creative briefs, not just overtly emotional ones. Consistency builds brand ties. 

– Budget for ongoing production of new emotionally-driven videos. Don’t just do a one-off.

Making emotional connections through video is an evolving art. Follow these best practices to keep bringing your A-game.

Key Takeaways on Emotional Video Marketing

– Video’s multi-sensory aspect makes it fantastic for driving emotional reactions. Emotion-focused videos engage more viewers and get shared more widely.

– Identify the core emotion you want to elicit, and consistently craft the narrative, visuals, audio, and context to achieve that response. 

– Tell compelling stories that allow viewers to connect deeply with the people and experiences. Authenticity and relatability are crucial.

– Refine based on sentiment analysis, biometrics, focus groups and other data revealing nuanced emotional responses. 

– Maintain best practices like constant testing and team training to keep your video marketing strategies fresh, refined, and impactful.

With strategic emotional appeal, video is unmatched for forging connections. Master these techniques to make your brand stand out.