Have a Little Empathy

Let me tell you a little secret. Marketing is more about EMPATHY than all the other components combined. (Yes, I’m including strategy, design, copywriting—the whole, also mandatory but less crucial—kitchen sink).

Bold statement? Maybe. But I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking on this, and I really can’t define a single aspect of marketing more important than EMPATHY.

Over the years, a pattern has emerged with our clients, the items or services we help to promote and the tone of their brand: if they aren’t sincerely EMPATHIZING with and serving their audience, they often fail. 

And they fail in ways you might not expect.

For example, I know of two clients, both very large organizations, that BatesMeron has simply stopped working with. They had plenty of money to spend, and I’m no angel. After all, money talks—it pays the bills and buys the things. BUT the constant feelings of failure are so much less appealing than the missed opportunity dollars. And I don’t mean failure in the way you think. Failure can be that glassed-over look the client has when you’re pouring your heart into explaining your view of the best way to express their creative message. Failure can be instant approval without feedback because they only care to deliver by deadline—quality-be-damned. Failure can simply be a feeling that you, as a vendor, who is supposed to be their partner—actually care more about their brand’s success than they do. (We once had a client say, “This is fantastic, great job, let’s proceed! We had provided them with three concepts to choose from and they’d made no selection. I’m not sure they registered that there were choices to be made). Failure can also be the inability to find a SINGLE AGENCY in Chicago that will still work with you. Wow, right? Yep. I know that company.

Diving deeper into these clients—as respectfully as possible because I don’t really know what’s in their head—it seemed they were in a toxic culture that did not care about their customer/client, weren’t interested in what that person needed and only focused on pressing their next KPI deliverable.

Corporations have people to answer to, goals to deliver on, numbers to make—I totally get that. But how will you sustain those numbers when you’re always faking it? If you’re pushing message after message to the wrong people, you’re wasting so much energy and money—plus maybe even building resentment.

We’ve all seen the lawsuits that went on over old-fashioned advertising. The false claims made, the serious illness that resulted from someone using a product that they were told would make them cool or beautiful or land the ladies. This has led to a complete mistrust from consumers and buyers. They don’t buy anyone’s marketing B.S. these days.

But it didn’t seem to change the tenor of the goal. What I mean is that the true purpose of marketing should be to: A) have a great product or service, B) find the people who could benefit from that product or service and inform them about it, then C) encourage them to make a purchase. But the tone remained, “Everyone needs this!”

So, we moved into the “testimonial” phase of marketing. Whether it be on a brand’s website or via social media, influencers started raking in insane amounts of money to be everyone’s BFF and tell them that this face cream was going to change their life. Guess what? Life is the same. The ruse is over. People don’t trust that either.

Listen, testimonials mean the world to me as a business owner and a buyer. But they must be legit, meaningful and NOT PURCHASED. A great testimonial can give a potential client or buyer solid ground with which to set their purchase expectations upon. That is far more valuable than false hope.

I’m snarky. Sorry (sorta). But I’m also extremely empathetic. My empathy motivates my creative and strategic direction. And that’s what you are paying for when you hire experts to advise you on communicating your crucial message to your HUMAN audience. When you hire experts, listen to them. Or seriously—just don’t waste resources.

If you’ve ever been involved with an extensive brand development project, you may have been frustrated to see focus groups performed, research researched, discovery sessions performed, SWOT charts created, competitive landscapes developed, and customer profiles created—and then no one ever references them again. All that work into the circular file. (That’s a trash can for all you kiddos who don’t use paper anymore).

I’ve actually asked my clients who say they want a focus group, “Will you listen to the results? Because 9 times out of 10, they don’t tell you anything you don’t already know. You’re just in denial.” (Yes, that goes over about as well as you’d think it does. But hey, if you work with me, I’m going to be honest with you.)

