Ep 46 - The Neuroscience of Messaging with Grant Gooding

Bank Marketing Show

Defaulting to “Trusted, Local” or “100+ Years in Business” in your bank’s messaging? Many banks think because it’s tried and true, or it’s meaningful to them, that it will also resonate with their customers and prospects. But you could actually be hindering your marketing efforts by sticking with generic messages like this.

This week, Chris and Dan chat with Grant Gooding, CEO of Proof Positioning, a market research firm that specializes in measuring consumer emotions and motivations. Understanding your customer base starts with exploring the neuroscience of messaging: asking the right questions to people to understand the messages and themes that will spur them to take action. Using data and science-backed research methodologies can help you get into the minds of your customers and prospects and work towards marketing messaging that performs better and increases your ROI.

Topics Include:

● Why do customers choose one bank over another?

● Why don’t the tried-and-true messages, like “Trusted and Local” work?

● How do people make buying decisions, or even decisions on which ad to click on?

● How hyper-focusing on a specific person or area can make your overall marketing more successful than trying to be everything to everyone

Grant Gooding is CEO of Proof Positioning, based in Kansas City, Missouri. He got his professional start in mergers and acquisitions, working first on the legal side, then buy-side analysis, valuations, and transition management. After roughly a decade of analyzing, valuing, and transitioning hundreds of small and mid-market businesses, Grant became infatuated with market research, something that he had to work with every day. Grant determined that while valuable, almost all market research failed to address one simple yet critical question that he needed to answer for his clients: Why are people buying this product or service from your business?

With his MBA emphasis in qualitative research marketing, Grant spent the next several years experimenting with methodologies and measurement techniques that could be used to discover the emotions and motivations behind purchasing intent. After working with a nationally renowned brand analyst, Grant discovered a quant method that could be used to assess brand preferences. With that as a starting point, he and his team utilized some principles of neuroscience and behavioral economics and created a new metadata system that can accurately quantify emotional resonance.

Today, PROOF has executed over 500 market research engagements using its emotional resonance method. It stands as one of the most novel, compelling, and accurate ways to quantify and understand why customers do the things they do. Grant is an international speaker in Emotional Market Research and Emotional Data, an emerging field that PROOF is helping pioneer.

Nerdy Fact: Grant is a classically trained vocalist who has performed in venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, Westminster Abbey, and St. Mark’s Basilica. He has 3 amazing children with his wife, Stacey, of over 13 years.

Resources Mentioned:

● Website: https://proofpositioning.com/

● LinkedIn: Grant C. Gooding https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantgooding/