Does the placement of marketing messages affect their effectiveness?

Yes, positioning rational messages at the top and emotional messages lower in your layout aligns with natural cognitive associations, enhancing message reception and increasing purchase intent.

Why should rational messages be placed higher and emotional messages lower?

People associate 'up' with thinking and 'down' with feeling. Aligning your message placement with these associations makes your content more intuitive and persuasive.

In which marketing materials should I apply this message positioning strategy?

This strategy can be applied across various materials, including ads, homepages, product pages, email headers, and any visual layouts to enhance their effectiveness.

Are there any limitations to this message positioning approach?

This technique may be less effective for audiences already familiar with your brand. Additionally, on mobile devices, ensure key messages are visible without excessive scrolling.

How can I implement this message positioning strategy?

Identify the rational and emotional components of your copy, position rational elements higher and emotional elements lower in your layout, and experiment with placements to determine what works best for your audience.

Does positioning of marketing messages matter?

You’re setting up a new ad, tweaking your homepage, or even making a flyer. Where should that “high safety rating” message go? And where does “the car of your dreams” belong?

Recent research gives us a clear answer: Put rational messages high up and emotional messages lower on the layout. Sounds wild, but it’s all about how our brains are wired.

TL;DR 🎯

Here’s the short and sweet version: Place logical stuff (like facts, benefits, stats) at the top. Save the emotional vibes (like dreams, desires, excitement) for the lower half. You’ll subtly nudge people to like your message more and increase their intent to buy.

This applies whether you’re designing an ad, homepage, product page, or even a business card. In short: brains up, hearts down.

But why does this work? 🤔

Since childhood, we’re taught to link “up” with thinking and “down” with feeling. (Imagine your head being where rational thoughts live, and your heart holding your emotions.) When the message is where we naturally expect it to be—logical on top, emotional below—it just clicks.

So if you’ve got a product ad, something like “Made with premium ingredients” belongs higher up, while “Get the flavor you crave” is more at home lower down. Your audience will subconsciously feel better about it, even if they don’t know why.

A few caveats ⚠️

Keep in mind, if someone already knows your brand inside and out, this effect drops off. (Hey, there’s only so much psychology can do.) And on mobile, people might have to scroll to see the lower messages—so you’ll need to make sure everything important fits without too much swiping.

Also, let’s be real: this trick won’t overcome a weak offer. Your message still has to pack a punch.

How to try it yourself ✅

Pick your messages: Decide which parts of your copy are rational (facts, stats, benefits) and which are emotional (desires, lifestyle, FOMO).
Adjust the layout: Put the rational bits high and the emotional bits low. Test it out across your ads, product pages, email headers—any visual layout you use.
Test and learn: Experiment with different placements to see what works best for you. You might even try different spots on mobile vs. desktop to see if one clicks more with your customers.

Give this a go next time you’re designing something to catch your customers’ attention. It’s like a mini psychology hack that can take your visuals from “meh” to “yep, I need that.” Cheers to smarter selling!