Empathy-Based Marketing

You have more channels, content, and technology to reach potential customers. But connecting and building trust with buyers has never been harder.

You know your audience needs what you have to offer, but your messages aren’t connecting.

You’ve tried everything: expert recommendations, best practices, the latest tools, and automation. But you’ve hit a plateau, and your results are falling short.

It feels frustrating.

So how can you connect and convert more customers?

The counter-intuitive answer: it’s empathy.

You need to go beyond rational-logic-based marketing to understand how your buyers feel.

The Neuroscience of Decision-Making

The well-known neuroscientist Antonio Damasio stated,

“We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.”

Damasio’s groundbreaking research, published in Descartes’ Error (1994) and validated in over 300 peer-reviewed studies, revealed:

Every human decision depends on emotion — every single one.

We make each choice somatically — we feel it in our body before the brain rationalizes it.

A 2023 meta-analysis by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett at Northeastern University (published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience) confirmed:

86% of purchase decisions are emotionally triggered, with logic serving only to justify the choice post-decision.

In sum: It’s about emotions. You must focus on emotional connection before conversion.

Why Empathy Matters in 2025

That’s why you need to understand your customer’s emotional motivators better — so you can know what buyers need at each step of their journey.

Empathy is more than a “soft” skill. It’s a potent, measurable tool to understand customer motivation and drive results.

Stop random acts of marketing. It sounds simple, but unfortunately, it’s not.

According to the CMO Council (2024 State of Marketing Report):

“Only 20% of marketers can predict the next best action for their customers.”

Forrester Consulting (2024 Emotional Marketing Study) found:

“65% of marketers struggle to employ emotional marketing as they turn to automation to improve customer engagement.”

A 2025 Gartner B2B Buyer Behavior Study (n=1,800) revealed:

71% of buyers say they feel ‘overwhelmed’ by marketing noise, and 89% prefer brands that ‘just get me’ — a direct measure of perceived empathy.

End the frustration of building one campaign after another, hoping something — anything — will work. You can stop that hamster wheel feeling of working harder and getting nowhere.

Empathy-Based Marketing Defined

Empathy-based marketing is about walking into your customer’s shoes to understand their experience and how you can better help them get what they want.

You don’t want to think like the customer. You want to BE the customer.

This means moving from marketing-centric to customer-centric thinking — speaking to their motivations, from their perspective.

Empathy-based marketing is grounded in the following ideas:

Empathize with your customer’s experience by going into their world to understand
Think like your clients when they set out to solve a problem and discover each step they may take
Look for ways you can help your customers make their lives better
Provide customers with what they want by understanding what motivates them
Help clients identify and solve problems
Give customers content and expertise that helps them get clarity
Empower employees who directly touch customers with the resources, training, and tools to help them

Real-World Leaders in Empathy

Slack — the fastest-growing startup in history — embeds empathy in its core values. In a 2023 HBR interview, CEO Stewart Butterfield stated:

“It’s very difficult to design something for someone if you have no empathy.”

IBM, now the world’s largest design-led company, runs empathy boot camps for 380,000 employees. Former CMO Doug Brown said:

“The need for empathy towards the buyer is huge. It’s a differentiator.”

A 2024 McKinsey & Company report on empathy in business (surveying 10,000 global executives) found:

Companies scoring in the top quartile for empathy grew revenue 2x faster than low-empathy peers. Emotional connection outperformed price in 73% of purchase decisions.

Ways to Apply Empathy Today

1. Put Your Customers First

Your customers aren’t saying, “We need solutions.” They’re saying, “We need to solve a problem.”

What would happen if you focused on helping them do just that?

You can’t answer “How can I help?” unless you know precisely what your customers want.

Instead of trying to sound appealing, be interested in them.

Understand their motivation (what they want) and ensure it’s something you can deliver.

The root word of emotion and motivation is the same — movere (Latin: to move).

Dr. Paul Zak, neuroeconomist and author of Trust Factor (2017), found:

Buyers base 95% of actions on feelings, then backfill with logic.

That’s why you must go beyond the product and speak to the results and emotions the buyer seeks.

2. Listen and Observe to Map Buyer Motivation

Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand — they listen with the intent to reply.

Empathetic listening means using your “third ear” — hearing the implied assumptions and motivations behind what’s said.

This is deeper than active listening.

Empathetic understanding is not the product of survey data. Too many marketers rely on polls or focus groups — but that’s not enough.

You need to get out of the building and observe your customer’s world.

Here’s how:

Marketers: Join sales on customer visits
Listen to recorded sales/SDR calls (eye-opening)
Survey your email list to validate observations
Use empathy maps

Dr. Brené Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, defines empathy as:

“Feeling with people — not just for them.”

A 2024 Journal of Marketing Research study (n=1,500 B2B calls) found:

Empathetic listening increased close rates by 28% Reps who paused 2–3 seconds after questions got 35% deeper responses

3. Develop (Digital) Conversations, Not Campaigns

Focus on conversations, not campaigns.

Don’t push your agenda. Extend an invitation to talk.

To the customer, it should feel like:

“Maybe they can help me get what I want” Not: “Somebody wants something from me”

Do this: Invite → Listen → Converse → Recommend/Help

Use empathy maps and personas to guide conversations.

