Empathy is a word that pops up again and again in everything I study about marketing for the time being. So how do we define empathy in marketing? Empathy is your super power to great marketing and thankfully it is a basic human feature and thereby quite easy to apply to your marketing strategy:
Global analyses shows that the classic terms “B2C / B2B” is getting more and more washed out, which I previously mentioned in my original 2018 article on how to become a Marketing Rock Star. This tendency is pretty obvious from my point of view, as I share the same belief as quite a bunch of marketers now stating that “people are people”. The global community thrives digitally and everyone is getting ever closer. Empathy is the super glue that holds us humans together and something that separates us from the machines. I truly believe that empathy is a super power to great marketing, but how do we utilize this profound gift?
The friendly neighbour (customer)
Let me ask you a question: If you wanted your new next-door neighbour to become your friend – what would you do? Would you plant a sign in his/her garden asking him/her to be your friend? Would you use force, demand and persuade this individual to befriend you? Unless you want a legal action these options might not be the best of choices.
The most natural way derives from communication and empathy. I would start small talking and paying attention to this new neighbour, showing him or her my sincere interest, help whenever I could, and start communicating on equal terms – and eventually invite them over. What if we took this approach to our customers? In any close relationship there will have to be value for both parties.
So I found this list about good neighbour practices and with a little creativity and bit of imagination it could actually serve as a guide to cover some of the main aspects of building great relationships with your customers:
- Respect Boundaries – Please respect my privacy!
- Keep Community Areas Clean – Keep shitty content to yourself, we don’t want your garbage.
- Don’t get too Wild with the Holiday Décor – Okay, I know that you are celebrating the holidays but there is no need to spam.
- Keep the Parties to a Minimum – The noise, the noise … Annoying, interrupting, disturbing … Hey, if I wanted to attend your party I would join in of my own free will.
- Bring a Gift – Wow thanks … who doesn’t love a gift?
- Exchange Contact Information – Our relationship is turning out great, I like you, and you provide me with great value – so here is my phone number.
- Don’t be ‘The Nosy Neighbour’ – Take leadership in the community – show how it’s done in your way! Don’t mind the others.
- Help Before You’re Asked – The good old reciprocity rule – works every time!
- Keep your Home’s Exterior Clean – You’re probably a great guy, but if your front lawn or site looks like shit compared to the other neighbours’ then please fix it.
- Start a Neighborhood Newsletter, Email Chain or Facebook Group – Great idea! Let’s build a like-minded community. What topics would you be interested in reading about?
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another’s position.
It’s time to unlock the empathy – your marketing super power
The world is globally connected. Everyone is basically your next-door neighbour. So what are your neighbours thinking about? How do you achieve their friendship? Depending of your industry it might be all sorts of things. But words like climate change, sustainability and social responsibility is the new black, and people are getting more and more into intangible values. So great marketing should create values that reflects either your specific community or something you know is at everyone’s lips. My advice is quite simple to think about the phrase “What’s in it for me” every time you produce any content.
- Would you enjoy reading it?
- Would you find it entertaining (or educating)?
- Would you want to interact?
- Would you want to buy the product based on the post?
– It may seem pretty basic in terms of all the things that is happening in the marketing world today: Technology, AI, disruption, Machine Learning and so on. But one thing that technology and machines can never learn is to feel like a genuine human. And that is why it is your super power: Stay personal, be helpful and provide value that both you and your customers can benefit from.
Empathy: /ˈɛmpəθi/ Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another’s position.
