In a world oversaturated with ads, promotional content, and branded messages, consumers are seeking something more than just a product or service. They’re looking for genuine connections and authentic experiences. As marketers, we’ve learned that understanding our audience’s emotions and motivations in order to connect with them, is of greatest importance. This is where the power of empathy in modern marketing comes into play.

What is Empathy in Marketing?

Empathy in marketing is genuinely understanding and addressing the feelings, needs, and concerns of consumers. It’s about stepping into their shoes, seeing the world from their perspective, and tailoring our message to resonate with them emotionally.

Why is Empathy So Important in Marketing?

In today’s world, empathy in marketing is essential. Consumers are increasingly wary of brands that come across as insincere or that seem disengaged from their genuine needs. When a brand employs empathetic marketing, it not only fosters trust but also lays the groundwork for long lasting relationships. This approach emphasizes telling stories that deeply resonate with consumers.

Empathetic marketing has the ability to tug at the heartstrings or address the real world challenges that consumers face. Beyond storytelling, empathy in marketing makes customers feel valued. When a brand consistently recognizes and addresses their emotions and needs, it leads to increased loyalty and advocacy.

How Can Brands Integrate Empathy into Their Marketing Strategies?

For brands aiming to make a genuine connection with their audience, integrating empathy into marketing strategies is pivotal. To start, it’s important to listen to consumers by using tools such as social listening platforms, surveys, and feedback mechanisms. This allows brands to truly understand their audience’s sentiments, pain points, and desires.

In addition to this, brands should address the real issues their audience faces, showcasing how their products or services offer meaningful solutions instead of just highlighting their product features. Finally, humanizing the brand is key. By spotlighting real people, stories, and values behind a brand, businesses can foster a deeper sense of authenticity and relatability.

Real-World Examples of Empathetic Marketing

By focusing on genuine understanding and emotional connection, brands can navigate the saturated market and create lasting relationships with consumers. The fashion and beauty industries have seen numerous campaigns that have employed empathy to resonate with their audiences.

For example, Rihanna’s makeup line, Fenty Beauty, made waves when it launched with a groundbreaking range of 40 foundation shades, catering to a diverse range of skin tones often overlooked in the beauty industry. The brand’s emphasis on inclusivity earned it both acclaim and commercial success.

Another example is Dove’s Project #ShowUs. Dove partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze to create the project #ShowUs — the world’s largest stock photo library created by women to shatter beauty stereotypes. This initiative was a response to the fact that 70% of women still don’t feel represented in media and advertising. By providing images that genuinely reflected women’s diverse appearances and experiences, Dove took another step in pushing the boundaries of beauty standards in advertising.

These examples highlight the ways in which fashion and beauty brands, through empathetic understanding of their consumers, can create campaigns that resonate on a deeper, more emotional level.

Establish the 2024 Marketing Plan for Your Business

The fourth quarter is 2024 marketing plan time. And there is still time to accomplish this important business exercise to cultivate growth in your business. Are you ready for 2024? On the Porch, marketing plan meetings are set with clients through early December to get ‘er done. It keeps the business and team focused. Save valuable resources — time and money — by creating yours now. Holler if Front Porch Marketing can help!

Marketing Plans 101

So, where to start? We would be happy to help, of course. But, if you want to tackle it on your own, let us help entertain you.

1. Start by asking yourself the question “What are your 2024 business goals?” Marketing plans should align with what your business is trying to achieve.
2. Then, based on projected 2024 revenue, budget a percentage of that revenue for marketing to meet growth targets. Research shows that on average companies are budgeting 9–10% for this purpose, for the second year in a row, for a variety of marketing activities. Protip: companies trying to gain market share are allocating more even in these uncertain times.
3. Once the marketing budget has been inked, set your marketing goals. Goals should always be measurable and be able to be tracked on a monthly or quarterly basis. Measuring your progress is important! Define how success will be measured.
4. Next, analyze your company’s situation and create or update the SWOT analysis. And then, analyze where competitors sit within the space. Then, define or redefine the target clients or customers.

Bring Your Marketing Plan to Life

Now that you have the start of a marketing plan written, think about how you will fulfill it. Set your marketing strategies. Strategies are long-term and create the pathway through to the business’s mission. They drive all of the marketing activities.

Next, define your marketing tactics. Will you be using advertising? Social media? Media relations? How will you execute against your strategy? Tactics are more detailed and have a shorter time frame. And tactics are action oriented. Think of tactics as the answer to how strategies will come to life. Are there tools in place for reporting on your company’s tactical success? Who is responsible for reporting and measurement? Set your structure in place for next year.

