In Pixar’s beloved film Inside Out, emotions are more than fleeting states—they’re vibrant characters guiding our protagonist, Riley, through life’s twists and turns. From Joy’s infectious enthusiasm to Sadness’s poignant depth, each emotion shapes Riley’s journey in profound ways. With the release of Inside Out 2, new emotions have been introduced making Riley’s life more complicated as she continues to grow up.
At TrailBlaze, we understand the importance of a powerful content strategy and leveraging each emotion throughout nonprofit marketing campaigns. Emotions are the backbone of effective storytelling, and therefore, effective marketing. Harnessing them can significantly upscale your content, increase engagement, and ultimately build stronger connections with your community. Drawing inspiration from this animated world, let’s delve into how we can elevate our content strategy by embracing the diverse spectrum of emotions portrayed in Inside Out 2.
Joy is an emotion that’s infectious, bringing with it vibrancy and enthusiasm to your content strategy.
Although joy might seem like the most obvious emotion to incorporate into your strategy, there are many ways your team can invoke it to enhance your content.
By using colorful and bold visuals, you can draw your audience’s attention through excitement. Think about incorporating vibrant images reminiscent of memories that spark joy for your audience. Positive icons and imagery, such as smiling faces or nature scenes, can evoke fond memories and positive feelings. Adding humor and fun through light-hearted jokes or playful language makes your content more engaging.
You may also want to consider integrating interactive elements like games, polls, quizzes, and self-scoring activities that can make your audience feel involved and excited. Sharing positive testimonials from happy clients also spreads joy and builds trust for your brand.
A great example of showcasing joy through content strategy is the Make-A-Wish Foundation marketing. Often highlighting the positive impact of their work on communities, Make-A-Wish shares heartwarming stories and joyful moments of children having their wishes granted. Their content is filled with smiles, celebrations, and the pure joy of making dreams come true.
Sometimes, sadness is necessary to create deep connections.
While the goal isn’t to make your audience sad, evoking this emotion can foster a stronger bond. Heartfelt stories about overcoming adversity or personal challenges can resonate deeply among your audience.
Further, showcasing empathy in your content by acknowledging hardships and offering support or solutions can make your audience feel understood. Inspirational quotes reflecting resilience and hope can also motivate and connect on a personal level.
For example, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) effectively uses its social media platforms to highlight stories of animal suffering and rescue. While these heartbreaking stories of abused and neglected animals can be difficult to hear about, they evoke strong emotion and empathy from the audience and ultimately, action.
Fear, particularly the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), can be a powerful motivator.
While avoiding fear-mongering, you can still drive action by promoting limited-time offers or exclusive content to create urgency. Strong calls-to-action like “Don’t Miss Out” or “Limited Seats Available” encourage immediate engagement. Highlighting future benefits or potential losses if they don’t act now can also create a sense of urgency and prompt action.
The Red Cross is another nonprofit that effectively creates FOMO through its content strategy. Often the Red Cross partners with celebrities, influencers, and organizations for special events and campaigns. These high-profile collaborations are often promoted with a focus on exclusivity and the significant impact of participating, creating additional excitement and FOMO.
Disgust can be a useful tool for staying relevant and fresh.
By staying updated on the latest trends and incorporating them into your content, you can avoid being “cheugy” or cringy. Bold, clear statements about your brand’s stance can help distinguish you from outdated practices. It’s essential to be cautious of clichés and overused marketing tactics that might turn off your audience.
For example, an organization that does a great job of keeping their brand relevant and fresh through trends and consistent posting schedules is charity: water. In particular, charity: water leverages social-first trends and adjusts their content strategy based on the platform and audience preferences. Whether it’s Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, or TikTok challenges, charity: water embraces diverse formats to reach and engage their audience effectively.
Anger, when channeled correctly, can inspire passion and drive.
Address common industry obstacles or challenges your audience faces, speaking out against these pain points. Passionate advocacy for improvements that benefit your community can resonate deeply. Use strong, motivational language, bold fonts and word choices, and deep hues to ignite a passion within your audience to join you in making a difference.
However, it’s important to remember that you can be loud without being angry. Communicating with clarity and confidence, while avoiding hostility, allows you to project your message effectively. This approach ensures that your advocacy is powerful and compelling, driving your message forward with energy and positivity, rather than anger.
A nonprofit brand that effectively inspires passion and drive on social media is United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The visuals used by UNICEF effectively convey the scale of challenges faced by children worldwide. Then the brand provides educational content that raises awareness about global issues affecting children. By informing their audience, UNICEF is encouraging passion to support children around the world.
Anxiety can be mitigated through proper planning.
While we wouldn’t encourage giving into your anxiety, utilizing a content calendar to plan and forecast your posting schedule can provide peace of mind. Leveraging national days and holidays to create timely and relevant content can also help maintain a consistent posting schedule, building trust and reliability with your audience. Furthermore, by planning ahead, your nonprofit can focus on making an impact in the lives of others.
Feeding America utilizes a regular content schedule to build trust among their audience. They align their content with national days, holidays, and current events related to hunger relief and food insecurity. This ensures that their messaging remains timely and resonates with their audience.
Embarrassment and Ennui (boredom) should not stall your strategy.
Embrace experimentation by trying new content formats and styles to see what resonates best. If a strategy doesn’t work, analyze why, learn from it, and move on. Regularly refreshing your content can keep your audience engaged and prevent boredom.
As a Pittsburgh-based brand, we can’t help but applaud Duolingo’s innovative nature in their content strategy. This brand impresses not only with its bold initiatives but also with its agile approach to embracing and evolving with trends. Duolingo’s content strategy blends creativity, technology, and user-centric design to bring attention to their mission to make language learning accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
Finally, envy can be a double-edged sword.
Just because another brand is doing something trendy doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Focus on what resonates with your audience rather than copying others. Maintaining your unique brand identity and values is crucial. Adopt trends strategically, ensuring they align with your brand’s voice and goals.
One nonprofit brand that adopts trends strategically, ensuring alignment with their brand’s voice and goals, is World Wildlife Fund (WWF). WWF evaluates trends based on their relevance to wildlife conservation and environmental sustainability. They prioritize trends that can help raise awareness about biodiversity, climate change, and conservation efforts. Further, they use trending topics as opportunities to educate their audience about pressing environmental issues.
Balancing Emotions for a Dynamic Content Strategy
Just like the characters in Inside Out 2, our content strategy thrives on a balance of emotions. Joy sparks engagement, sadness fosters empathy, fear drives action, disgust keeps your brand relevant, anger drives your message with passion, anxiety requires planning, ennui (and embarrassment) challenges us to innovate, and envy reminds us to stay authentic.
Let the emotions guide your strategy, and watch your content thrive.
If you’re ready to elevate your content strategy, let’s connect and create something amazing together!
