Using Imagery to Evoke Emotion


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Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about craft—and how to evoke emotion in your copy.

Why evoke emotion in the first place? Because you can’t make anyone buy your client’s product if they don’t already want to. But that’s okay, because making them want to isn’t all that hard…but it requires connecting with them emotionally on some level first.

And the single best way to do that, as poets and novelists have known for centuries, is through the use of imagery. Imagery illustrates the abstract and allows the reader to engage with it in a rael and tangible way. What do I mean? Here are a few examples.

People don’t get excited about love as an abstract concept.  But they will react to a young man on one knee in the middle of a posh restaurant, ring in hand, heart pounding as he looks up hopefully…the entire restaurant holding its collective breath in anticipation of her response. They will react to the mother seeing her own reflection in the eyes of her infant girl as she stares down in amazement and wonder at the smiling face looking back at her. At the nervous euphoria of a clumsy first kiss. At the warmth flooding the adolescent boy’s cheeks as his note is intercepted by the teacher.

Imagery can be used to quickly convey powerful emotions that we have all felt at one time or another. We empathize, and even feel the emotion inside ourselves.  And that emotion is the potential for action. Once the chord is struck, all that remains is to channel that emotion into the action we desire…where to buy the ring, where to deliver the baby, where to buy the corsage, what phone to text with.

Look at the action you want the prospect to take: where can you find the potential energy to drive that action…love? ambition? laziness? boredom? fear? humor? (careful with those last two). Now, what image can you tap into to help the prospect experience those emotions?

Imagery is like the key in the engine of your ad, just sitting there waiting to be turned.  Go on…give it a go.

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