Emotional intelligence (EQ) is how we measure an individual’s ability to navigate their own and others’ emotional landscapes. As a marketer, EQ plays a vital role in developing strong relationships with leads and customers by giving you the ability to empathise with them. Without the ability to understand a lead or client’s emotions, your marketing is likely to miss the mark.
Let’s explore the different ways you can raise your EQ so you can be a more effective marketer.
Five ways to raise your marketing EQ
Shama Hyder, the Founder and CEO of Zen Media and contributor to American business magazine Inc, shares five tips you can take advantage of to improve your marketing EQ, with some advice focused specifically on digital marketing:
- Start with self-awareness – What value are you adding to the lives of your leads and customers? If you can't answer this question, this is the first thing you need to address. You can get a better idea of this by assessing what your unique offerings are, and how people respond to the content you post online, whether it's blog posts, videos or social media posts.
- Employ social listening on a consistent basis – Use social listening tools such as Hootsuite and HubSpot to track the perception of your brand online. This is particularly important for assessing the response to targeted content and campaigns. For example, did an Instagram post go down really well with your audience, or did it create a backlash for being insensitive or controversial?
- Be truthful and authentic – People are incredibly savvy when it comes to marketing messages. If your brand is sharing a message that is out of line with its beliefs, or you jump on a trend that is mismatched with your audience, there could be a lot of negative feedback.
- Remember you’re talking to humans, not “followers” or “fans” – While it may be tempting to post impersonal, hastily crafted messages to your online channels if you're busy, remember that your audience is made up of real people. If you wouldn't communicate the same way to them in real life, then don't communicate that way to them online.
- If you receive negative feedback or complaints, or if you realise you've made a serious mistake, take responsibility in a thoughtful and timely manner – Emotionally intelligent people and brands understand that they make mistakes and will take the time to respond to the negative feedback and apologise if necessary. Don't respond hastily when tensions are high; Rather take a moment to gather yourself, and then re-engage.
Take your marketing efforts to the next level with EQ
Emotional intelligence is a critical part of an effective marketing strategy. To learn more about how you can take advantage of it, take a look at our ebook Connecting With Your Leads Using EQ: Understanding the Critical Role of Emotional Intelligence in Marketing.
GCL Direct are an international B2B telemarketing and lead generation agency with over 29 years of experience. We've worked with many clients, including IBM, KPMG, Adobe and Volvo. Our agency understands the importance of EQ, which is why our telemarketing service is unscripted and available in a language that is relevant to your region. If you’d like to know more about this or any of our other services, contact us today.