Finally, create a marketing timeline for all these activities. What needs to be completed and when? Make notes on who is responsible for tactical execution and when.

Review What Worked and What Didn’t in 2023 to Make 2024 Better

Make sure to revisit the marketing plan from time to time. Audit last year’s efforts, and this year’s efforts to gain insight on what to do better next year. Some folks do it quarterly, some more frequently. And cheers to your business success through strategic, thoughtful branding, marketing, advertising and marketing communication in 2024!

Small Business Social Media: How to Handle It

You end up wearing a variety of hats as a small business owner: customer service rep, accountant, service provider, marketing professional…the list goes on. Adding “social media strategist” to that list can feel overwhelming, especially when you consider all of the platforms available, each with its own tricks and content requirements. So how do you determine where you should be focusing your energy and resources?

With our small business clients, we of course, start small. We’ve put together a guide to show you how we figure out a social media strategy that will work for our small business clients. And sometimes having someone guide you or help you execute this task can be your best option!

Off to a (Small) Start

First of all, let go of the notion that you need to be everywhere. It’s best to start off small, especially if you’re working with a small team and limited resources. Instead, we ask a few key questions to figure out where your social media efforts will be most effective:

1. Where are your customers?
2. Where are your competitors?
3. What purpose is each platform serving?

We start by considering how much time and budget a small business might have to dedicate to social media. And a social media audit is a good first step. For example, if you don’t have a lot of time to spare it’s probably best to avoid video-first platforms like YouTube and TikTok. It’s also worth deciding whether you’ll mostly be creating original content or repurposing existing material, like webinars and live workshops. We sometimes do part of the social media, or one of the channels, supplementing a small business’ in-house resources, so it’s not overwhelming for them to do all of it.

Picking a Social Media Platform

If you want to reach as many people as possible with your social media efforts, consider how many people use various platforms. Facebook clocks in with the most users (almost 3 billion), though Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have each crossed the billion-user threshold as well. Smaller, newer platforms (like alternatives to Twitter/X) won’t have the same populations.

All Social Media Channels Are Not The Same

The average user of each platform varies, so you’ll need to determine which venues are popular among your target audience. Facebook users tend to be closer to middle age, with 77% falling between 30 and 49 years old, while almost half of TikTok users are between the ages of 18 and 29. Remember, though, that just because your audience is using a platform doesn’t mean they spend money there, so if you use social media to sell goods or services you should also look at users’ spending habits. Facebook and Instagram are particularly popular as shopping venues, while TikTok has yet to roll out universal access to its “Shop” feature.

Begin, Test, Begin Again

Once you’ve selected the platforms you’ll be using and started posting content, continually check in on your content’s performance. See what’s working and what isn’t. Keep an open mind when it comes to what sort of content your audience wants to see. And don’t be afraid to shake things up every now and then. You may just stumble across a new means of connecting to your audience. Relationship-building is the name of the game when it comes to social media.

If your business has an online presence, it is vital that you understand the essential practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy as a part of your overall marketing plan. Because of all the technical jargon involved, it’s easy to forget that SEO is actually something very simple: the art and science of optimizing your online presence to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). To help you further navigate the SEO landscape, we’re here to explain what SEO is more fully and guide you through the process of creating an SEO strategy.

What is SEO?

Optimizing your website — whether it’s an online shop, a blog, or a simple landing page — is the strategic process of enhancing your website’s visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Essentially, it’s all about making your website more attractive to these search engines so they rank it higher when users search for related keywords.

Search engines use complex algorithms to determine rankings, considering factors like keyword relevance, website quality, and user experience. When you optimize these elements of your site, you can increase your chances of appearing higher up in the SERP rankings.

Creating an SEO Strategy

The days when you could simply stuff your website full of keywords and hope for the best are gone. Like any part of your marketing plan, it pays to have an intentional, focused strategy in place for SEO. Here’s how to create one in six simple steps.

