An individual’s instinct to buy is driven by how effectively you can appeal to his self-interest and how convincingly you can make him want your product more. Self-interest triggers purchasing decision, and desire apparently fuels it.

Like all forms of marketing, content marketing revolves around human behavior. And behavior, as we know, is triggered by emotions. Even buying is an emotional decision. Renowned Neuromarketing pioneer and Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman said that 95% of all our thoughts occur in the subconscious. As consumers, we don’t often know why we make the purchasing decisions we do. Even if we don’t admit it or are simply not aware of it, we buy on emotions first, and justify it by logic right after.

As a content marketer, using emotional triggers are a powerful strategy to evoke feelings among your audience and move them to action. Check out the most awesome content that get viral. All of them appeal to our feelings and often use emotional slices of life to make it more relatable. Such content pick on our curiosities and spark our excitement. It surprises us, drives us to succeed, prompts us to face our fears, boosts our confidence, motivates us to push ourselves further and take risks. Winning content makes us cry, laugh, believe in something, think twice, it challenges our assumptions, and sometimes reminds us of an old value long forgotten.

But how do you evoke the right feelings to a specific target market? Well, comprehensive research is key.

Research helps you strategically size up your competitors, identify a unique selling point, answer questions from skeptics, and earn the trust of even the most discerning consumers. It helps you identify which strengths you can highlight, what weaknesses you should play down, and how you can present your idea in the most engaging way.

According to Tony Hughes, sales mentor and founder of RSVPSelling, we should never act without thinking and assessing all of the available accurate information. A strategy is only as good as the information that leads to it. Being an excellent climber is of no benefit if your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

Once you’re done with research, it helps to present your ideas like the greatest salespeople would.

Content creation is an art, sure. And so is selling. The savviest sales pros are in fact some of the best storytellers you’ll ever meet. They understand that people don’t want to be sold. And so they tell relevant stories that appeal to their prospects’ self-interests.

The best sales masters are sharp observers who never run out of creative ways to engage their target market. They are not afraid to try new things that could persuade more prospects to buy and they communicate in a lingo that their prospects easily understand. Contrary to what many believe, these salespeople don’t always resort to hard-sell approaches. They subtly woo their market if they must. They identify a relevant need and find prolific ways to satisfy it. They adjust their sales pitches according to how their prospects behave.

Effectively selling your ideas is crucial to effective content marketing. After all, consumers don’t limit themselves to reading grammatically correct pieces of content. They don’t watch videos according to those with the most fascinating visual effects. In truth, they simply rave about those they can relate to the most.

In a nutshell, well researched content that weaves strong emotional connection and sells awesome ideas in strategic ways is hard to replicate. It pierces through the walls of social noise, giving the savviest brands a chance to penetrate into our affective layers, heightening our sensory experiences, and prompting us to close the sales cycle faster. Such pieces of content help marketers occupy a space in consumers’ minds where no competition can easily step over.