Branding experts know storytelling is the backbone of a solid strategy. While much of it appeals to emotions, there is evidence why good marketing techniques appeal to the mind — it is all in neuroscience. Elevate your narratives by understanding how the brain amplifies companies with neuromarketing.

1. Emotional Engagement

Businesses need to make themselves appear less corporate and more human. Brand experts do this by appealing to consumers’ emotions by explaining their values, leveraging an accessible brand voice and having stories with compelling hooks. These are some of the most common emotional triggers marketers will appeal to:

• Happiness and joy
• Sadness and empathy
• Fear and anxiety
• Nostalgia

One example is Bombas, which appeals to empathy by illustrating its mission to help people without homes obtain footwear. This goal immediately engages customers to support a cause. It furthers the connectivity by describing how it obsesses over small frustrations, like uncomfortable sock seams, to make people feel relief.

2. Sensory Language

Everyone has seen a fast food commercial or Instagram photo of freeze-dried candy and felt their mouth water. When companies spend an estimated $104.8 billion on advertising, small businesses have to make it worth it. Part of the brand storytelling relies on imagery, but it also revolves around sensory words. It stimulates the brain, making it curious to experience the sensations the mind envisions.

For example, Idiom Brewing Company has expertly crafted descriptions for its beer that make its brews stick out among competitors. For example, one of its sours is explained as “extremely juicy” and “fermented with Sundew yeast for ripe berry undertones.” Its hoppy wheat contains a “mélange of bright citrus zest.” Finally, its festbier is described with the senses and a story, starting with, “Imagine biscuits, drizzled honey and a crispy bitterness.”

3. Narrative Transportation

Marketing experts transport consumers to a new reality if they are talented in writing their brand’s story. It is so interesting that it makes buyers forget their problems and enjoy the experience of the products and services until they become a converted lead.

One example is StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization whose mission relies on the staff to be top-notch storytellers to gain donors. It persuades and transports people by sharing stories from authentic voices, relating to countless readers with accessible, relatable experiences that cause readers to reflect and connect.

4. Visual Storytelling

The image is almost as powerful as the text regarding the mind’s appeal. Visuals provide context and tangibility when words may not drive the point home enough. It also attaches to the mind more strongly, making the brand likely to stick in long-term memory.

For example, PSS is a poster maker that leverages several neuroscience-based techniques in its brand messaging. As a visual product company, it makes sense to have striking, comforting imagery that appeals to a broad audience. Its promotional photos show diverse, smiling faces with bright colors to complement the high energy.

5. Social Proof

Social proof is a phenomenon that influences people’s behaviors. When customers see affirming actions and testimonials from other shoppers, their minds are incentivized to mimic the behaviors that got others into favorable positions. Every instance of social proof is a lightbulb moment for the brain, signaling what will help people succeed.

An example is Pela, a sustainable product company whose homepage features customer reviews near the top. If browsers keep scrolling, five-star statements are woven throughout. It is diverse in content, praising different aspects of its products to raise its reputation. Seeing phrases like “No case I have ever owned [...] has been such a conversation starter,” people feel driven to buy.

6. Cognitive Ease

The social internet has made every shopping decision cumbersome. There are millions of reviews to sift through and countless competing websites to parse. Complex topics alongside misinformation induce consumer fatigue. Companies relaying their brand story consider neuroscience by inciting cognitive ease by writing nuanced topics with accessible diction.

Sustainable brands shoulder this burden frequently, especially as the legitimacy of eco-conscious terms is inconsistent and unregulated. Kayaness, a period underwear brand, makes ethical sourcing clear for buyers with less eco-literacy. For example, it describes its products as “made in-house in factories that we operate” and “workers are paid a living wage.” This simplifies hard-to-research topics like workers’ rights in text that laypeople understand.

7. Scarcity and Urgency

Everyone has been on websites like Ticketmaster or designer fashion brands and received a notification that their stocks are running out. If customers don’t purchase now, they will miss out on an unforgettable experience or limited-edition item. This has become so common online that some consumers question how genuine this messaging is. Marketers can still use these ideas to forge an honest marketing campaign.

Crafting an air of scarcity around products encourages consumers to make faster decisions. This method requires finesse, as brands do not want buyers to feel manipulated or falsely informed. Urgency must be genuine.

Small business platform Etsy informs buyers how much stock a seller has when people put items in their cart. It also notes how many people have the same product ready for checkout. The numbers side by side alert shoppers if they are about to miss their chance without annoying pop-ups, audible pings or stressful emails. The urgency arises based on facts alone, which urges a type of informed spontaneity.

The Mind Matters

Brands need to feel personal — otherwise, they will never make a sale. Instead of guessing what will appeal to consumer niches, use neuroscience to appeal to the masses. They are more foolproof methods for attaching to hearts, leading to repeat customers in the long-term.