Empathy in Marketing Explained©2018, Colleen Eakins Design

Empathy in Marketing Explained

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Stereotypically, when a person says that they are in marketing, other’s reactions usually steer towards the side of ‘they are just trying to sell me stuff’. Well, in essence, yes, but there is a major point that is left out in that thought. Marketing professionals need to connect with their target audience on certain emotions that invoke the need for that specific product or service. Being able to use empathy in your marketing campaigns can keep loyal consumers and convert new.

Empathy, according to Merriam-Webster, is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

In other words, put yourself in someone else’s shoes to fully feel how a certain experience has affected them and how you would feel if the same thing happened to you. Do not just feel only sorry or pity for them, as that is only sympathy.

Roadblocks

In today’s world, there is so much ‘noise’ that a user can choose to block out, just by the click of a button. Creating an immediate response and connection from a post or video to draw in your audience is crucial to achieving the company’s goals.

Look through your own personal news feed and you will find your peers looking for advice and solace through the computer and cell phone. Businesses in today’s world must recognize that in order to reach the end user, human connection must be made without complete human interaction.

You may also find that the audience you are trying to connect with, finds that you are capitalizing on a serious issue or that somehow your company was the first and only to experience such a hardship. This can flare up during times of political, economic, societal instabilities. Marketers must be sensitive to the external circumstances that can deeply effect how your consumers view the issue combined with your brand.

How can your business break down the roadblocks of today’s powerhouse digital medium?

Do:

  • Ensure your company has a goal for the marketing campaign that adheres to your brand standards.
  • Fully understand the wants and needs of your audience before developing the campaign.
  • Use true emotions in your marketing collateral – you are a person with your own experiences, use that advantage.
  • Teach and inspire through all tactics (videos, posts, etc.) as this will invoke the truest emotions from your audience.

Don’t:

  • Have more than one goal for your campaign, this will confuse your audience on the brand’s sincerity.
  • Lecture, as empathy will be taken for preaching.
  • Use blatant calls to action, as your audience will need to take from their own experiences and find the underlying message. An obvious CTA (call to action) will deter from the emotions trying to be pulled from the audience.
  • Try to fit empathy in to a generalization, everyone feels and experiences differently. Remembering this can help maximize channels and strategy in your campaign.

Examples of Empathy Campaigns

Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Hyatt’s campaign, since its launch in 2017, as centered on the understanding that their employees are people, too. That Hyatt employees care and are willing to make to make the human connection as it feeds in to everyone’s happiness while staying at the hotel. This seems like a no-brainer, as everyone is a person and should have a level of compassion and empathy to help others.

Dove

For years, Dove has led the way in evoking emotions from their audience that every person can resonate it with. Their ‘Real Beauty’ campaign launched in 2013 and Dove, even though just a toiletries company, has found a way to generate authenticity of the social issue of self-esteem that runs deep in the heart of all. They have found a way to make a simple soap help others feel good in their own skin.

23andme

As a newcomer to the ancestry discovery market, 23andme had to find a way to distinguish itself from the market leader. Instead of just finding out more about who you are and where you come from, it was taking those results and using them to truly discover a deeper meaning of your heritage. Traveling to develop a connection with those regions visited, helps guide oneself to know how you can recognize each aspect of your background. When we travel, we want to see and experience – to live. 23andme was able to develop a deeper meaning to seeing the world – it was seeing and understanding yourself within a larger community.

At Colleen Eakins Design, we are ready to help assist in bringing your campaign to life. We will identify with your strategy to develop creative that will bring out the emotions and reactions needed from your audience base. Contact us today to get started!

Marketing Podcasts©2018, Colleen Eakins Design

Top 5 Podcasts for Marketers

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Marketing Podcasts have become popular since podcasting in general has become a huge trend. 21% of Americans listen to them because their on demand nature.

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Why Podcast?©2018, Colleen Eakins Design

Why Podcast? The Marketing Benefits

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When many people hear the word ‘podcasts’, they automatically assume it’s for political purposes or for some large non-profit. However, podcasts can be an incredible tool for the business world to help build brand awareness and loyalty. But, first let’s bring it back to basics on what exactly a podcast is.

