5 Minutes 
“We are not thinking machines that feel, rather, we are feeling machines that think.” – Antonio Damasio
Antonio Damasio is a neuroscientist who brought forward the somatic theory; a theory that our brains assign an emotion to every encounter and experience we go through, which helps us determine how we react when we come across a similar situation in the future.
This also applies to consumers, which is why it’s important to create an empathetic brand. Focusing on brand empathy helps you boost consumer loyalty, improve the way the public views your brand, and gain an advantage over competitors.
In this Article
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Why should you focus on brand empathy?
Emotions play a significant role in the consumer’s decision-making process when making a purchase. We know that positive emotions like joy and excitement are more likely to lead to a sale. A study published in the European Journal of Business and Management Research states that positive emotions are factors that can affect impulse buying. Experiencing feelings of pleasure and joy results in a sudden desire to make a purchase. In contrast, negative emotions like fear and anxiety can make consumers more cautious and hesitant when buying something.
However, an increase in revenue is only a secondary benefit that comes with crafting an empathetic brand experience. An empathetic brand experience means providing a customer experience shaped by a deep understanding and appreciation of the customer’s feelings, needs, and wants.
Some primary reasons to create an empathetic brand experience include the following:
- Boost consumer loyalty and satisfaction. When your clients see a commitment to understanding them and their feelings, they’re more likely to remain loyal to you.
- Improve brand perception. Customers are more likely to support an organization known for being caring and considerate. In fact, The top 10 companies in the Harvard Business Review Global Empathy Index increased in value more than twice as much as the bottom 10 and generated 50 percent more earnings.
- Gain an advantage over competitors. Empathy gives you an edge over brands that offer similar services/products through a more indifferent approach.
Empathy-based marketing
Empathy-based marketing goes hand-in-hand with creating an empathetic experience. Incorporating empathy into your marketing strategies means looking at things from your clients’ perspective. Examine the current data you have or look to find more where there are gaps to really understand your customers. With this knowledge, you’ll create messages and content that resonates with them on an emotional level while focusing on the long-term relationship with the client.
Drive your empathetic marketing strategies forward with these tips:
- Know your audience. Learn about their feelings and desires to tailor your content to their needs. This will help you build trust and create a feedback loop that establishes a relationship or connection.
- Listen to understand. Observe how customers use your products and understand their motivations to create messages that address their uncertainties or concerns.
- Humanize your brand. Highlight the people behind your brand to make it more relatable. Share personal stories, testimonials, and real-life examples to show how your brand is making a positive impact.
Using market research to build an empathetic brand
If you want to implement empathy-based marketing strategies while also curating an empathetic customer experience, market research is your best bet. Listening is an essential part of being an empathetic brand. You can develop empathy by conducting market research to discover your customers’ thoughts and preferences and learn more about their needs and feelings. You can also uncover obstacles your customers face and identify ways to make improvements based on their feedback.
For example, when launching a new product and making decisions around packaging, the data you receive might inform you about concerns consumers have regarding accessibility or eco-friendliness. Making adjustments based on these pain points will position your brand as an empathetic company and allow you to view things through the lens of the client.
One of the best ways to gather data while also forming a relationship with your audience is by creating a quantitative insights community. This group of individuals, who generally have a pre-existing relationship with the brand, agrees to regularly participate in an organization’s research efforts. This helps you gain insights on trends, ensures you’re constantly listening to your audience and builds a relationship with customers over time.
If a brand wants to discover how their customer feels about a product, then Qualboard‘s Video Interviews are the solution! The key to empathy is understanding, and the best way to understand your audience is by observation and listening. Our Video Interviews allow clients to perceive how their customers emote and express themselves through tone, posture, and engagement. Video interviews provide nuance that text answers alone may miss.
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When you have a deep understanding and compassion for your customers, it becomes easier to reach them effectively. Our experts are here to help you on the journey to becoming an empathetic brand by identifying the challenges and pain points of your customers and proactively developing solutions to address them.
