Pat Timmons: Empathy in Social Media Marketing

What does empathetic marketing even look like in today’s digital age, where everything seems to be done over email or social media? And what are some principles to help marketers embrace and turn it into action? Today’s guest, social media marketer Pat Timmons, wrote a great book called Feel Something: How to Embrace Empathy and Build Trust with Your Audience. As a frontline marketer, Pat has learned a lot about how to leverage social media to create strong customer relationships.

Today we talk about what empathy marketing is and some of the principles highlighted in the book. We also discuss how to leverage social media to cultivate empathy and why frontline marketers have a responsibility to be empathetic in their work. He’ll give us examples of brands that are marketing with empathy - and why empathy is vital beyond the sale in the  post-purchase experience - something marketers often forget about. 

Key Takeaways:

• Be constantly curious about your audience and listen in full, saying “Yes! 100%.”
• You can tell the emotions of your clients by the style of memes that are being posted. Listen to what your customers are saying, and how they are saying it, and utilize that in your own posts. 
• You can’t just stop once you get the money. They’ve made a commitment to you, now you need to continue your commitment to them. 

"The only way you can really market to someone that will make them feel something is to feel what they're feeling. The way you can do that is by being curious about them, and really leaning into that." —  Pat Timmons

About Pat Timmons:

Pat Timmons, Social Media Expert and Author

Pat Timmons is a social media marketer with experience in tech, the music business, advertising, and PR. His journey in marketing began at Emerson College with his major in marketing communications and entrepreneurial studies. Since starting and finishing at Emerson, Pat has had roles in all forms of marketing and is a “swiss-army knife” in the discipline, working for companies such as Webflow, Chartmetric, and Drift.

While marketing is a strong passion for Pat, so is getting to know people and understand why people do things. Ever since he could remember, he has been constantly curious and relentlessly empathetic. Pat is the author of Feel Something: How to Embrace Empathy and Build Trust With Your Audience.

Connect with Pat Timmons:  

Website: https://www.feelsomething.co

Book: https://www.feelsomething.co/book

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattimmons/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pattimmons_

Don’t forget to download your free guide! Discover The 5 Business Benefits of Empathy: http://red-slice.com/business-benefits-empathy

Connect with Maria: 

Get the podcast and book: TheEmpathyEdge.com

Learn more about Maria’s brand strategy work and books: Red-Slice.com

Hire Maria to speak at your next event: Red-Slice.com/Speaker-Maria-Ross

Take my LinkedIn Learning Course! Leading with Empathy

LinkedIn: Maria Ross

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