What Any Business Can Learn from the Art Industry

You’ve probably had that moment of standing in front of a work of art, a painting, sculpture, or textile, and really felt something: goosebumps, nostalgia, discomfort, curiosity. And that is exactly the kind of emotional pull that drives clients, sales, and revenue… without a single bullet point. Art doesn't sell itself through features, specs, or discount codes. It sells through feeling.

And that is where a lot of businesses get it wrong.

While artists lean into emotion, most companies cling to logic. They list features, shout about being “the best,” and assume customers are making rational choices. However, the reality is that humans aren’t rational buyers. We’re emotional beings who rationalize our purchases after we’ve made them.

Whether you’re selling a $15,000 software subscription or a sandwich, your customer is still a person being led by their instincts, moved by a story, and sold by how something makes them feel.

So what can your business learn from the art world? A lot more than you might think.

People Buy Feelings, Not Features

Walk into any gallery and you won’t hear an art dealer talking about brush stroke efficiency or canvas thread count. Instead, they’ll talk about the story behind the piece, the artist’s journey, and the mood it evokes. Buyers in art galleries aren’t just investing in a piece; they’re investing in its meaning.

Now, picture the average business landing page. Buzzwords. Bullet lists. Claims about being industry-leading. It’s logical, yes, but emotionally? It feels flat.

This disconnect matters because emotion is where decisions are made.

We Buy Emotionally (& Justify Logically)

It’s not just marketing fluff; there’s hard science behind emotional buying.

Studies show that up to 95% of purchasing decisions are made subconsciously, according to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman. That subconscious activity lives in the brain’s limbic system, the same area responsible for emotion, memory, and decision-making.

In other words, logic might help someone justify a decision, but it rarely drives the decision itself.

This is the same reason someone gets chills from a sculpture or buys a painting that “speaks to them.” That fast, emotional reaction? It happens in milliseconds. And it’s the exact same process firing off when a shopper decides to try a new brand, pick a specific consultant, or switch SaaS platforms.

If your brand isn't sparking an emotional response, you're relying on the weakest driver of all: logic.

How Storytelling Turned 3% into 30% (We’re Talking About Ourselves Here)

At Trueffle, we put this emotional-first approach into action with a storytelling-led email strategy that completely flipped the numbers.

Initially, only about 3% of our total sales came from email. Standard promotional emails weren’t moving the needle.

So we changed the script.

Instead of pushing features, we leaned into curiosity. We sent emails with stories, some weird, some wonderful. These stories started to evoke feelings. Subject lines titled “What the Heck Is It?” sparked open rates. Short stories led to product reveals. And those reveals felt like discoveries, not sales pitches.

The result? Email jumped from 3% to over 30% of total sales. Same audience. Same product. Different emotional energy.

Why Cross-Industry Thinking Is the Secret Sauce

Most agencies stick to one lane: SaaS, DTC, B2B, B2C... you get the idea. They recycle what works in one niche and apply it over and over again.

At Trueffle, we take a wider-angle lens.

We borrow tactics from the art world, the entertainment industry, and hospitality, and apply them to “less sexy” industries. We look for where emotion lives in unexpected places and translate it into tangible business outcomes.

Whether you're selling high-end consulting services or pest control subscriptions, your buyer is still a human. And humans don’t compartmentalize their buying behavior by industry. When you market like an artist, you tap into the part of the brain that actually makes the decision.

So... Are You Selling Features, or Feelings?

Take a look at your homepage. Your ads. Your product descriptions. Ask yourself: Are you speaking to emotion, or explaining logic?

If it reads like a résumé, you're probably missing the mark.

People don’t just want to know what your product does; they want to know how it works. They want to feel like it was made for them, that it understands them, and that it will improve their lives.

That’s the difference between selling and connecting.

When someone buys a $10,000 painting or a $29/month subscription, it’s proving that storytelling works. It’s why art moves us, and why emotion moves sales.

The Takeaway

If your business isn’t connecting emotionally, you’re leaving opportunity on the table. You don’t have to paint murals or write sonnets to sell like an artist. You just need to remember that your buyer is human.

Add a little soul to your strategy.

And if you’re wondering how to pull that off without sounding like a poet or risking your KPIs, that’s where we come in. We know precisely how to tap into the feelings that drive growth.

Want to explore how emotional storytelling could work for your brand? Reach out today, let’s chat.