Digital Empathy: A #CMWorld Twitter Chat with Brian Fanzo

“Empathy” has become a popular term in the marketing industry, but it’s nothing new.

One of the core principles of content marketing is understanding your audience’s wants and needs. We’re told to put ourselves in their shoes. The more we learn about our customers, the more personal and relevant our content can be.

Brian Fanzo, founder of iSocialFanz, says this empathetic approach delivers a better customer experience. On a recent #CMWorld Twitter chat, Brian spoke about tapping into our audience’s emotions to leave a lasting impression.

So, how can we best evoke empathy in our content marketing? Here’s a look at a few responses from Brian and our CMWorld community. To read the complete chat Q&A, take a look at our Twitter Moment.

What role can empathy play in content marketing?

Empathy should play a role in all we do. Standing in someone else’s shoes makes everything better. #cmworld

— Dorothée Lefering (@DoroLef) June 18, 2019

A2. Empathy plays a vital role in #contentmarketing, and should be integrated into everything we do. We need to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of our audience members. If not, we’ll never create the relationships that are so important to marketing these days. #CMWorld https://t.co/vHqHSg6upl

— David Simanoff (@dsimanoff) June 18, 2019

A2: I think empathy in content marketing can mean a couple of things. It can mean being empathetic in understanding where your customers are along their journey & providing appropriate content. Can also mean conveying empathy in your content through storytelling, etc. #cmworld

— Michelle Garrett (@PRisUs) June 18, 2019

A2: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. #empathy #CMWorld https://t.co/ETn6wMGQvv

— Steve Johnson (@sjconnects) June 18, 2019

Should we create content with the intention of being empathetic? Or should empathy drive our content?

A3. Empathy should drive content. Again, it’s your foundation. If it’s driving your content, it’s more genuine. If you’re creating it with INTENTIONS, then those intentions could come across as insincere or inconsistent. Build content from empathy. #CMWorld

— Patrick Delehanty (@MDigitalPatrick) June 18, 2019

A3: If you know your audience/community, then empathy should be our intent, but also should drive our content… So I guess a mixture of both! #CMWorld

— Joseph Kalinowski (@jkkalinowski) June 18, 2019

A3 Being empathetic isn’t a strategy. You should just BE empathetic. And your content should reflect your interest in the people who will (hopefully) consume (and share) it. #CMWorld

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) June 18, 2019

A3: I think realistically it’s easier to keep empathy in mind when creating content. We all have topics we need to write about, goals we need to hit, and traffic that needs to grow. You can use empathy as the jumping off point of whatever topic you’re writing about. #CMWorld

— Lauren @ G2.com (@G2Lauren) June 18, 2019

How does digital empathy differ for B2B and B2C companies? What impactful ways can technology be leveraged in our empathetic efforts? Need examples of brands exceling at showing empathy towards consumers? This Twitter Moment takes a deeper dive into the topic.

Learn how to amaze your audience with relevant, consistent, and empathetic content. Attend this year’s Content Marketing World, featuring speakers like Mindy Kaling, Buzzfeed’s Nilla Ali, and Pure Vida Bracelet’s Griffin Thall.  Register and save $100 at checkout with code SM100.