Emotional Engagement in User Experience for Startups

Stop treating your prospects like calculators. I learned this lesson painfully while leading the launch of a new solution for a healthcare transformation organization. The CEO and SVP of Product Innovation were well-intentioned, but they had biases that fueled their convictions. “Show them the science and ROI. Once they see the data, they’ll switch,” said the CEO. “They’ll switch?” I asked curiously. They rarely switched for the logic. They often resisted because we didn’t understand the emotion that tied them to maintaining the status quo. Most B2B marketers still build journeys on the idea that buyers only care about features, scientific studies, and ROI models. But real people buy with their hearts as much as their heads. LinkedIn's B2B Institute found that emotional factors significantly influence B2B buying decisions, accounting for 66%, while rational factors account for the remaining 34%. When you act like every decision is a math problem, you miss the emotional needs and biases that drive action. Fear of missing out. Desire for security. The endorsement of a trusted referral. Those feelings tip the scales long before spreadsheets ever come out. Three quick shifts to make your GTM more human: 💡 Map emotions, not just touchpoints. Ask: What’s the buyer afraid of at each stage? What small win can calm that fear? Use stories to build trust. 💡 Data is important. But a 2-minute customer story about real struggle and success sticks far longer. 💡 Frame decisions around loss-aversion. “Don’t lose your edge” often lands harder than “gain more efficiency.” When you blend hard facts with a genuine understanding of how people feel, you’ll see faster decisions and deeper loyalty. Takeaway: Your next user journey should start with these questions: ✔️ “How do we show up in our customers' struggles? ✔️ "Do they see us as relevant?” ✔️ Can they see their lives as being better because of our help? Build from there. #businessgrowth #GTM #buyerjourney #CMO

Every delightful customer interaction begins with the marketer, and it can only be as powerful as the #CRM and #metadata underpinning it. With agents supporting them at every step of the customer journey creation process, marketers and #customerengagement teams can now create superior experiences shaped by intelligent and emotionally resonant conversations. At a cognitive level, the human brain no longer perceives AI as a “chatbot.” It perceives a relationship. This emotional shift fundamentally changes how consumers relate to brands, fostering deeper loyalty and trust. When customers interact with agents in a way that feels natural, their engagement deepens. The implications go far beyond engagement. Every AI-driven interaction generates a wealth of contextual data, far richer than what brands could ever collect from a single web form or survey. In one conversation, an agent can gather insights about a customer’s preferences, behaviors, and intent, building a more complete, dynamic customer profile. This continuous intelligence loop allows brands to maximize the value of every interaction. Let’s bring this to life with an example... Imagine Melanie, one of your many potential customers. She’s been thinking about joining Posh Fitness, a popular gym chain in her city. Instead of filling out a form, she decides to engage with the agent on their website. As they chat, it quickly feels more like a friendly exchange than a transaction. Melanie shares her fitness goals, whether she wants to lose weight, gain muscle, or improve flexibility, and the agent listens closely, asking the right questions to understand her needs and intent. The agent gathers valuable insights through this conversation that a simple web form could never capture. Melanie mentions her dietary restrictions, her preference for a supportive personal trainer style, and that she loves outdoor workouts but needs a flexible schedule due to her busy life. In just a few minutes, the agent collects a wealth of data about Melanie: her goals, preferences, and availability—all essential to crafting a personalized experience. And because the conversation feels human-like and emotionally resonant, it creates an immediate connection to Posh Fitness. By collecting this richer data early in the relationship, Posh Fitness can offer tailored recommendations and build Melanie’s loyalty well before she signs up. This isn’t just about closing a sale. It’s about building trust and delivering personalized experiences that evoke emotions and feel deeply human. Brands that will thrive in the era of #Agentic #AI are those that recognize the shift from transactional interactions to relationship-driven engagement. This isn’t just about personalization; it’s about creating experiences and dialogues that feel alive—where AI and marketers co-create journeys that adapt in real time, amplifying the impact of every customer moment.

People value what they create 63% more. Yet most digital experiences treat customers as passive recipients instead of co-creators. This psychological principle, known as the "Ikea Effect", is shockingly underutilized in digital journeys. When someone builds a piece of Ikea furniture, they develop an emotional attachment that transcends its objective value. The same phenomenon happens in digital experiences. After optimizing digital journeys for companies like Adobe and Nike for over a decade, I've discovered this pattern consistently: 👉 Those who customize or personalize a product before purchase are dramatically more likely to convert and remain loyal. One enterprise client implemented a product configurator that increased conversions by 31% and reduced returns by 24%. Users weren't getting a different product... they were getting the same product they helped create. The psychology is simple but powerful: ↳ Customization creates psychological ownership before financial ownership ↳ The effort invested creates value attribution ↳ Co-creation builds emotional connection Three ways to implement this today: 1️⃣ Replace dropdown options with visual configurators 2️⃣ Create personalization quizzes that guide product selection 3️⃣ Allow users to save and revisit their customized selections Most importantly: shift your mindset from selling products to facilitating creation. When customers feel like co-creators rather than consumers, they don't just buy more... they become advocates. How are you letting your customers build rather than just buy?

Dare: In your next meeting, swap ‘new users’ with ‘first date.’ Watch jaws drop and brains spark. Last week, I tried this in a product review. The room went silent, then erupted with ideas about how to stop ghosting users after onboarding. Here’s why this isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Once you reframe that your users are in a relationship with your product, everything changes: 1️⃣  relationships are dynamic They evolve over time, in seasons. High engagement, low engagement, break-up risks. You need lifecycle thinking, not transactional thinking. 2️⃣  relationships involve emotion It’s not just about utility. It’s about trust, loyalty, delight, frustration. That forces you to design for emotional peaks and valleys, not just functional flows. 3️⃣  relationships have milestones First date, anniversary. First aha, first job accomplished. If you name them, you can celebrate them. And that deepens the bond. 4️⃣  relationships require reciprocity Show signals that you care, otherwise it feels one-sided. This shows up as proactive support, unexpected value, personalization. 5️⃣ relationships aren’t one-sided They require listening, curiosity, genuine interest in the other person’s world. This shows up as understanding user context, not just user actions. Might be time to stop thinking in funnels and start thinking in relationships. How else would you extend this metaphor?

 𝟭 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗫 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁: 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 Most “modern” websites get this wrong: They chase trends and tech- But forget the human on the other side: • They obsess over aesthetics • They build cool features • They wow with motion and AI → But they forget empathy And without empathy? You’re not building experiences You’re just shipping screens 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗫: ↳ It’s not about fancy gradients. ↳  It’s about emotional safety. →  It’s about reducing friction-both physical and emotional 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻  ↳ They tuned into moods  ↳ Built moments that feel personal 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀  ↳ They calmed people with color  ↳ Reassured them with gentle reminders This is empathy in action Not decoration- direction 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻  ↳ Map the user’s emotional journey  ↳ Remove moments of confusion or stress Use data, but feel what the user feels  ↳ Emotional analytics > vanity metrics  ↳ Real eyes, journey maps, user interviews And think globally  ↳ Translate culture, not just copy  ↳ Design that respects context wins loyalty 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗫 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 ✓  It’s relatable ✓ It’s respectful ✓ It remembers that your user is human If your design isn’t resonating, you don’t need better features. You need deeper empathy.