Conversion Optimization through Empathy: Storytelling in Content Marketing

Understanding the customer, empathizing with them, telling stories about your own product that evoke emotion in the customer—none of these are new ideas. However, it is an approach that is often underestimated or even completely overlooked. Too much focus is placed on one's own company, one's own product or service, the USPs, and other advantages, and in the worst case, self-promotion. But it can be done differently—and quite successfully at that.

Storytelling in Marketing

Touch the reader, evoke feelings and reactions that favor a purchase. Emotions such as relief that an urgent problem can finally be solved, ideally more easily and cheaply than expected. Or joy, feeling understood, pride. All these reactions are certainly well-known from advertising: the deodorant or aftershave that makes the most attractive women chase a man, the car that one (or woman) loves to show off. There are many examples.

However, negative emotions can also contribute to conversion optimization. The classic example: The advertisement that paints scenarios that could happen if a certain product is not purchased (for example, the limescale washing machine or the sweat stains under the arm). Whether you want to use the practice of "fear-induced" advertising is surely a question of company message and personal morality. Both paths are effective if they are pursued based on genuine customer understanding.

How Does it Work in Content Marketing?

At its core, it's about showing the reader of the content that they are understood with their own needs and that these are addressed in a way that appeals to them.

To ensure this, it is important to know some basic characteristics of your target audience and ultimately engage with them. Potential customers should get to know the company, feel positive emotions like sympathy and trust, and of course, ultimately purchase the company's products or services with a good feeling.

The "Empathy Map" as a Tool

A good tool for customer understanding is the so-called "Empathy Map," which could be awkwardly translated as "Empathy Card." This instrument, developed by David Gray, allows you to effectively simplify the very complex people behind your target audience and crystallize the most important characteristics.

Empathy means putting yourself in the customers' shoes, identifying with their feelings, empathizing with them. For this purpose, imaginary customers (from a certain customer segment) are often assigned names and certain demographic traits. The second step is to answer specific questions about this customer, which can be expanded endlessly. Some examples:

• What do they think about the world and why?

• Which problems especially trouble them, for which your company can provide a solution?

• In what situation do they use the product or service? What do they see, hear, feel?

• What do they hope to gain from the product or service?

• Which terms do they use particularly often? Which terms resonate with them?

A template for an "Empathy Map" with more detailed instructions is available for download from Copyblogger.

What Does This Mean for Storytelling and Conversion Optimization?

"Storytelling" is an effective, albeit comparatively labor-intensive, method of presenting information in a way that stands out from the flood of information, appeals to its readers, and evokes emotions in them. Often, one's own story is used for this (“I was in the same situation as you, so I understand you and can help you solve your problems!”), but this is neither always necessary nor suitable for larger companies.

Key components of a good story always include a goal, a hero who is pursuing it, a challenge, and a tool that helps achieve that goal, as well as a message or moral. This works best, like in good novels when readers can identify with the main character, understand their motives and their situation.
In this case, the tool is also crucial, as this is where the company and its product or service come into play. Depending on how the target audience is addressed, it acts as a mentor, teacher, or good friend who stands by the potential customer and helps solve their own problems. And of course, this is easier than if the customer, the hero, had to go it alone.

For this scenario to succeed and lead to a purchase, the target audience must identify with the problem described, must be able to understand the conflict or starting situation. Which difficulties and content are suitable for this can only be revealed through research combined with empathy for the target group and their needs. And the story ultimately needs, besides well-researched information, especially one thing: creativity and imagination to captivate the readers, inspire them about the company, and ultimately turn them into customers and fans.

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