Again, there is a VERY valuable place for focus groups: to gather opinions on a new or refreshed product or service. Work to discover what people’s preferences are; should it be green or blue for the outer case? Do you like the soft-touch or glossy surface? Do you like this user interface? Things of that nature. But in my experience: when asking about brand perception, it’s one of those, “If you have to ask…you already know,” kind of situations.

But let’s circle back to “Customer Profiles” also called “Client Personas.” These are gold for discovering, developing and nurturing EMPATHY towards your brand’s audience! And they’re so undervalued!

Picture this: Sheryl is a 34-year-old social worker with a bachelor’s degree. She makes $58k per year. She supports various charities including Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA and a Wildlife Sanctuary. Her biggest concern with her daily life is making sure she supports her clients or patients to the best of her ability and makes a difference to enhance their life. She is heavily involved in volunteering at her local animal shelter and food bank.

OK, ground rules:

FIRST and FOREMOST, I hope you got this info from Sheryl. I’m creeped out by data purchased by a faceless conglomerate… and aside from the ick factor, I don’t believe that data is even accurate.

SECOND: Think about how you should communicate to Sheryl. Think about how you can make her life better. Consider how she feels about the world around her and what she experiences every day. The highs and the lows she must endure. Does she want to hear about your exclusive, invitation-only, chef’s tasting menu that costs $500 and is marketed as “the most Instagram-able experience this year!”? NOPE. Sheryl helps FEED HUNGRY PEOPLE. She does not care about your goat’s earwax emulsion atop a crisp, 24 carat gold wafer.

You may be all psyched to go to this event. But you have different values than Sheryl. Have some EMPATHY and market the right thing to the right person.

OK, I’ll admit it. That example was very extreme. But as a person who personally donates to the World Wildlife Federation, PAWS and The Anti-Cruelty Society, it is SHOCKING that I receive so much marketing for things like DNA tests to make sure your dog is “completely” purebred. Or “come on this safari and watch us herd beautiful wild animals into a corner while you take pictures of them and hope they don’t murder you!” And my favorite ever, “Did you know you only need to allocate 50 square feet to become a purebred bunny breeder!? And they can sell for $250 per baby!” #gross

Yes, I’m being dramatic. And way too wordy. Have you met me? However, let’s put this in terms of our everyday life. Bring it down to how we can do better to show EMPATHY in our communications and marketing, deal?

Let’s say you own a small chain of banks. You service the local community and small businesses in the areas of your banks. But you can’t seem to grow your footprint. So, you keep hosting community events. These events are great, and they should happen! But guys, you’re preaching to the choir. This is more like SOLIDIFYING your relationship than GROWING your footprint. And reinforcing your values and commitment to your customers is awesome and important and you should keep doing it! But that is not a GROWTH strategy.

So, you try hiring hotshots with a huge salary and bonus price tag, great connectors that bring in clients. That’s fantastic. Until they get poached and take their clients with them. All that money you invested in that person just went **POOF**

But you keep hearing this nagging feedback, “I can’t give up my big bank because their technology is SO GOOD. It makes my life SO CONVENIENT. I can pay all my bills online, pay my babysitter, transfer funds, check on my investments, cure world hunger, I really love the APP most of all!” And what does your board do with this info? They eek out $25k for a minor website upgrade that makes your website marginally better at best. LISTEN to your CLIENTS. Have EMPATHY for their needs. Yeah, I know. A kickass website that handles finance is freaking expensive. But so is a complete lack of progress and ALWAYS losing out to the bigger guys. And you have so much more to offer than those bigger guys! People WANT to choose you. But you aren’t listening to those people.

There are many quotes out there about EMPATHY. I think one of my favorites is by Daniel Pink. He said, “Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.”

I’ve ranted, I’ve raved, but did I make my point? Did I convince you that EMPATHY is your most powerful tool for your marketing communications? Want to talk about how you can use EMPATHY to improve your brand marketing and communications? Drop me a line. Want to yell at me because you disagree? Don’t. I’m sensitive. xo