Brave Mouse Digital has recently connected with London’s leading leadership coaching firm and whilst it was a fantastic opportunity for us to engage with such reputable client, carrying out the research on Emotional Intelligence for social media content, really did provoke some thinking.
After establishing a deeper understanding what the EQ actually meant and the competencies involved in it, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management, we asked ourselves a question:
Could there be a link between digital marketing and Emotional Intelligence?
Let’s see.
It takes an emotionally aware person to write great content in order to genuinely connect with people. Social media are all about people and their experiences so being socially aware and having the ability to inspire others whilst using social media channels, is what differentiate an average social media manager from a great one. You want to trigger their thinking, making them feel and as a result, act.
By showing real emotions, having a personal touch and being able to appeal to your audience, is what will turn your audience into brand advocates as it’s definitely not just about the product.
Studies show that people are far more interested in the emotional side of the brand and the story behind it, than the product itself. Do you recall John Lewis Christmas ads? Year after year they nail their ESP (Emotional Selling Point), and as a result, we all somehow feel a bit …well, emotional and rush to the shops to get Edgar the Dragon.
A Yale University study explored ‘Emotional Intelligence and Social Interaction’ and found a positive correlation between the ability to manage emotions effectively and the quality of social interactions emotionally intelligent people are capable of.
Digital marketers can use this information to build relationships with customers both online and offline.
Positive emotions are associated with sociability and as a result, digital marketers with higher EQ will no doubt, do better than the ones with higher IQ.
According to Daniel Goleman, a scientist and EQ specialist, emotional intelligence is twice more important than IQ at any given job.
You can have the knowledge and be technically savvy but if you cannot connect with your audience on an emotional level, you are very unlikely to deliver top results.
Interestingly enough, recruiting firms in the digital industry value those “soft” skills higher than the technical ones these days. Why? The latter one can be easily improved and within a short period of time, whilst building up your own emotional intelligence levels require a lot of self-development, practice and control.
Thought provoking content, empathy and understanding of human feelings across digital activities is what connects psychology with digital marketing.
Marketing is created by people and aimed at people. The challenge is how well those two interact with each other as learning about them (your clients), their needs and on-line behaviour combined with the ability to serve them with content they will be able to relate to is what makes a digital marketer emotionally intelligent.
Brave Mouse