What Does Emotional Intelligence Have to Do With Marketing?
Communication and emotional intelligence are intertwined in any professional relationship
In 2010, I had no idea that I was about to embark on a grand journey. Having just gotten into content marketing and learning as I went along, all kinds of new concepts were being thrown my way.
Needless to say, I found myself juggling a number of tasks while wearing lots of hats. I was tasked with not only writing digital content but also digging deep into the psychology of clients, readers, consumers, business owners, Internet trolls, and other marketing professionals – the list was endless.
Desires, pain points, problem-solving, objections, hopes, goals, consumer fears, persona documents, objections, solutions – all of these became part of my day, and while challenging, I relished the opportunity to help clients gain more customers and build their brands.
At the same time, I had to balance all of this by adhering to rigid guidelines set out by cold, unfeeling search engine algorithms that wanted things done a certain way in order to produce a specific result.
This caused me to examine patterns to see how I could make the content marketing process more efficient for myself and my clients. If I could find the secret sauce that bridged the gap between the human element and the digital, I could probably make life easier for everyone while increasing my productivity.
Clear communication is vital when working with a marketing agency
Communication is the Key
Looking back, I can say that over these past 13 years, throughout all of the changes in the digital marketing industry and the digital economy as a whole, the one thing that has remained constant is the need for open, honest, ongoing communication.
In fact, I would say now, as the owner of Charlotte Content Marketing, communication is my top priority whenever I engage with clients, prospects, and leads.
Consistent communication is the cornerstone of any great relationship, and without it, challenges are sure to happen.
This is true in any type of close relationship, and I look at the relationship between a marketing agency and a client as one of the closest out there. You are placing your company and its image into the hands of a third party.
For many business owners, this is their baby. I know when my wife and I had our son, handing him over to someone else, even a trusted friend or family member, kept us on edge. The same is true for your business. You place a lot of trust and faith in your marketing agency, and that’s why I emphasize communication with clients and between our agency and our creative professionals.
Life’s most valuable lessons often result from failure
Learning Through Failure
To demonstrate just how valuable communication is for things to go right, I refer back to an experience I had with failure. Many years ago, I was partnered through an agency with a client who developed point-of-sale software. In this capacity, I was working as a content writer to create landing page content as part of a PPC campaign.
From the outset, the agency partner was managing the client relationship. As such, I had no direct communication with the client beforehand. I was provided with a content brief and instructed to write landing pages for the software.
That’s it. There was no communication between myself and the developer, so I had no idea what the goal of the project was or how the landing pages worked with other content assets or a broader content strategy.
Without the right kind of communication, the pieces will never fit together
Communication Breakdown
As you can probably guess, this project failed spectacularly. Since there was no communication beforehand or during the creation of the landing pages, I didn’t know the client’s expectations, desires, fears, pain points – none of that.
I had a content brief, and that’s it.
I also had no idea about the hopes, fears, goals, or desires of the client’s customers.
Upon producing the deliverables, the client wasn’t satisfied and had a huge list of changes. We ended up going back and forth for a few days before the content was finally where the client was satisfied, but I felt like I wasn’t able to meet expectations, and this project still irks me.
Had we been able to communicate clearly from the outset, it’s very likely that the landing pages would have hit the target from the first draft. The client would have gotten what they were after faster and been able to start attracting customers more quickly.
What I learned from this, however, is that communication is the lifeline of a successful marketing relationship. If communication is not established from the outset of a relationship and then nurtured throughout, the relationship is destined to fail.
In this situation, stronger communication would have helped make the project run smoother, but emotional intelligence would have also been a valuable asset.
Emotional intelligence requires both your heart and your brain
Emotional Intelligence Promotes Healthy Communication
Emotional intelligence is at the heart of healthy communication. This is the kind of intelligence that has little to do with book smarts and everything to do with the human experience. Emotional intelligence is often defined as the ability to recognize your own emotions as well as how your emotions and subsequent actions affect those around you.
Emotions and their reactions can be used to influence others, either positively or negatively. Many business leaders place a strong focus on developing and nurturing emotional intelligence because of its benefits.
The National Library of Medicine has pointed to research suggesting higher emotional intelligence results in better relationships, and the book, “Emotional Intelligence,” by Daniel Coleman, even goes so far as to put forth the idea that emotional intelligence may be more valuable than intelligence itself.
Emotional intelligence can be the difference between a satisfied customer & struggling to attract leads
How We Use Emotional Intelligence in Content Marketing
I look at emotional intelligence as the ability to recognize how someone else feels so that a response can be drafted that matches the emotional value.
As a simple example of how this works, I recently had a call with a business owner who works in luxury home services. He lamented that it appears the economy is holding some homeowners back from making luxury home upgrades right now.
Emotional intelligence in this situation means recognizing the fears and hopes homeowners have right now. This understanding allows our content marketing agency to reframe the value proposition. Instead of purchasing a luxury home upgrade, making a purchase from this service provider increases the resale value of a home and makes it more attractive on the market.
I say this because:
A.) It’s true
B.) I know from research that many homeowners are torn between selling and staying at the moment.
If we can look deeper into the fears, desires, hopes, and pain points, we can find ways to position products and services to make them more attractive while solving emotional challenges. This is a win-win for homeowners and the service provider in this particular case.
When marketing, the emotional intelligence factor is a necessity if you want to find ways to position products and services in the best possible light regardless of external factors.
Attention, focus, and active listening are skills to develop for greater emotional intelligence
Steps You Can Take to Sharpen Emotional Intelligence
If you’re a business owner who wants to develop and sharpen emotional intelligence, below are some steps to take:
Pause to focus on what a customer is saying rather than what they are speaking
Practice active listening to get to the real meaning behind a conversation
Think before you speak, and don’t hesitate to take a moment to gather your thoughts
Consider how your response will affect the customer given the current circumstances
Take stock of your own emotions throughout the day to practice mindfulness
Never be afraid to say that you don’t know something, but always be ready to search for the answer
Developing emotional intelligence is a lifelong pursuit, so don’t expect to master it overnight. With practice, it becomes second nature, but don’t forget that practice makes perfect.
Emotional intelligence is at the heart of working with a digital marketing agency
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Circling back to communication, this is another area where emotional intelligence must come into play. At Charlotte Content Marketing, all of our client relationships begin with communication. Our initial consultations are a chance to get to know the needs of potential clients to make sure we’re all on the same page.
Clear, honest communication during this process allows our team to see whether or not things would be a good fit. If we don’t have that dialogue from the outset, we can’t deliver content marketing strategies that address pain points and achieve goals.
We also engage in ongoing communication that speaks to the hopes, goals, and fears of our clients. We use emotional intelligence to understand what needs to be done to achieve goals instead of just looking at spreadsheets. Data is data, and when used properly, it’s important; however, emotional intelligence and communication are just as important in getting to the heart of solving problems in digital marketing.
Let’s Have a Discussion – Contact Charlotte Content Marketing Today
If you want to know how we can put our experience and tools to use for your business in the Charlotte Metro region, contact Charlotte Content Marketing. Let’s have a chat about your customers’ needs and your goals. Call (704) 323-6762 today, or contact our digital marketing agency in Charlotte, NC, online using our contact form right now.