1. Set Clear Objectives and Goals
   Ask yourself why you want to optimize your site. Do you want to increase organic traffic, boost online sales, or enhance general brand awareness?
2. Conduct Keyword Research
   In order to reach your target audience, you need to know the words they use to search for businesses or products like yours. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help you identify these words and terms so you can incorporate them into your site’s architecture.
3. On-Page Optimization
   Now it’s time to optimize your website’s content, including its backend structure (title tags, meta descriptions, headings, etc.). Create high-quality, valuable content that addresses user needs.
4. Off-Page Optimization
   This step requires a bit more effort. You’ll want to build up high-quality “backlinks” from authoritative websites. Also, engage in content marketing, and leverage social media platforms to expand your online presence. Basically, let the search engines know that you exist on the internet in places other than your website.
5. Technical SEO
   Ensure your website is fast and mobile-friendly. Remember, search engines take user experience into consideration. This helps determine rankings, so make your site as appealing and easy to use as possible.
6. Monitoring and Analytics
   Once you have a strategy in place, it’s time to use tools like Google Analytics to track your SEO performance. Analyze the data you gather and adjust your strategy based on the insights it offers.

A few types of social media marketing

Content Marketing/Content Creating: This is where a company will make content and share it on a social media platform. It can be anything from a podcast, videos, emails, etc. These messages are personal and should help the company achieve its objectives and reach a specific audience.

Advertising/Sponsorship: This is a more formal way of using social media. It is a non-personal message that promotes, or sells a product, service, or concept. You are able to create and place the exact message you want.

Influencer Marketing: This is where a company can use a social media influencer to help promote their product. This influencer is trusted and has a loyal audience, so when they share the product, it raises brand visibility.

Check out this article about 10 different types of social media to learn about other types of social media marketing.

Which type of Marketing high schoolers respond to the best

Overall, most high schoolers respond best to Influencer Marketing or Content Creating/Content Marketing, specifically on popular social media apps like TikTok or Instagram. Personally, I find traditional ads are easy to scroll past compared to an interesting video that grabs your attention. With influencer marketing, these content creators already have a following, making it a perfect place to promote. However, it is crucial to find a content creator that aligns with the idea for your product. Many beauty companies will pair up with a content creator that has an entire page on that specific topic, making it relevant on that page.

On the other hand, making original content for a company or a brand can be extremely successful. Many popular companies now have accounts on popular social media platforms and are active in many different ways. Some comment on posts that mention them or will repost videos made about them as well as making their own.

How to stand out

There are many ways to stand out as a company and gain traction through social media. I think one of the best ways are brand trips. Brand trips are when a company takes a group of influencers on an all-expense paid vacation. These trips always get a lot of attention and influencers spend the duration of it promoting the brand and what it sells. These have proven time and time again to be an effective way to bring attention to a company and product.

Another great way to bring attention to your brand is make a TikTok account. On average, high schoolers spend 113 minutes a day just on TikTok, significantly more than any other social media site. It can take a while to gain a following, so patience is important. Once an account reaches a point of success, they typically continue to grow.

How Can Lead Generation Benefit Your Business?

Good question! You’ve heard about “Lead Generation” but aren’t sure what that is, how to do it, or if it can help you build your business, right? As a marketing firm that works on lead generation strategies and programs all the time, we’re here to answer your questions. So ask yourself these questions next:

1. Interested in investing in the expertise of what a strategic, seasoned marketing partner can provide for your overall brand? Good. Read further.
2. Ready to invest the resources, time, money, etc. to get there? Better.
3. Know that the fundamentals of a brand architecture, brand strategy, message map, creative brief are key? Your competition and target customer are defined? Best.

Over the past two weeks, we have had new prospects reach out to us regarding lead generation. So, let’s rap about that specifically.

Let’s Get Started

What is it? Lead generation is the process of attracting and engaging your target audience. And then, converting them to customers. Engage your prospects. Build relationships. Turn leads into loyal customers. And loyal customers translate into sales.

Lead Generation Winning Strategies

There are lots. There is no silver bullet, one size fits all. Once all documents are reviewed and goals and target are considered, we recommend the right strategy for each business we work with at Front Porch Marketing.

Let’s name a few:

• Content Marketing. This really should be part of any of the processes below. It hits many buckets: social media, website, SEO and inbound marketing. Providing consistent, relevant content of value and establishing cred and authority with your prospects.
• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) and on page. This has to do with your website. Think forms, widgets and pop-ups to attract website visitors and produce leads by collecting information like email addresses for follow-up, or addition to a monthly newsletter.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Platforms and tools — i.e. LinkedIn Sales Navigator, PipeDrive, Salesforce, ZoomInfo — can help identify and reach the optimal target audience for your business. Once you reach your audience these tools also help you nurture them. Turn them into loyal customers via email, SMS and other one-on-one relationship building communications.

What’s Your Next Step?

