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How To Be An Emotionally Intelligent Marketer

Have you ever left your car for 15 minutes, only to get back into the driver’s seat and notice an annoying flyer shoved under your window-wiper?Like most of us, you probably pull it out, crumple it up, and curse the litter-inducing ad ninjas who targeted you!

Unfortunately, digital marketing is beginning to resemble this same irritating chain of events.With increased technology, many digital marketers are desperately targeting and re-targeting potential customers in all the wrong places…and it’s pissing them off.

A recent study showed almost 50% of consumers think their brands are clueless about how to reach them. Another study found that only one in three customers believes their favorite brands truly understand them.

I have found that “the solution” to this problem is emotional intelligence. It’s about being real, authentic and intuitive. Emotional intelligence helps me run a more profitable business. And, I believe, it’s time for marketing enterprises to implement these same skills.

How do marketers use emotional intelligence in the digital age?

I have found that deploying emotional intelligence in your digital marketing is a lot more intuitive than you might suspect. It’s simple and most of the time, boils down to common sense. Here’s what works for me:

1. Listen Deeply: Before investing in digital media, use any number of (social media) listening tools to understand what your audience is passionate about. You would never barge into a dinner party and hijack the conversation, so why would you want your brand to be perceived as doing the same thing via digital marketing? By listening to what people care about, you can formulate your strategy of how best to do the next four recommended steps below. 

2. Add Value First: Find ways to add value rather than simply pushing your own agenda. If you are coming from a place of giving rather than taking, you will naturally be inclined to help the people you are looking to serve with your products or services. Adding value is about finding ways to enhance and improve the lives of the customers you’d like to acquire and retain. Sure, you can argue that this is the ultimate purpose of your product or service, but before anyone wants to buy from you, they first need to understand who you are, what you represent and why they should invest in your brand(s). In order to accomplish this, they have to get to know you. Make it easy for them to want to get to know you by finding ways to add value before you ask for the sale. 

3. Attraction Beats Distraction: Focus on desire and the laws of attraction to draw your audience in rather than trying to interrupt and distract them. No one likes to be sold, but everyone loves to buy. Become an expert storyteller. Think beyond the features and benefits of what you’re selling. What does your company and brand stand for? How are you making the world a better place in some small, but important way? 

4. Don’t Be Creepy: Yes, you can leverage big data to learn a lot about your audience, but there is a fine line between insightful and creepy. If you feel you may be crossing the line, you probably are (even if it’s not illegal to do so). Instead, think about the ways you can be insightful and surprise and delight your audience rather than creeping them out by how much you know about them and their habits. 

5. Respect When Retargeting: Frequency is important, but you can go overboard with your retargeting. Balance awareness goals with annoyance risks. Think about retargeting in terms of dating. Just because someone went out on a date with you doesn’t mean they want to marry you. No one likes being hounded. Respect the fact that not everyone you want to sell to is ready to buy from you.

In addition to growing your business faster, using these emotionally intelligent strategies will ensure you are connecting with the right emotionally intelligent customers who will, in turn, help your grow faster. After all, the right customers that buy from you for the right reasons will ensure right relations and attract more of the right customers in the future.

1 comment about "How To Be An Emotionally Intelligent Marketer".
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  1. Pat Lapointe from Growth Calculus, April 24, 2015 at 10:40 a.m.

    Great summary Bill.  
    In addition to all of the above, it really helps to have a more specific understanding of the individual consumer values and motivations explaining the "why" behind the behaviors you see.  That way, you can use your listening learnings in value-added ways without being creepy AND not have to rely on re-targeting so extensively to achieve relevance. No major marketer should target without individual-level insights on this level anymore.  

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