Free Empathy Articles:

Why Empathy in Marketing Is More Important Than Everything Else: Why Empathy in Marketing Is More Important Than Everything Else – markempai.com

Empathy in Marketing Is Important: Why Empathy in Marketing Is Important – markempai.com

Why Empathy in Marketing Matters More Than Ever: An Evidence-Based Guide: Why Empathy in Marketing Matters More Than Ever: An Evidence-Based Guide – markempai.com

The Importance of Empathy in Marketing: The Importance of Empathy in Marketing: A Three-Part Series – markempai.com

Developing an Empathetic Marketing Strategy: A Framework for Authentic Connection: Developing an Empathetic Marketing Strategy: A Framework for Authentic Connection – markempai.com

4. The Best Marketing (and Selling) Is Helping

Our marketing and lead nurturing are anchored on this idea.

We sense when someone’s pushing. We know when we’re being treated as objects to convert.

But we recognize when someone sincerely cares.

Marketing isn’t something you do to people — it’s something you do with people.

Ask yourself:

Would I want a friend or loved one treated this way?

Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of Influence (1984), updated in 2021:

Helping without expectation builds reciprocity 400% stronger than transactional asks.

Read:

Why Empathy in Marketing Matters More Than Ever: An Evidence-Based Guide: Why Empathy in Marketing Matters More Than Ever: An Evidence-Based Guide – markempai.com
The Importance of Empathy in Marketing: The Importance of Empathy in Marketing: A Three-Part Series – markempai.com
Developing an Empathetic Marketing Strategy: A Framework for Authentic Connection: Developing an Empathetic Marketing Strategy: A Framework for Authentic Connection – markempai.com

5. Give Potential Customers Useful Content They Want

Useful content emerges organically from steps 1–4.

But most content today lacks empathetic context — it’s just noise.

We’ve become publishing machines, creating content for content’s sake.

A friend said:

“The enemy of content marketing is content marketing.”

Your customers don’t need more content. They need useful, customer-centric content that helps them change.

don’t say “content.” say:

“Terrific ebook”
“Helpful blog post”
“Useful white paper”
“Excellent video”

Content Marketing Institute (2025):

87% of buyers say ‘usefulness’ is the #1 factor in trusting a brand Only 12% trust brands that publish frequently but shallowly

6. Proximity Is Influence

Empower those closest to the customer:

Sales
SDRs
Inside sales
Customer service

We form opinions about companies based on interactions with people.

Dave Gerhardt (ex-Drift, now Privy) shared:

“Our CEO called and said, ‘Let’s get rid of forms.’ We were treating people like leads — not people.”

When you give value without expectation, you build connection → trust.

Dr. Paul Zak’s oxytocin research (2023):

Acts of unprompted help increase trust hormones by 47% Trust = 50% of purchase intent in B2B

7. Practice Empathy Personally to Set an Example

Be the change you want to see.

Empathy starts inside your company — with you and your team.

Who needs empathy?

Your customers
Your colleagues

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (2024):

Emotions are contagious — positive empathy spreads 3x faster than negativity High-empathy teams close 20% more deals

Practical Example: A/B Email Test (MarketingExperiments, 2023)

Control (Sales Speak):

“Complete your application now to secure your spot.”

Treatment (Empathetic):

“We noticed you started the form — no pressure. If you’re stuck or have questions, just reply. We’re here to help.”

Result:

Control: 1.5% response
Treatment: 7% response
+349% lead inquiries

Journal of Consumer Research (2024):

Empathy-driven messaging increased purchase intent by 25% Activated brain reward centers → 18% higher recall

FAQ: Empathetic Marketing

Why is empathy critically important in modern marketing?

Empathy enables brands to connect with customers on a deeper human level, building authentic trust, loyalty, and advocacy. Extensive research confirms it directly drives higher sales conversion and increased customer lifetime value across industries and markets.

How does emotional intelligence tangibly improve marketing outcomes?

Emotionally intelligent marketing consistently results in higher engagement, stronger loyalty, and increased sales. Campaigns that evoke genuine emotional responses are consistently twice as effective as those relying solely on rational content and logical appeals.

How does consumer psychology influence modern marketing strategy?

Consumer psychology helps marketers understand the emotional and cognitive processes behind decision-making, enabling them to tailor messages, design experiences, and develop campaigns that resonate emotionally while driving measurable business results.

How can small businesses implement empathetic marketing with limited resources?

Small businesses often have a natural advantage in empathetic marketing through their direct customer relationships and organizational agility. Focus on gathering qualitative feedback, training customer-facing staff on empathetic communication, and prioritizing authentic connection over polished production values.

Closing Thoughts

This isn’t touchy-feely. It’s economic.

If we emotionally connect and give customers what they want, we create a lasting competitive advantage — more sales, ROI, and revenue.

“Empathy is the most powerful force in B2B marketing.” — Alan Cohen, Chief Commercial Officer, Illumio

IDEO’s Empathy on the Edge (2024):

“When organizations allow a deep emotional understanding of people’s needs to inspire them — they unlock the creative capacity for innovation.”

It starts with your empathy:

Move from company-centric (“How do I get what I want?”)
To customer-centric (“How do I help them get what they want?”)

The best marketing and selling feels like helping — because it is.