In explaining the human mind, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio shared, “We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.” Not only are we feeling, but Damasio’s study also revealed that every decision we make is grounded in emotion. Going a step further than that, we actually can’t make a decision if we can’t feel.
Unfortunately, this is something marketing professionals often overlook. We rely on logic or rationality to appeal to customers without once tapping into the emotions at play in their purchase decisions. Yet we’ll wonder why conversions are low and fewer people are journeying through the sales funnel (spoiler alert: it’s no longer a funnel—it’s a loop).
The solution to this problem is empathetic marketing, which recognizes, understands and appeals to the role that emotions have in the decision-making process. This framework allows marketers to build customer journeys and experiences to improve:
Before we dive into how these outcomes are possible, we first need to understand the key tenets of empathetic marketing. Today’s digital world is overrun with messages telling us we need to build trust and connect with consumers at all touch points. But a lot of these messages are vague and don’t tell us how to do it.
At the heart of the matter, there are four main components of successful empathetic marketing:
Emotion-focused listening: When gathering information on your target audience, you’ll not only need to use active listening skills but also take it a step further to understand the why. It’s imperative to go behind the logical understanding of what a consumer is saying and dig deeper to decipher the emotions at play.
Personalization: Tailoring marketing messaging to your consumer must go beyond a first name in an email or serving them ads based on the product that they still have in the cart. True personalization must take into account their values and what they stand for.
Transparency: To cultivate trust with your current audience and potential customers, it’s essential to be forthcoming and honest about your brand. Marketing initiatives shouldn’t make unrealistic claims that set customers up for disappointment, and the brand’s integrity must be conveyed clearly through its words and actions.
Unpredictability: In addition to data and hard facts, truly impactful empathetic marketing will also have a touch of spontaneity. It can be as simple as surprising customers with an unexpected, high-value giveaway or be more involved, like Lululemon’s dupe campaign that enabled customers to trade in “dupes” of Lululemon products for the real deal—for free.
In addition to these four tenets, it’s also imperative that marketers are aware of their own implicit biases and work on overcoming those as they work to make more effective marketing campaigns.
Identifying Core Emotional Motivators
The next step in effective empathetic marketing is working to clearly understand and identify your consumers’ core emotional motivators to determine what is driving them to choose your brand. However, figuring out consumer emotions isn’t as simple as happy, sad, angry, etc. The landscape of emotions has grown considerably in recent years.
A UC Berkeley study revealed that we have 27 states of emotion — considerably higher than the previously assumed six basic emotional states. Within these 27 states are nine key buying emotions that influence purchase decisions.
Stand out from others
Confident about the future
Sense of well-being
Sense of freedom
Feel a sense of thrill
Sense of belonging
Be person I want to be
Feel secure
Feel success
To throw another variable into the mix, our values underline our emotions. To fully understand our customers’ emotions, we need to understand their values. A company called Valuegraphics has identified 56 core human values that drive us. Behind every emotion is a value, and behind every decision is an emotion.
Understanding these values is key in differentiating these nine buying emotions. Sure, someone may want to feel secure, but what exactly is that sense of security? Do they want to feel financially secure because they want to purchase all the new tech toys on the market, or do they want job security because they feel lost in a volatile world and want to make sure they can put food on the table? These feelings of security come from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum and are driven by different values. Without the knowledge of these values, knowing customer emotions is still a shot in the dark.
How to Gather Empathy-Based Data
Now that you understand the emotions behind customer conversion, it’s time to gather data and assess all of your consumer interactions through an empathetic lens. Start building your data set with the goal of emotion and value identification in mind. Below are different methods you can use to determine the emotions motivating your customers’ buying decisions.
Identify keywords that your consumers say during customer service calls (yes! marketers should listen to customer service call recordings), on digital forums and on social media platforms;
Interview people through customer service surveys or more formal market research studies;
Go where your customers are and empathetically listen. Don’t make conversation, don’t sell. Just listen to what they want to share with you about your brand;
Ask values-based questions in your consumer interactions, such as quizzes and interactive surveys; and
Review customer questions and reviews that are left online.
Whatever methods you use, remember you’re not listening just to understand. You’re taking it a step further and listening to understand why your customers are saying what they’re saying.
Evaluate Your Marketing Messaging
With your newfound data points, you’ll be able to craft messages that resonate with your customers and lead to conversions. To ensure you’ve successfully implemented empathy into your program, keep the following questions in mind.
Is your message relying on logical reasoning/rationality, or are you connecting emotionally with your customers?
Are you speaking to a specific persona with clearly identified values?
Does your message focus on the customer experience or your brand?
Is there a clear call to action for customers?
Empathetic marketing is an ongoing process, as consumer needs and values will continue to change with the world around them. As long as marketers continue to both understand themselves and their customers, the future of marketing will be brighter and more effective for both brand and consumer.