How To Understand Audience Emotions in Search Data

What can we do with “emotions” in search?

Easy! Create better content that resonates with users’ needs and incentivizes higher click-through-rates for a start.

So how do we start?

Step 1: Determine Emotions For Certain Word Types

There are simple words that equate to different emotions that we can get started with:

• “vs” = Curiosity
• “damaging” =  Anger
• “instant” = Urgent

Step 2: Figure Out The Audience Data You Want To Analyze

Not sure what to analyze? Here’s a list of sources to experiment with:

• PPC Search Query Report
• Reddit or Quora threads
• Online chat transcripts
• Google Search Console queries
• Google My Business queries

Step 3: Create a Custom Column or Conditional Column in Power BI

After you get your list together of some base words and emotions, create your custom column in Power BI that matches up with the text data column in your file.

To assess only a few words or emotions, you can use a conditional column instead.

If you don’t know how to do this, check out the Seer YouTube Channel or some of our blog posts about Power BI.

Step 4: Break Down The Emotions

(image alt text: audience research emotion data)

Use this data to narrow down the terms that could be triggering your audience to perform (or NOT perform) specific actions. What emotions are driving them to search for something? In the example above, I analyzed Reddit comments and filtered down via the emotions to discern what made people unhappy or what information they needed more urgently.

This method is another great way to dig deeper into the WHY someone is searching for something, not just WHAT they’re searching for. This tactic can help with digging deeper into your overall brand content strategy as you delve deeper into audience needs.