Our clients reap success using these strategies and tools. We can share success stories related to any of the bullets above. And, we are here to help you. Let us implement a repeatable process of lead generation and then scale it with strategies and tactics to grow your topline.

What are AI Influencers in marketing?

AI influencers are virtual personalities managed by brands or agencies. They are created using computer graphics and machine-learning algorithms to appeal to a brand’s audience. These influencers serve the same purpose as other real influencers. But they are designed to reinforce a brand’s particular marketing objectives. AI Influencers can wear a retailer’s clothing or visit their store — all virtually. They can express their thoughts about the benefits of products. They can help elevate a brand’s social media.

AI influencers have already worked for brands from Red Bull to Tinder, since 2016. They interact with consumers using conversation, photos and videos. Often hyper-realistic, they create attention-getting, stylish interactions with the products they represent.

What are some benefits of AI Influencers?

AI influencers work 24/7, whereas real humans cannot keep up this pace. This keeps active engagement rates high, and is beneficial to consumers engaging globally in multiple time zones. With round-the-clock content creation, these spokespeople can quickly build a large global following.

Often, they can create content specifically tailored to answer their audiences’ questions. Further, they can engage with thousands of consumers in a personalized way — without the conventional challenges of doing all of this as a real person. AI influencers, and their accompanying data, can also guide brands to find new or specific audiences. They can introduce new products, create more engaging content, and help optimize campaigns. 

How do they help brands specifically?

Everything listed above is incredibly beneficial to growing a brand. But did you know AI influencers can also track consumer engagement so you don’t have to? These influencers can sum up analytical data from a brand’s work with them. That’s influencer and data are rolled into one. This makes it easy to view analytics and make decisions going forward.

From social media engagement to sales reports, an AI influencer can become an important part of helping brands build business. This data is valuable in offering ideas on which demographic to reach. It is valuable to know when to reach them, and how to reach them as well. Brands like Calvin Klein, Samsung, and Prada have all worked with AI influencers. These brands have incorporated influencers on social media platforms with success.

In the future, look for innovative new uses as AI influencers evolve. They’ll continue to talk with consumers and build value for brands in platforms beyond social media.

It is probably safe to assume your company has a marketing plan. That’s document detailing the strategies to market your products and services to the defined target audience. However, do you find your company falls short in executing the plan? That’s where the Content Calendar comes in!

Let’s face it, priorities change, and problems come up. Next thing you know, it is six months down the road, and you have forgotten what was in the original plan, let alone followed through with implementation. And this lack of follow-through can negatively impact your business.

Follow Through on your Plan with a Content Calendar

One way to eliminate this situation is by developing a content marketing calendar. By definition, it’s a tool that helps you plan and execute your marketing strategy. It turns your plan into actionable deliverables.

Creating a marketing content calendar may seem daunting at first, but in its simplest form, consider it a living, breathing document used to plan your content. The amount of detail and layout can vary according to your organization’s preferences. At a minimum, it should contain a separate column or tab for your platform(s), content to be published, and the publishing date.

How to Create a Marketing Content Calendar

It may seem overwhelming but consider these key pieces of information as you start to plan your content calendar.

• What marketing platforms do you use? Social media, email marketing, blog posting. No matter what platforms you utilize, it’s most efficient to keep track of your content in one document.
• Determine how often you publish content. Do you post to your social media channels three times a week? Do you send a monthly email or maybe a weekly communication? How often do you write blog articles? Twice a month?
• Create your content calendar. It’s recommended to plan your content at least one month in advance using either an excel spreadsheet or a Google Sheet. Create a separate tab for each marketing platform (social media, email marketing, blog articles, etc.). For social media, create a new tab for each month of content.
• Plan your content. Consider key dates to promote your product or service. Do you have an upcoming product launch or event? Are there specific holidays or national days you want to highlight?
• Build out your calendar. After you’ve answered all the questions above, add those items to your content calendar. Plug your content into the assigned content tab for each month or week.

Next Step: Executing Your Content

The next step is to add additional levels of detail. Consider the supporting images and content needed for each social post, email, blog article, on your content calendar. Assign ownership and build out timelines. Who is responsible for image creation, content development, social media posting and building and launching emails?

Now it’s time to see the benefits of your hard work pay off. Publish your content and monitor your results using analytics. Find out what content and images generate the greatest response and what fell short. Test your messages and images. Change your content accordingly. Be creative and…HAVE FUN!!! It all starts with a good content calendar.

How Do You START Marketing Your Small Business?

