Digital empathy: how to unlock brand relevance in a changing world

Thanksgiving always gives me a moment to pause and reflect. As retailers announced the first Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, I was reminded that communications is often focused on leading people down a marketing funnel. Sales and donations matter, but they can’t happen without a strong brand and reputation. In today’s world, this means that companies and organizations must speak up and take action on issues that matter to their stakeholders.

People might accept the titles ‘employee’, ‘customer’ or ‘partner’, but they want more. They want to be seen, heard and valued as human beings with changing interests and concerns. This reality calls for companies and organizations to show empathy across points of engagement. But the solution won’t be found in endless optimization. What companies and organizations need is a new approach for building relevance in a digital world. We call it digital empathy.

Digital empathy is a communications approach that uses digital technology to understand and respond to people’s values and priorities. It builds on transparency and authenticity to win trust. And it leverages shared content and experiences to fuel emotional connection. Companies and organizations can practice digital empathy by taking these four steps:

Step 1 – Listen

Listening is a commitment to seeing the world through the eyes of your stakeholders. It’s about gathering insights outside your company or organization so that you can understand the big picture and connect them with the small details. Start with digital listening to find out who is influencing the discourse and what they’re sharing. Analyze the issues that matter to your stakeholders. Then conduct interviews and surveys to explore the nuances of what people think, feel, say and do. When companies and organizations understand the landscape, they can avoid blind spots and proactively empathize with stakeholders. Listening, done continuously, unlocks much needed organizational agility and resilience.

Step 2 – Integrate

Integration is focused on laying the groundwork for a successful communications program. Begin by harmonizing communications objectives with organizational objectives. Then develop a narrative that explains the value you offer and how you benefit the world. We are now in the Decade of Action, so use the SDGs as a framework to showcase your care for people and the planet. Integration also calls for companies and organizations to revalue leaders and employees. Use digital learning to help your people master new skills. Make it easy and fun to share brand messages on social media. Companies and organizations that follow-up listening with integration are more likely to come across as approachable and human in an omnichannel environment.

Step 3 – Share

Sharing involves moving from user experience (UX) to human experience (HX). People don't want to be reduced to a cluster of data points. They want to be seen, heard and valued as human beings. Use videos, podcasts, shoppable content and augmented reality experiences to engage people’s emotions. Explore how blockchain, artificial intelligence and virtual beings can reward behavior. It’s also important for you to address the human experience beyond brand interactions. Nurture communities of trust through user-generated content and co-creation. Create a space where brands and people can develop reciprocal relationships that stay resilient in times of uncertainty and change.

Step 4 – Evaluate

Evaluation is a holistic approach to the measurement and evaluation of communications. Consider editorial content, public relations, digital, social media, partnerships and advertising. Use the Barcelona 3.0 Principles to create organizational value and drive positive outcomes. Then explore how predictive analytics can help you to adapt to evolving needs and issues. Evaluation also invites companies and organizations to cultivate a learning culture. Communicate shared goals and develop shared accountability. Empower your employees to run weekly experiments and fail forward. When companies and organizations combine empathy with data, they are well positioned to provide meaningful input for strategy.

The expectation for companies and organizations to show empathy across multiple points of engagement is growing rapidly. Those that ignore digital empathy are more likely to operate on false assumptions and alienate their stakeholders. Those that practice digital empathy are more likely to create emotional connections with the people they serve. Choose wisely. The reward of digital empathy will be nothing less than brand affinity and organizational agility.

How To Fight The Problem Of Digital Disinformation

We’re living in strange times and I’m not just talking about the pandemic. People are fabricating news. Bots are amplifying inaccurate content. And brands are becoming the target of false news and fake news. If you’re working with social media, how should you respond? My advice from the digital front lines is quickly. But that doesn’t mean you need to panic. Whether you’re dealing with misinformation or disinformation, realize that you don’t need to do everything at once. Here’s how you can prioritize your digital response.

Now – Be Reactive

Listen to what people are saying about your brand and pay attention to the issues they care about. Is your organization mentioned in a news story that lends credibility to a false narrative? Does your company feature in a conspiracy theory that’s gaining traction on social media? If a disinformation campaign threatens your brand’s ability to operate, then it’s time to put the communications team on alert. Develop a holding statement and respond to direct questions in a way that communicates empathy and action. Use tools like FotoForensics to evaluate where images may have been altered. Activate your dark site and create Q&A content with schema markups to help boost your SEO.

Next – Be Proactive

Social media abhors a vacuum so don’t let your brand’s voice get drowned out. Be honest and get in front of the story to create consensus around your position. If people are actively sharing brand disinformation, remember to point them to reliable sources of information. You’ll also want to consider running digital ads to get your messages out to as many people as possible. Of course, if your brand reputation has taken a hit, then your messages may be met with skepticism. Taking from the African proverb that says, “it takes a village to raise a child”, I’d like to submit that it takes a village to build trust. Have open discussions with your employees and equip them to tell your side of the story. Work with influencers and experts to spread your brand messages and counter disinformation.

Later – Be Predictive

Measure and evaluate the outcomes of your brand’s digital response. What was the impact of your communication efforts? What lessons did you learn? Use these insights to plan for the next crisis. Even better, tap into analytics to predict the next crisis. Combine data from social media, online news, search engines and surveys to understand how issues become crises. How have people responded to previous brand announcements? What are the gaps between your brand values and the issues people care about? What can you learn from similar crisis situations in your industry or sector? With the right assumptions, a predictive model can help you determine if a response is necessary and give you an idea of what aspects of an issue to focus on.

Responding to a misinformation or disinformation campaign can be daunting. Just remember, you don’t need to do everything at once. Stay calm and phase out your brand’s digital response. Be reactive, be proactive and then be predictive. You’ll help your brand regain control of the narrative and maybe even come out stronger at the end of it.