We live in a digital world. A world where the average person spends 5 hours on their mobile phone scrolling down news feeds. The only way marketers can make their voice heard against this white noise of information is by showing empathy.
Emotion researchers define empathy as the “ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling”.
(https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition)
Empathy in marketing is not about the feel-good feeling generated by content or marketing campaigns; it is about viewing everything through the perspective of your customers, so you can improve your understanding of their wants and needs. It is this that produces more customer loyalty and more business success.
People usually buy products and services because of the way they feel about them. This is true in both b2c (business to customer) and b2b (business to business) efforts.
In, b2b marketing in particular, the assumption is black and white bottomline figures play a more prominent role than emotion. However, research from the LinkedIn institute challenges this assumption:
Binet and Field’s report shows that b2b marketing strategies that trigger an audience’s emotions “drive a massive 7x more very large business effects in the long term than campaigns that appeal to them on a rational level.
Today, just with a little browsing on Google, customers can become as knowledgeable about a company's products and services as their sales team. So how can sales people demonstrate their expertise? By showing they understand the world of their prospect through active listening.
John Doerr, president of RAIN Group suggests 4 steps to actively listen to prospects:
After getting feedback from a prospect that you've understood their problem correctly, ask an appropriate follow up question. By asking open-ended questions, it allows the prospect to share more details about their goals, and their current plans, and their challenges.
When your social media marketing efforts are about curating content that strikes a chord with customers, they’ll like it, retweet it, and re-share it with their network. When content is created, it’s not being pushed out, it should address peoples’ needs, and they should feel they want to thank you for it.
People also use the phrase, “ business as usual”. Empathy is never business as usual, it’s the way business should be done. And it takes more work, and more thought behind it. That’s why it’s hard to get right, but at the same time it’s still achievable.
The best salespeople know that anticipating a potential customer's needs is key to closing a sale. They also have the ability to demonstrate how the solution they’re offering is the one that solves a customer’s problem.
If your sales team isn’t aware of customers’ struggles, pain points and fears, this means it will be a more difficult sale. People have a tendency to buy from a person who they feel they know, like and trust. Having an empathetic approach goes a long way to closing a sale.
What’s more important than increased sales, are loyal customers and referrals. By having an empathetic culture throughout your organization, your repeat customers will turn into your biggest fans.
One sector where empathy matters is in the super competitive airline industry. Ryanair’s ‘Getting Better Program’ minimized customer annoyances as much as possible. Ryanair “focused on low cost, then adding more alternative choices for customers, then improved their services”. They made a net profit from 867 million Euros to 1.24 Billion Euros (that’s $1.39 Billion) due to their Getting Better Program.
Many assume that their customers are saying, “Sell me a solution to a problem”. When you listen more carefully, they’re saying, “What solutions can you provide for me that will solve my specific problem?”. You can’t ask your customers “how can I help, unless you know specifically what they want”
By understanding what your customers’ want and their motivations you are more aware if you have a product or service that will give them what they are looking for. Many businesses make the mistake at making product-centric claims thinking it will impress prospects.
“Buyer’s base the majority of their actions on feelings and then backfill with logic”. That’s why it’s so important for businesses and their services to speak to the solutions that customers are seeking.
Empathetic listening to your customers means going above and beyond hearing what they have to say, it’s making them feel validated and seen. The result is that customers will deepen their connection with your company because they feel you truly care.
This includes things like making sure you respond to their comments and questions on social media. In sales, it’s making sure that the need to listen carefully comes first before pitching a solution that you think meets their needs.
Survey data is good, but it’s not enough to get a real insight into what customers’ think and feel. To do that you need to step into the world of the customer.
You can do that by:
Some businesses ask, how will you create content that will help me to sell. The question should be, “What kind of content will provide high value to readers and attract more customers?” Empathetic content marketing isn’t about just publishing more quantity, it’s about communicating that you understand your customers’ struggles.
Sure, but you’ll ask, “isn’t content marketing about educating your audience?” I’ll answer, yes, it’s about telling your audience what you think they need to know.
But an even bigger part of that is creating content that reduces their frustrations and solves their pain points. If you’ll do that, they’ll see your brand as a hero and worthwhile building a relationship with.