Mission-Driven Brands Thrive on Empathy

An engaging brand empathizes.

When was the last time you asked your audience:

• “What do you expect of us?”
• “What is your experience with us like?”
• “Why do you believe in our brand?”

Being engaging isn’t always about sharing the great things your business is doing or what your brand stands for.

You need to ask your audience what they think in to find the points of interest where they want to have a conversation with your brand and how they want to be engaged.

Think about every possible touch point between your company and its customers. If everything your company says and does is part of your story and impacts audience perception (i.e., your brand — what others think about your organization), what should you do to improve each point of interaction?

A Different Perspective on Audience Engagement

I spent a couple of minutes on an organization’s website recently, trying to find the times for their weekly gatherings. Their home page featured a large button reading, “I’m New Here,” and as a first-time visitor, I clicked it.

The only problem is that I didn’t find what I was looking for. I found a lot of information about what to expect on my first visit, how long the meeting would be, what a great experience it would be, and more.

The only thing the page didn’t tell me what time I should be there to share this experience.

Eventually, I found what I was looking for, quietly hiding under a subhead on the home page, and again at the very bottom.

It wasn’t a well-designed first visitor experience. When I shared my experience with the organization, they welcomed the feedback and made changes to ensure other visitors had a better experience than I did.

Rather than waiting for a guest to bring up a design oversight, ask your audience for feedback, and with that information advise your staff on how they think your business can do a better job of communicating.

One simple way to gain insight is to conduct a survey and ask your stakeholders or customers what they think you’re doing well, and what you could do better.

Better yet, have a one-to-one conversation with a customer, and learn their perspective on your company: who you are, what you do, why they think your brand matters, and how you’ve helped them solve their problems.

Odds are what motivates them also motivates others, and their perspective will help you create a brand story that reaches more people with design and experiences that foster trust, affinity, and loyalty.

Join the movement of business leaders who inspire people to buy their products through words that sell.