How to Build Empathy into Your Brand Marketing
"Empathy is what makes authority palatable."
This is a key principle in any good brand messaging. Every brand needs to communicate authority- to prove that you are equipped and competent to solve your customers' problems. But leaning only on authority may go in one ear and out the other.
One of the biggest ways you can differentiate your marketing is by pairing empathy and authority to truly resonate with your audience. This is easier said than done. Any company can put a big customer logo stack on their homepage. But not every company is pairing that logo stack with a killer empathy statement.
It's hard to bake empathy into your marketing. When you’re the expert, how can you empathize with what your customers are going through? Often, we hear clients build empathy statements like this:
"We've been in business for 20 years and know how to solve your problem."
Years and expertise in your industry are your authority.
These are statistics and statements that prove you are well suited to help solve your customers’ problems. But it's not empathy.
When building an empathy statement, first start by identifying the problem that led your customers to seek you out in the first place.
Have you experienced that problem yourself? Have you ever been in their shoes? Maybe you once felt their frustration, and it’s why you started your company.
Sometimes simply stating, "As a former {INDUSTRY} exec, I get it. I've been in your shoes, and know how challenging it can be to {OVERCOME PROBLEM}."
Naming and verbalizing your customers' concerns will go a long way in connecting with their experience and setting you up as the perfect solution to those problems.
Displaying empathy allows your customers to feel heard and connected to your brand - possibly before they even speak with anyone on your team or experience your product.
Now you get to pair your empathy with your authority. Let’s bring the whole thing home:
“As a former CFO, I get it. I’ve been in your shoes and know how challenging it can be to pull together all the financial metrics you need to make data-driven decisions. That’s why we started this business 20 years ago, and have helped over 5,000 CFOs gain clarity on the state of their business.”
Takeaways:
You should always name your authority loud and proud. But if you lean solely on your authority, your customers may not listen. And if you’re not attracting and acquiring new customers, at some point, that award you won in 2019 isn’t going to be much help.
We can help - schedule a call and we'll talk about how to use a simple marketing framework that helps you pair empathy with authority.
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