I recently stumbled upon a great example of the importance of empathy in content marketing. Consequently, I’m writing this left-handed with my right hand slathered in a baking soda paste and resting next to a bowl of milk.
I became the happy recipient of half a peck of peppers a few days ago. Tonight, those peppers were on the chopping block. After seeding, stuffing, and placing them in the oven, I realized my hand felt funny. Then not so funny. I had capsaicin oil burns on my knuckles.
And what are we trained to do we do in case of medical emergency? Call 911. Google it.
Every search result buried the answer I needed.
My search provided site after site of answers. Thank goodness! Except…they all buried the lede. I was desperately searching for relief for my burning hand, and I had to scroll past each blogger’s personal burn story. Or a list of what pepper types cause burns. Or a scientific explanation of how capsaicin interacts with the skin.
Where is the empathy? My first search was “blister on hand from hot peppers.” If that search doesn’t merit a first sentence lede, I don’t know what does. The information I needed was simple: put your hand in a bowl of cold milk. Most of the articles I read didn’t mention that fact. And the articles that did had it way at the bottom.
If capsaicin burns were my area of expertise, I would write an article that starts like this:
Do you have blisters on your hands from hot peppers? Put your hand in a bowl of cold milk; it’s the number one way to get relief from hot pepper burns. Now that your hand isn’t burning, let’s talk about the science of capsaicin oil burns and what you can do to avoid them in the future.
Does your content marketing show empathy for your audience?
As much as you want them to get to the end of your content piece, is it worth dragging them along while you bury the information they’re seeking? Are you answering their question in a manner (and in a timeframe) that actually helps? Does your content marketing show empathy?
Ann Handley in Everybody Writes says it this way:
“Content created merely to further a search engine ranking is a waste of time and effort. What matters now is creating useful content that solves customer problems, shoulders their burdens, eases their pain, enriches their lives.” (Emphasis mine.)
As you’re creating your next piece of content, ask yourself: does this content ease my audience’s pain? If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board. Rearrange your outline. Call a client and ask them about their painful experiences. Then try again.
And for the record, I recommend the milk rather than the baking soda paste.
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Originally published October 29, 2019; updated April 27, 2021.
