{"id":12468,"date":"2019-07-22T11:04:01","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T11:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?p=12468"},"modified":"2019-07-22T14:40:59","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T14:40:59","slug":"less-talk-more-listen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/less-talk-more-listen","title":{"rendered":"Less talk, more listen"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve seen it all before. Brands have thrown everything at their marketing initiatives in the hopes that something sticks with a specific group because it’s the new hip idea. (Can we stop the inauthentic influencer marketing already?)<\/span><\/h2>\n

While we’ve spent many years focusing on the next cool thing, we’ve completely moved away from the whole idea of brand marketing itself – to be rooted in purpose and story to build authentic connections with consumers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Authentic storytelling with consumers is a necessity – it needs to be rooted in everything that a brand does. There is a clear trend in effective storytelling and increasing a brand’s profit and resonance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent research study by Sprout Social, \u201c<\/span>Creating Connection: What Consumer Want From Brands in a Divided Society,<\/span><\/a>\u201d found that consumers want brands to take a stand and be rooted in their beliefs to drive connection: “to bring people together around social and political issues, more than two thirds (67%) of consumers believe brands should raise awareness around those issues on their social platforms.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Implications of not listening to your audience<\/b><\/h3>\n

The reality of it all is that you can\u2019t effectively tell a story without listening to your audience. Where brands fail is they don\u2019t understand the nuances, fringe, or overarching themes of their community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to understand the consensus just as much as the fringe. To effectively tell a story, brands must:<\/span><\/p>\n