The Power of Empathy

How To Connect & Build Trust Through Content

By immersing yourself in the emotional landscape of prospective buyers, you can forge powerful connections that drive brand engagement and sales. The lesson to learn is that everything starts with your buyer. They’re all on personal and professional journeys and if you don’t start where they live, breath, fear, and rejoice, then your message is just noise to them. Show them that you understand the personal and business outcomes they desire and they will begin to trust you, engage more openly, and ultimately buy from you.

Empathetic marketing goes beyond the surface-level data points and dives deep into the realms of human experience. To embrace empathy in marketing, you must understand how your target audience navigates the buyer journey. You also have to recognize that those journeys are being disrupted by technology and the digital transformation we are all experiencing.

For example, in the B2B technology market, we have learned that:

  • “Organizations buy technology in teams. B2B deals of any significance are bought by cross-functional teams, not individuals. This means organizational practices and perspective override individual stakeholder preferences. The average tech purchase involves between 14-23 people, the majority of whom (80%) are in senior operations or product roles.” Gartner.

  • “What has emerged is a savvy and enlightened technology buyer. Enlightened technology buyers seek to make informed, rational decisions. They view solutions as a means toward larger business outcomes.” LinkedIn 2019 Global Report: The Enlightened Tech Buyer.

  • “They want your business to understand and share in their feelings. Why do they want that? Because business buyers aren’t buying your product. They’re buying into your approach to solving their problem.” April Henderson, VP, Forrester

That last line by April Henderson has been hard to embrace for many technology companies who have built there businesses on the quality of their products. It does not come natural for them to talk about business outcomes in addition to the tech innovations that put them on the map. And yet, this is the challenge they face today; how to talk about business outcomes across a variety of industries.

In the technology space these new enlightened tech buyers are forcing companies to expand their messaging to address a broader buying audience, to tap into the emotions of non-technical buyers. It’s an eye-opener for traditionally technical solution providers.

By acknowledging and respecting the diverse array of perspectives and challenges faced by buyers, brands can craft content and campaigns that speak to their audience in a meaningful way. Ultimately, prioritizing empathy in marketing endeavors is a core strategy for brands looking to make a lasting impact.