Emotions are an all-important factor in every kind of media. We’ve all bought Dawn dish soap because we wanted to help those cute baby ducks in oil spills. Your favorite movie or TV show likely left in in tears or in stitches. Even a standard social media scroll can alter your emotional state. Positive or negative, social media makes us feel things. And the best content creators use the connection between emotions and social media in their favor.
Luckily, once you see it once, you can’t unsee it! In this article, we’ll be breaking down the top emotions social media content stirs up and how to incorporate more emotion into your content.
Why Emotions Matter 🥰
Whether we notice it or not, emotions impact a lot of the decisions we make. Often the emotions social media touches on are more subtle, and you might not even notice them if you aren’t actively looking for them!
Emotions can help to build trust between a creator and their audience. Not only does it feel more vulnerable and open, like this influencer really sees and wants to connect with us, but it makes them human. Sharing authentic and relatable content that reflects genuine emotions helps humanize you. Suddenly you’re much more approachable and relatable to followers or people coming across you on the FYP.
And that means that followers find it easier to connect with you. Seeing someone being openly emotional on social media makes you want to connect with them. Emotions foster deeper, more meaningful connections; this creates trust, fosters admiration, and builds community. It can also make you more appealing as a creator: we’re starting to move away from the picture perfect influencer, and authenticity is reigning supreme.
Finally, content that tugs at our heartstrings encourage more engagement. This increased engagement not only boosts visibility but also helps content reach a wider audience. Whether that’s celebrating an achievement or airing your grievances, people want to support you if they can. Which ties back into the other two points. We’re emotionally-drive and crave connection: when we see someone being emotional on social media, we want to support them.
Emotions in Social Media 📱
Social media encompasses all of the human experience, meaning it taps into a variety of emotions. There’s a few that we see often, but you are by no means limited to just them! Here’s the top emotions we see and why they’re impactful.
Happiness 🤠
Happiness is one of the most common emotional responses we see used in social media. Usually in the form of comedy videos, or those super cute animal videos. You’ll also see a lot of creators making heart-warming or happy content – like celebration videos or videos about soldiers coming home that somehow always make you cry. Some other videos can fall into this category, like cake decorating videos with funny audios overlayed or fun, educational videos. Nostalgia can also fit into this.
Sadness 😭
This needs little explanation. We’ve all seen the ASPCA commercials, we all know how powerful sadness and empathy can be. This is a harder emotion to invoke because we don’t want to be vulnerable on camera. But it’s still a powerful emotion: content that touches on universal human experiences can create a sense of solidarity and understanding.
Excitement 🥳
Excitement = FOMO. This content builds anticipation around upcoming events, product launches, or announcements. Think teasers, sneak peeks, and countdowns! Content that shows fun parties or decor ideas can also fall into this category.
Many videos trying to sell products hit on this specific emotion, but in a different way. Influencers want to convince you that you need this product. You’ll be missing out on something if you don’t get it! Musicians release clips of their songs to generate excitement and drive people to listen to more.
Curiosity 🤓
You’ll see a lot of this in storytimes, tutorials, or even educational videos. The creator hits you with something that piques your interest, like an attention-grabbing hook, a peek at the final result, or cliff-hangers. This is a great tactic for authors trying to sell a book or true crime creators. In general, all creators should be looking for a way to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Inspiration 🤩
Inspirational stories, motivational quotes, or personal achievements can be used to uplift and inspire the audience. Tutorial videos can often fit into this category, as they usually leave viewers feeling inspired to do something new or push their boundaries.
Anger 😠
Anger and fear are two other powerful emotions. A bit like sadness, no one really wants to show these emotions. But they stir up a huge reaction in the audience. These can be used to inspire some kind of action or just entertain the audience.
Now that we’ve stablished some basic emotions and emotional responses social media can cause, let’s get into how to work them into your content.
Unleash Your Emotions 💥
There’s a pretty good chance that you’re already tapping into emotions when you create content. That’s great! This article is by no means saying that you have to make sure you’re connecting to emotions in every single video. But we want you to be more aware of how emotions can help you create more engaging content. That might include trying some new video styles and opening up more.
Tell Stories 🎥
Whether you literally sit down to tell a story or work storytelling into your content, this is one of the best ways to tap into emotions. It grabs people’s attention, and following the journey of something automatically evokes emotion. People feel invested in the story, and depending on the content have the power to inspire action from the audience.
Get Personal 🫣
Share something that’s been on your mind or bothering you recently. Or, share something you love! Think about something that elicits an emotional response from you (and that you feel comfortable talking about) and share it with your audience. This could be a dessert that makes you think of your grandma, a movie you hated, or something in your niche that grinds your gears.
We guarantee someone will relate to you or just really enjoy this side of you!
Use Music 🎶
TV shows and movies use music to increase or create a specific emotion, so you can too! If you’re talking about a project that went wrong or sharing a scary instance from your life, find music to go with it. This one’s super easy, and we see a lot of creators doing this!
Emotional Appeals 😢
Appeal to your audience’s emotions by highlighting the emotional benefits or consequences of your content topic. Framing your content in emotional terms can make it more compelling and persuasive. If you’re trying to sell something (or get viewers to try something out) touch on a pain point or struggle they may be dealing with. “Don’t know what to do for Valentine’s Day? Need an easy dinner with minimal clean up?”
Language 🤬
The language you use is powerful! Consider spending some time thinking about what you’ll say before you record. Instead of saying something frustrated you, maybe it made you feel constrained or defeated. Make sure the words you use still fit your style and the context of your video, but consider how languages can help you hit on different emotions.
Empathy ❤️🔥
This is similar to emotional appeals. You’re literally appealing to your audience’s emotions and getting them to feel with you. A lot of this looks like “let me tell you about the most embarrassing date I’ve ever been on” or “watch this project go from bad to worse”. This is about making you more relatable to your audience and resonating with the connection you have.
Imagery 💭
Filters, emojis, and gifts can all help evoke emotion. Whether you use a black and white filter on the shot of a failed project, or emojis and gif-style stickers as you’re telling a story, all of these convey emotion.
On Their Mind 🫠
Consider what your audience is thinking about or discussing. Is there something in your niche people are talking about? Is there something you can share that would be helpful or inspiring? Around Thanksgiving, someone who creates content about their cats or dogs may consider posting a video about foods that are toxic to them. Try to get into their heads and focus on what’s on their mind.
Any emotion you want to insight can work into these prompts. Start with the ones you’re most comfortable showing and go from there! It’s a good idea to change up the emotions you incorporate into your videos often. Try not to only make sad content or videos that focus on just anger. You don’t want to seem like the human version of Eeyore.
In Conclusion 🎀
Emotions play an important role in social media. They help creators connect to their audience and make their content even more appealing. You’re likely already appealing to your followers’ emotions, but purposefully doing it can boost engagement. And, maybe best of all, you don’t have to sob on camera in order to appeal to emotions! Even something as simple as a music switch or a little script-writing can make your content even more emotionally resonant. Social media that elicits an emotional response can be powerful, and you can work it into your content with little to no effort.
Looking for other ways to boost engagement? Check out our articles on shareable content, storyboarding, and measuring metrics! The Clapper 101 tab is also full of articles designed to help you up your creator game.