A podcast is a series of digital audio files that a user will download to listen to. This is usually done as subscription based and will be downloaded to the individual’s own electronic device. A podcast will have a consistent narrative tone with an underlying message in each “episode.” In other words, think of it as an episode of your favorite TV series, only in audio form.

Why Podcast? How is it Beneficial for Business?

It may not seem very obvious that all businesses should consider starting a podcast, but there are very valuable reasons why it should be done.

  • Advertising & Sales – this can be a great way to introduce your company, brand, services and products in a new setting, all while converting listeners in to consumers.
  • Customer Relations & Community Building – are there issues that are facing your company that could affect your brand? Using this forum to openly speak to your audience will give them a sense of belonging and make them feel essential to your company.
  • Content Marketing – what is your company an expert in that no other brand can compete with? What deeper understanding of certain topics can you offer your audience? Developing strong strategic content will entice the listener to become a subscriber and convert to sales.
  • Minimal Investment – there may be some startup costs with acquiring a good microphone and software to edit files, but the biggest investment will be time. Time in developing and vocalizing the necessary content or arranging for guest speakers to sit in.
  • Shelf Life – podcasts can last indefinitely. In doing so, you will want to be careful in the content that is created and shared to last alongside the availability of the podcast.
  • Shareability – with everything that is digital, the podcast is no exception. This can be shared across channels and across audiences to increase awareness of your brand.
  • Multi-tactical – with podcasts, not only are you engaging in content marketing, but you can also take advantage of including social influencers that would help spread the news of your brand. This can include podcasts that are in an interview setting or allowing the influencer to be the ‘guest host.’ Inviting outsiders to be immersed in to your brand, can show flexibility and inclusiveness to your audience.

Success in Podcasts

Above are the answers to the question–why podcast? A company’s brand or marketing strategy will be crucial, but how can podcasts be executed successfully?

  • Name the Podcast – this should be relevant to your company, but also to what the content will be speaking to, all while grabbing your audiences’ attention.
  • Format – considering format for your podcasts is a must first step before developing content. Are there different series that have different formats or is there one defined podcast series with an interview or open forum conversationalist format?
  • Content – just as you would build out a social calendar to work in special offerings, posts due to external circumstances, you will want to do the same in your podcasts. Having clear and consistent messaging throughout each podcasts is crucial when adhering to your brand standards. Providing your audience with a complete left turn on a topic may leave them confused and disinterested in your brand.
  • Placement – making sure that you cross promote your podcasts will be crucial in developing a strong following for your podcasts, but your brand as a whole. Embedding links in blogs, social posts, publishing the podcasts on YouTube as well as your own website, will increase traffic and awareness. Referencing your social and content marketing calendars will help fill in the gaps of where and when links can be placed.
  • Software – utilizing compatible software to edit files to have high-quality audio will be beneficial for the podcasts and for your listeners downloading the content.
  • Sponsors – when your podcast is gaining traction with subscribers, this is a great way to bring in other products or services that will compliment, but not overrun your brand, to help capitalize on the success of your podcast. The host will need to mention the product at the beginning, middle or end of the show.

Colleen Eakins Design can work with your company to develop intriguing content that meets your goal of launching a new podcast series. Contact us today to learn more!

influencer marketing still works©2018, Colleen Eakins Design

6 Reasons Why Influencer Marketing Still Works

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Influencer marketing still works and here are 6 reasons, to back up that claim. Do you use influencers as a part of your business’ marketing strategy?

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influencer marketing©2018, Colleen Eakins Design

Influencer Marketing 101

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What is it?

Influencer marketing is collaboration between a celebrity or an influential person (usually on social media) with a company to promote a service, product or campaign.

It used to be that celebrity endorsements (think of Michael Jordan with Nike) was the driving force that would influence an audience to buy products, but with this digital age, “influencers” can come from social media and blogs. These will be people with a large following with a niche audience.

Why Use Influencer Marketing?

This can be a powerful marketing tactic in your arsenal that provides the consumer with trust and value of your brand. A third party recommendation or ‘seal of approval’ can boost your company and offerings’ reputation.

The partner you work with will not only bring with them their own network of followers, but their follower’s network as well. You have automatically increased your social media presence and traffic to your site through this connection.

