Empathy Mapping in Marketing

Marketing is no longer just about pitching products—it’s about building deep connections with consumers by understanding their needs, emotions, and motivations. One of the most powerful tools for achieving this level of understanding is empathy mapping.

This practice helps businesses gain insight into their audience’s cognitive and emotional experiences, offering a framework that supports the creation of customer-centric products and services. Empathy mapping is particularly vital when marketing life-stage products and services—those key milestones in life like buying a home, traveling, choosing senior care, or indulging in personal passions such as hobbies.

Understanding how emotions shape decisions at these critical life stages enables brands to tailor their messaging, products, and services to resonate deeply with their audience.

What is Empathy Mapping?

At its core, empathy mapping is a simple but effective way of visualizing what customers are going through at every touchpoint of their interaction with a brand. Created by UX professionals to better design digital experiences, empathy mapping is now widely used across industries to tap into customers’ needs and desires.

An empathy map is divided into several sections, usually including:

• What the customer sees: What do they encounter in their environment? What are competitors offering?
• What the customer hears: What influences them? What advice or feedback are they getting from family, friends, and colleagues?
• What the customer thinks and feels: What emotional responses do they have when interacting with your product? Are they frustrated, happy, anxious?
• What the customer says and does: What actions are they taking? How do they express their feelings about the product?

By capturing these aspects, marketers can create a customer profile that not only reflects what the customer is doing but also why they are doing it.

As Wally Olins, a pioneer in brand strategy, once remarked, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.” Empathy mapping helps marketers uncover the emotional and relational factors behind consumer decisions, which can be the key to creating compelling, emotionally-driven stories for their brand.

Life-Stage Products and Services: The Emotional Context

Different life stages come with unique emotional landscapes. Whether someone is buying their first home, embarking on a new travel adventure, or selecting senior care options for a loved one, the emotional drivers behind these decisions are as varied as they are significant. Understanding these emotions is critical for marketing success.

Travel: Experiences and Aspirations

For many people, travel is not just about visiting new places but about fulfilling aspirations, exploring passions, or marking life milestones. Emotions such as excitement, anxiety, or curiosity often accompany travel decisions. By empathy mapping a customer journey in the context of travel, companies can address specific emotional touchpoints.

For example, a family planning a vacation might be excited by the prospect of adventure but anxious about logistics or safety. An empathy map would reveal that the “See” quadrant could include images of happy, relaxed families in beautiful destinations, while the “Hear” quadrant might reflect conversations around budget constraints or travel advisories. The “Think and Feel” section would capture the desire for a stress-free, memorable experience. What they say and do might involve discussing travel with friends or looking for travel blogs and reviews.

Understanding this helps travel companies position their services as solutions that alleviate these worries, offering convenient packages or travel insurance that caters to the emotional needs of the customer. As Donald Miller, author of Building a StoryBrand, puts it: “When customers feel heard, they also feel valued.” For travel brands, understanding and addressing these emotions is crucial to creating trust.

Home Buying: Stability, Security, and Identity

Buying a home is often one of the most significant decisions people make, laden with both excitement and anxiety. Empathy mapping helps marketers tap into the emotional rollercoaster that customers experience during the home-buying process.

In the “See” quadrant, a home buyer may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options—listings, agents, loans—while the “Hear” section could capture the advice (or pressure) from family and friends. What they think and feel might center around concerns about financial security, a sense of pride, or a need for stability. Finally, What they say and do could involve hours spent on real estate websites or attending open houses.

Empathy mapping allows real estate agents and home finance companies to speak directly to these emotions. Marketing strategies can focus on security, long-term stability, and personal growth. A brand that showcases how its services can ease the process and create emotional security will naturally appeal to buyers. As Seth Godin notes in This is Marketing, “People don’t buy products—they buy the promise of a better version of themselves.”

Senior Care: Compassion, Safety, and Trust

Marketing senior care services requires a delicate understanding of emotions—both those of the seniors themselves and their families. Empathy mapping in this context would capture the complex feelings that accompany this life stage. In the “See” section, customers may be bombarded by medical brochures, care options, or even unsettling statistics about aging. What they hear could be family discussions filled with concern or recommendations from healthcare providers. What they think and feel is often a mix of anxiety about aging or loss of independence, and the desire for compassionate care. What they say and do might involve comparing different senior care facilities or seeking advice from others in a similar situation.

By understanding these emotional drivers, marketers can create campaigns that address both the practical needs and emotional comfort required at this life stage. Showing empathy and building trust through emotional resonance can differentiate senior care brands from competitors. As Phil Barden describes in Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy, “Emotions are not the enemy of reason; they are its foundation. Understanding the emotional ‘why’ behind decisions is key to marketing success.”

Hobbies and Passions: Fulfillment and Identity

Marketing to consumers’ hobbies, whether photography, cooking, or sports, taps into a deeply personal space. These products and services often reflect the individual’s identity or aspirations. For many, hobbies are a source of pride, self-expression, and fulfillment, and empathy mapping can help brands understand the emotional highs and lows of pursuing a passion.

For instance, in the context of professional photography, the “See” quadrant might include high-quality images from industry leaders, while What they hear could involve feedback from peers or discussions in online communities. What they think and feel might center around the joy of creation or frustration when they cannot achieve the desired results. What they say and do would include purchasing new gear, seeking tutorials, or sharing their work on social media.

Understanding these emotional needs allows brands to offer products that enhance the user’s passion, not just technically but emotionally. David Aaker, a branding expert, emphasizes in Building Strong Brands that “strong brands have strong stories.” By mapping out the emotional journey of passionate consumers, marketers can offer more than just tools—they can offer a means of personal fulfillment.

Expert Voices on Emotional Resonance

Leading thinkers in marketing, from Seth Godin to Donald Miller, emphasize the importance of connecting with consumers on an emotional level. As Wiemer Snijders, in Eat Your Greens, reminds us, “Consumers are people with their own narratives, struggles, and desires. Empathy is about understanding these stories and aligning your brand with them.”

Empathy mapping is more than a trendy tool—it’s a vital practice that bridges the gap between businesses and the emotional states of their customers. By creating a structured approach to emotional understanding, brands can offer more tailored, human-centered products and services.

Why Empathy Mapping Matters in Life-Stage Marketing

As businesses continue to prioritize empathy in marketing, they will not only create more meaningful connections with their customers but also foster loyalty, trust, and long-term relationships. The future of marketing, especially for life-stage products, will depend on brands’ ability to deeply understand and respond to the emotional journeys of their audience. As Seth Godin aptly said, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but the stories you tell”—and empathy mapping is the key to telling the right story.