9 Ways to Incorporate Emotional Marketing Into Your Law Firm’s Social Media Ads

What’s the key to crafting an epic, results-oriented social media advertising campaign for your law firm? Emotionally charged headlines and ad copy. According to research from Psychology Today, people respond to the emotional part of the ads a lot more than the text itself.

Done well, emotional marketing can differentiate your brand and make you more competitive in an increasingly crowded social media landscape. Next time you want to optimize your law firm’s Facebook or LinkedIn ad campaign, consider creating more emotional appeals. There’s no limit to the emotions you can bring into play – excited, melancholic, shocked – you name it. Below there are 9 emotional triggers that you can start using in your social media ad copy right now.

1. Grab your audience’s attention using FOMO

The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a powerful motivator that fuels many of our social media behaviors. Research shows that 56% of social media users are afraid to be away from social networks because they might miss out on events, news, and important status updates.

Unsurprisingly, FOMO can be great way for your social media copy to grab people’s attention, especially if it uses the following elements:

• Exclusivity – Copy reflecting exclusive access or first “dibs” on an offering
• Urgency – Copy communicating an offering available for a limited time only
• Scarcity – Copy communicating limited availability on an offering

2. Amuse your followers with your wit

Laughter is a great tool to connect with your target audience across social media. When it works, it creates memorable marketing campaigns. Getting people to laugh also makes them more inclined to think positively about your firm.

3. Leverage the “curiosity gap”

The difference between what we actually know and what we’d like to know is called the curiosity gap. The curiosity gap can be used to compel people to click on your content, whether it’s a blog post or webinar invite. If you really understand your audience, you should be able to predict their most pressing questions. In your ad, share that question in the heading and then let readers know how they can get the answer to that question (attending your webinar, reading your blog post, etc) in the body copy. 

4. Ramp up excitement

People tend to behave differently when they’re excited. They are quicker to act – but excitement fades quickly. Make the most of this emotion by capturing attention quickly and making the next step clear. Try bright colors and concise copy with exclamation points, an ad image showing excitement, and – most importantly – making sure whatever you’re promoting is really interesting. 

5. Evoke joy and happiness

An interesting study from the New York Times in 2010 found that the most commonly shared articles and posts tended to be emotional in nature – and positive more often than negative. It’s natural to assume that the same would be true of ad campaigns. To make people happier looking at your ad, try using bright colors, images with smiling people, and verbiage that has a positive connotation. Though this tactic is more applicable to B2C brands, law firms can also showcase smiling individuals suggesting positive results from working with your firm. 

6. Evoke feelings of sadness

Using negative emotions like sadness helps you deliver a sense of empathy or compassion. Many law firms have noticed the effectiveness of using emotional content that creates public awareness of social issues the firm takes a stand on like violence, gender equality, immigration, and others. 

7. Manage negative feelings

Unpleasant feelings aren’t always such a bad thing – especially if a solution is also offered. Including just the right amount of negative information can be very helpful if you let your audience know that you offer the answers. For example, a headline such as “Custody battles can go on for years” is likely to spark some concern in currently divorcing couples. Turn that feeling around by adding copy such as “Working with the right attorney is key for a quick and amicable process for your family.”

8. Surprise your readers

One Psychology Today report shared that fMRI neuro-imagery proved that consumers use emotions rather than information to evaluate a brand. An emotion that tends to immediately capture attention is surprise, and unexpected facts really catch attention.  One thing that could surprise your audience (in a good way) is a report from a proprietary study or a statistic that people aren’t likely to know. Consider running a campaign where you ask people to fill out a survey and then share the findings in a white paper or infographic. 

9. Remember that people respond to guilt

Clients may feel guilty for any number of reasons, but one thing is for sure: no one likes the feeling, and people will take action quickly to try and remove it. Start the ad by reminding your audience of a mistake they are probably making, and then offer the quickest next step in addressing the problem. Use strong verbiage that will spark a reaction and compel action. 

Takeaway

There are many tactics you can use to create click-worthy social media ads that inspire your followers to take action. Using emotion is one strategy that can make people even more responsive to your campaigns. However, you must deeply know your target audience to create social media ads that feel authentic to your brand and resonate with your followers.

Do you need help driving real business results through social media? Our social media offerings can be customized to your law firm’s needs and realities. In addition to social media management, we offer social media consulting and training for our clients. Contact us today for a free consultation.