How neuroscience will enhance your content marketing strategies

When it comes to writing articles for your website, what kinds of content are going to create  better traction with potential customers? One way is to understand the neuroscience behind how consumers make buying decisions.

Our emotions drive us more than we think when it comes to making a purchase. Whether it’s a life-altering one like a new home or an indulgence like an extravagant pair of shoes, science and psychology can help explain all kinds of buying decisions.

How does neuroscience play into how we shop?

Research shows that we buy based on emotions, and then try to justify our choices with logic.

According to Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of our purchase decisions take place unconsciously. It is the unconscious process that drives purchasing behaviours and decision-making in general.

Our unconscious or emotional mind is capable of processing millions of bits of data based on our own experiences. That process is continuous, and we never feel overwhelmed sorting out this information.

In contrast, our conscious mind can only juggle or remember three to four new pieces of information at a time. Using facts and logic, the conscious mind is responsible for validating the decisions that our emotional mind has made.

Therefore, as marketers, it is important that we develop content that speaks to the unconscious mind by selling a feeling or by recreating the life moment that buying a product can achieve.

If, for example, you are writing an awareness article for a company that makes kitchen countertops, the emotional connection could be the desire to entertain friends in a newly renovated kitchen. The copy text and photos would feature a beautiful entertaining island where everyone is gathered for conversation, food and wine.

But as the neuroscience reminds us, don’t forget to provide the supporting information and logic behind the purchase — the quality, the durability and the sustainability of the product, so the audience’s right side of the brain believes there is a good reason for making the purchase. This content strategy will generate higher conversion rates, as it addresses the emotional side of the brain while uniting it with the logical side of the brain, ensuring a positive purchase experience.