Creating Content For People: The Approach To Writing In a World of Data
When we hear the word empathy, the first thing that comes to our minds is human relationships. We see someone in pain and we literally feel for them. We see someone laughing and we start laughing with them. Why? Because it’s a point of connection. Of course, as humans, we are naturally mirroring somebody’s language or mimicking unconsciously their accent. But if we offer our response in a very authentic and heartfelt way that’s called empathy. We feel what they feel and we can easily tie in because it’s not about us anymore; it’s about them. Moreover, it’s not just something we feel but it also drives us to take action.
Nowadays, we all know that having a content strategy is not an optional step in your overall strategy. Why? Content is killing it. Why? Because it is a very qualitative way of getting to the right audience, to the right people. Although you are offering value by writing free content you are actually growing authority and nurturing a good relationship with your audience.
What’s the missing piece?
Everybody is doing marketing with a very data-oriented approach. A lot of agencies and marketers think of people as statistics and data. When they write an article, create a video or build a campaign, they somehow fail to acknowledge that on the other side there are actual human beings with fears and desires. It’s not just clicks,likes, shares or whatever.
Don’t get me wrong, data is a must, it’s just not the whole deal. A couple of days ago, I was listening to a podcast with Seth Godin where he stated that he doesn’t check his blog’s statistics anymore and that he simply writes in order to show up to the people he cares about. There’s a lot of truth in that statement mainly because if you’re writing for the numbers, and not for the people, you’re missing the whole point. If you find yourself thinking ‘Oh, I only have 200 views’ instead of ‘Probably 100 something people have read my blog entry. That’s amazing’ you might want to rethink your approach.
Empathy puts us next to our audience thus opening the possibility of a deeper connection.
Changing our perspective in an era when people’s needs and wants change from one day to another is crucial. Let’s wear their shoes when we come up with what we think to be a great idea. Let it all be about them.
There are 3 core principles that can help you build loyalty, brand equity, and trust.
1. Focus on understanding your audience, your product, your brand, your business. When you know very well your product or the content that you want to put out in the world and you also get to know your customers by studying their life, you can create a story that they will relate to. Questions like: “Who is my audience?”, “What are they looking for?”, “What do they need to make their life better?”, “Why would anyone care about my idea?” or “How is this adding real value to the customer’s experience?” can really help you understand them better. Bring your idea to life after you’ve exhausted all the possibilities. This is very important if you want to have a great content strategy.
2. The empathy-based approach means that it’s not about what you like, but what they like. If you are a male around 24 years old who is writing an article for mothers that are over 40 you have to think like they would. Wear their clothes (in your imagination, or do whatever), watch the same TV shows, listen to what they listen, discuss topics that they found interesting, read the books that they read, fear what they fear. This is how you are going to be able to talk from your heart to theirs. They will feel that you understand them and they will relate to what you say.
3. Offer value and build relationships based on what you found in the first two steps. You should aim for the long-term results because, just as friendships need time to grow and become stronger, your relationship with the audience will develop in time. You will build trust. This is how your customers will be loyal to you and this is what you want for your brand.
I want to point out that this is the approach that I really feel we should look at. Based on the fact that we understand that empathy-based marketing is about how we treat others as human beings, you should put your content against the friend test. By this I mean: would you actually share your content with your friends or somebody that you care about?
Besides these principles that I’ve just explained there are 2 things that you really need in order to be effective: Consistency and Discipline.
Consistency means having a clear vision of where you want to take your brand. The content strategy that you develop will help you achieve this. Discipline is the ability to stick to your strategy and be ready to adapt when you feel like something is missing. Make sure that the core principles of your brand are well thought of and that they create a solid foundation. In 10 years, people won’t be the same, brands will also change, and technology will open new doors. Still, people will be able to identify with the same principles even though they will be expressed in a different way.
Empathy-based marketing is the next big thing because people search for meaning everywhere. They are touched by stories, not by a soulless sales ad. Put them first and you will have an authentic community, not just customers.
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