Marketing your small business can be an overwhelming task if you’re starting from scratch. Where do you start? What’s the most important thing? What are the marketing steps to take to get to success?

Over the years, Front Porch Marketing has written a ton of articles to help small businesses succeed — on everything from social media to marketing plans. Today we’ll gather those up in a helpful list that you can use to start marketing your small business. Even if you’re starting from scratch.

Start Your Marketing With a Plan

Before you start doing anything, you need to have a big, bad marketing plan. Why? This steering document will help you know who your audience is and what your goals are. It will help you develop strategies to succeed, and tactics to reach those people.

As months pass, though, don’t forget you’ll need to continue to cultivate your marketing plan to make it grow, much like weeding and feeding a garden. Weed out what’s not working, and do more of what is working. A Marketing Plan is a living document.

Make Your Business Look Like It Means Business

To present the best face of your business to the world, you’ll need a logo. This visual symbol of your business’ legitimacy will be a reminder everywhere — your email, your website, your invoices, your staff’s golf shirts. Designing a strong logo and implementing it is key to a strong brand voice.

Can Your Customers Find You as You Are Marketing Your Small Business?

Most businesses have a website, as their home-base on the internet. This is the first place customers will go to find you and learn more about your business. Is yours up-to-date? Or do you need to build your first website? Maybe you just need to expand your presence by adding a social media channel or two after a social media audit. Depending on who your customer is, you might choose Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter or TikTok, to reach them.

You might also want to consider email marketing to reach your customers. Engage and connect with customers. Make their lives easier by helping them solve problems. Email marketing has power, and building your email marketing list can build your business.

Grow Your Audience With Advertising!

Reaching your consumers wherever they may be is important. So your marketing plan might likely include some form of advertising. Do you need digital advertising to reach new customers on the internet? Maybe text message marketing and advertising (SMS) to build loyalty with your existing customers. Would testimonials on your website convince others to try your company?

Establish Your Authority With Media Relations.

Some businesses benefit from having the news media write about them in editorials, reviews and interviews. Effective media relations can get great results for your business goals when done properly. Customizing your news to each publication can benefit both parties.

Start Your Small Business Marketing from Scratch By Taking the First Step

Read through some of our articles to help you get started on the journey of marketing your small business. Remember that it’s a marathon, and that you can continuously improve your approach to get better and better results. Need help with any part of your journey? We’re here to help.

LinkedIn mistakes can be avoided with careful branding and strategy.

LinkedIn continues to be a powerful tool for brands, B2B, B2C and nonprofits, as well as business leaders — and instead of LinkedIn mistakes your company can make LinkedIn a tool for driving your bottom line. Often, companies and nonprofits as well as business leaders approach us to partner with them on LinkedIn strategies and execution. But a few things need to be in place before we start.

When and How to Get Started With LinkedIn

Front Porch Marketing first looks at the brand architecture, target audiences, and competitive environment. For a LinkedIn strategy to be successful, there has to be a good marketing foundation. Therefore, if the branding and strategy isn’t right to begin with, we will not be able to help. We believe in being stewards of our Clients’ budgets and brands, so we consider a one-off LinkedIn initiative to be shooting money into the wind. And that LinkedIn mistake isn’t brand- or thought-leader building.

With that said, these are the five most common LinkedIn mistakes we are seeing companies make right now:

1. Brand pages reposting individuals’ content on its feed

Individuals should share brand content on their feed not the other way around. Content should lead back to the brand.

2. Brand pages posting once or maybe two times a month is a LinkedIn mistake

People cannot see the posts without regular consistency. Be consistent to create connections with your audience.

3. Brand pages only posting what is happening with the company

But what’s in it for your followers? To be truly successful on LinkedIn, provide value and insights no matter where they come from. It’s not what’s all about you you you.

4. Brand pages are not being social

LinkedIn members are commenting and liking your posts. Are you engaging them and doing the same in return? Talk to your followers and this will lead to insights that will inform future content.

5. Business leaders are not convicted about the network

They say that people are only trying to sell me things, or that social media is a waste of time. And the worst of all, *that* isn’t worth sharing. Your followers want to know more about your company, what it stands for, how it can help them, what it’s like to work there and more. LinkedIn is not a mistake — it’s a platform for engaging with your employees, your future employees, your peers and the larger business world.

Want to chat more about LinkedIn, and not make a LinkedIn mistake?

We are happy to do so, to help your company understand how LinkedIn can be a business-driving tool for their industry online. Let’s have a real conversation on the Porch.