Build Empathy with Your Audiences
A brainstorming process to figure out what customers want.
To be effective at branding you need to remember it’s not about you. It’s about your customer and what they want. But to figure that out, you have to empathize with their situation. As the old adage goes, you need to walk a mile in their shoes.
How do you do that with audiences? A tool we use regularly in the process is an empathy map. It helps you get into the heads and hearts of those you are trying to reach. It can also help your team gain consensus around the best way to connect with audiences and effectively employ your marketing efforts.
Start by identifying a segment of your audience. Then, go around the circle and ask these questions and fill in the answers from the perspective of your customer in relationship to your organization, product, or service.
What do they think and feel?
What really matters to them?
What do they know about us?
What are their worries and aspirations?
What do they see?
What do we look like to them?
What other options do they have?
How frequently do we connect with them?
What do they say and do?
What is their opinion of us?
What behaviors do they have?
What comments have they made?
What do they hear?
What have we told them?
What do others say?
What do they want to hear?
As you go through this map, you will be able to identify pain points for each audience. What problem do they have that you can solve? When you answer that question, you can turn the pain around into a gain for the audience.
Once you’ve worked through the empathy map, use your perspective to answer a second set of questions that dive deeper into connecting with the target audience on a practical level.
What are their intellectual expectations?
Whether visiting a website, using a service, or having a product experience, audiences come with preconceived ideas. What might your customers already expect from you?
What are their emotional expectations?
Brand experiences are all about feelings. What might your customers anticipate? How do they want to feel when they interact with your brand? (Note: not how do you want them to feel?)
What are some opportunities to connect?
Think about the touchpoints and ways you can make a connection with this audience. Events? One-on-one meetings? Emails? On the web? On the phone? List out all the options that make sense based on what the audience wants.
How can you wow them?
If you want to be memorable and unique, your brand needs to stand out. How can you exceed expectations? What can you do to ensure they will come back, tell a friend, or become loyal?
Once you complete one map, repeat the process for each of your target audiences so you ensure you’ve thought through all of your customers’ needs, wants, and expectations as well as the best way to connect with and wow them.
In the end, you’ll have walked that mile and have gained a complete empathetic view of what others need from your brand. With that in hand, you can apply your insights to your messages, marketing strategy decisions, and every branded tactic.
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