Websites with Emotional Superpowers

We all want to visit a website, get what we need, and get out, right?

What we’ve come to realize is all too often, sites are missing a big opportunity to evoke an emotional connection through unexpected creativity. We call it surprise and delight. Brands can’t afford to skip this chance, especially challenger brands.

We know that beliefs are stronger than knowledge. More motivating, too. When it comes to buying decisions, knowledge is oftentimes how we justify what we feel. Through an emotional or experiential connection, a feeling can be efficiently created. Why, if many consumers check the web first for the products they buy, is nearly every website still geared to the old-school knowledge format?

Consider the rise of content marketing. According to Forbes (Aug 2016), the demand for interactive content is rapidly growing. We see how social media morphed into infographics and has grown to include more videos and interactive content. Quizzes, calculators, and polls are a few of the ways users have direct involvement in their experience.

The lesson for web content is the same. On your website, you can precisely curate richer user experiences. In content marketing, content is created to fit the platform. On your website, you own the platform. Why not transform the entire platform creatively so it resonates…creates an emotion… builds a belief.

How do you do it? By communicating both knowledge and belief in the most compelling way. Creative approaches must be thoughtfully designed into the UX so they don’t interfere with or obstruct a user’s mission. Your design and content need to provide welcome surprises and unexpected delights – often with subtlety and polish.

It’s no secret that only a tiny percentage of content gets significantly shared. Content that does get shared is amusing, surprising, shocking, heartwarming, beautiful, inspiring and compelling to users. That’s emotion with relevance. Your website content has to be that good too.