If you’re not in our hearts, you’re not in our heads.

There are a lot of brands out there vying for attention. According to a post on the American Marketing Association site, the average consumer is exposed to up to 10,000 brand messages in a day.

That can make it seem daunting to simply get noticed by our prospects. And it doesn't even start to approach the ability to create a meaningful connection with them – which is where we need to be if we want them to become our customer.

You: feature, feature, feature! Me: zzzzzzzzz.

"Let's talk about me!" This is how a vast majority of brands out there try to engage us. They want to tell us what they do or how they do it. They assault us with their features. And we respond with a resounding yawn. No, I take that back. Remember that 10,000-brand-messages-in-a-day stat? I think we don't even give them the time for a yawn.

So what's a brand to do?

We have to create an emotional connection. The result of creating this connection is huge. A post in the Financial Brand helps illustrate As it states, “When customers feel a financial institution helps them realize such personal values as achieving social acceptance, attaining freedom and independence in life or simplifying life in a complex world, they have an emotional connection to the institution. These types of unspoken emotional needs – typically not captured in traditional market and consumer insight research – are the strongest drivers of customer value in the industry.”

Why creating an emotional connection is vital

First of all, creating this emotional connection will give you a fighting chance among the tsunami of brand messages out there. It separates you by helping us understand why you are meaningful to us. Help us understand that and your brand will stick with us. Remember, if you’re not in our hearts, you’re not in our heads.

And second, it builds that meaningful connection. It helps us feel like you are authentic in your interest to help us work toward our aspirations. That means you spend less time trying to get our attention and more time trying to be our advocate. We get that you want to be in front of us. But we’re much more interested in you being behind us.

In today's world there is so much that can distract our efforts to connect our brand with our prospects. Technology has created an ongoing race to keep up. Channels have exploded. It’s made it tough to know how to prioritize. If we have optimized the emotional connection, then the answer becomes much clearer. Because we know what's important to them. Which means we understand the best way to serve them.

So do this one thing. Before you add another system, launch into another channel, or even send out another brand message, ask yourself the one question that will lead to the clarity you seek: “Have I optimized the emotional connection with those I hope to serve?”