Even though there are many options to block out the marketing noise that people can hear through commercials with on-demand, streaming and settings to block certain items seen on your feed – the internet has become the avenue where everyone is corralled and influencer marketing provides an extreme opportunity to align with an influencer who will best support your brand’s vision and goals.

How Do I Choose an Influencer?

You must make sure that you assess your brand’s campaign goals and the influencer’s content before making any partnerships. Other items to consider are:

  • Relevance – does this person share content that pertains to your business and/or products?
  • Reach – what is the potential number of people that can be reached based upon the influencer’s following (remember to include all channels they are on)?
  • Action vs Engagement – will this influencer only drive awareness or convert them in to purchases?
    • Engagement in this instance is commenting, sharing or liking posts.
  • Saturation – is this influencer already promoting too many products?
  • Visibility – what channel(s) are the influencer on that will maximize visibility to total network?

You want the influencer to build trust and have their following value the opinions they present. Without this, there will be no conversion for your brand.

Working with the Influencer

This will solely be based upon your agreed upon terms with the influencer, but be prepared to release some creative control. They have built their entire following upon a specific passion, service or product. Collaborate with them on what they feel best will resonate with their following, but also adheres to your brand standards.

Legally, they must follow rules from the Federal Trade Commission, specifically under disclosure. This should be built in to your agreement.

  • Video reviews must have both written and verbal disclosures stating partnership.
  • Though each social media platform has their own rules, please use those as more supplemental to the FTC than the rules to abide by.
  • #ad and #sponsored are useful hashtags to use for disclosure, but they must be highly visible.

Compensation will and should be part of your agreement as they are providing a service to your company to drive traffic and increase sales. All influencers will want different types of compensation pending the level of involvement and visibility of their following.

  • Financially – pending the level of commitment and influencer’s visibility across platforms, this can be an option, but proceed with caution as the sincerity of the ‘paid recommendation’ may be diluted.
  • @Mentions/Shout Outs – being able to share a post or blog that the influencer has written on your companies’ pages will drive more traffic to their site which will make them feel recognized and honored to continue to support your brand in the future..
  • Discounts/Giveaways – offering the influencer a discount on the product or service can be a great incentive for future recommendations. Possibly offering them a trial package/time with a new product to use and put out the first review would be a great incentive for the influencer, informing their followers and building awareness to your company.
  • Commission – this could be a great alternative to financially compensating someone for their efforts. Also, this can be easily accounted for with certain discount codes or tracked URLs provided to their followers to make the purchase.

How to Measure ROI on Influencer Marketing?

First, you must determine what the main goal is for partnering with an influencer – awareness, lead generation, social media presence lift, sales, etc.? Being as specific as possible when setting your goals will be valuable in reviewing results in the end to determine the ROI. Examples below:

  • Drive an extra $X,XXX sales per week
  • Add an extra XX email addresses to its database each week
  • Add an extra XX subscribers each week
  • Increase their followers by XXX per week
  • Double their engagement on determined social media platform

We can apply the same items that are used to consider an influencer to measure the ROI (return on investment) that will optimize your success.

Sales: if you are looking to increase your sales of a service or product, an easy way to measure is to include a specific code or tracked URL to the influencer to include in their posts.

Lead Generation: was the content created inviting enough for the influencer to push out to allow for more subscribers or followers to further share the information?

Social Media: view the likes or subscribers to your page after an influencer campaign has ended. Make sure to record numbers before and after versus cost (compensation to the influencer plus any paid ads per social media platform).

Engagement: measuring the views, clicks, likes, shares and mentions will help analyze the success of the campaign versus cost (compensation to the influencer plus any paid ads per social media platform).

Reach: did the content that was crafted resonate and bring meaning with this niche group that the influencer is a part of?

Pending on the value that needs to be added to your brand, utilizing the influencer marketing tactic can be very beneficial and can come with a huge reward for minimal cost that the digital space leverages. Careful evaluation of the potential influencers and their network is a key component as you can reach a highly niche audience that is beneficial to your mass market product or service.

At Colleen Eakins Design, we can help strategize what design components will be needed in your campaign that the chosen influencer can utilize.