Brand Listening vs. Brand Shouting
When we talk about "branding" in Marketing, what are we REALLY saying? After all, most marketing conversations still start with the same question:
“What do we want to say?”
I guess it’s a reasonable question. But it’s also the wrong place to begin.
In a world overflowing with content, opinions, positioning statements, and AI-generated brand voices, the brands that feel most trustworthy aren’t just talking more. They’re listening better.
But a focus on listening also takes away something as humans we desire almost beyond anything else...CONTROL.
In Marketing, we still think we can control the market. Control our clients. Persuade people to make decisions. Agitate people's pain until they choose us (I'll never understand why people buy into that one).
But in our attempts to control the narrative, we miss critical information that can only be collected through listening.
So today, let's look at what Authentic Brand Listening looks like...and it's a heck of a lot more than that "social listening dashboard" you might have 😉
Defining “Listening”
As mentioned above, brand listening has often been sold as social listening tools, survey data (that you didn't have to collect yourself), and we're even getting as fancy as sentiment dashboards. All very cool technology, BUT...
All of them OUTSOURCE the listening.
You as a brand representative, don't have to do any of that. You take all your eggs (your business relationships) and put them into someone else's basket. And you hope that they carry them responsably.
That's not what we're talking about today. What we're talking about today is 1) CHOOSING to listen, and 2) practicing that discipline in an on-going way.
For our purposes, let's define listening as, "the practice of paying attention to what’s emerging, ESPECIALLY when it challenges your assumptions.
Listening means noticing:
the hesitation in a buyer’s voice
the questions that keep repeating in different words
the friction between what you say and how people respond
the things people don’t say because they don’t trust you enough (yet)
Listening requires presence, not performance. And that’s where most brands struggle, because team members aren't given enough TIME to be present. We have so many tasks to do that we deprioritize listening to the customer; who, at the end of the day, is all that really matters.
So, if we want to shift back into better listening, how can we do that?
Measure Relationships
Branding, as it’s commonly practiced, is about consistency: voice guidelines, tone rules, visual systems, approved language. And all of those things are actually pretty easy to measure.
Relationships? Not so much.
Because in order to measure them, you REALLY have to pay attention.
And you have to pay attention to FEELINGS, and not just data.
Marketing has become overwhelmed by "data-driven marketers". Some of which spend so much of their time collecting data they can't even possibly understand it all. And when we're looking at volume, we end up in logic.
But when we're tapped into feelings, we get re-connected to the rest of our bodies (not just our brains), and there's TONS of information there as well.
And while that might NOT end up on a dashboard of any kind.
It DOES directly contribute to building relationships with prospects and customers.
And if that's not what marketing is here to do, what are we here for?
Seek Connection
When marketing feels stuck, the default response is often: “We need to say this louder.”
Or: "We need to say this in more places."
More, more, more. Always more.
But when we get caught up in MORE, we lose something. And that something is a critical component in building relationships...
Connection.
If we don't feel connected, we DON'T have a relationship.
And honestly, calling social media "connections" connections, is a reach, isn't it?
I mean, how connected do we really feel to those people?
Now sure, when you're seling huge volumes of stuff, it becomes impossible to connect with every single customer in a meaningful way.
But if the processes you have in place prioritize that, including customer listening, how your team shows up to serve is different.
Listening shifts the question from “How do we get noticed?” to “What actually matters right now to our customers?”
I'd say one of those feels infinitely more connected than the other one💡
After all, connection is driven by relevance. And relevance isn’t created by volume. It’s created by RESONANCE; which only shows up when you’re willing to pay attention long enough to recognize it.
Be Prepared for Misalignment
Here’s the part no one really talks about: Listening often exposes things you’d rather not see.
It highlights:
gaps between intention and impact
messages that sound good internally but land flat externally
offers that made sense once but no longer fit
Branding can smooth those edges. Listening sharpens them.
It can feel like a deep cut. But, the first cut is the deepest.
The more you listen, the less risky it feels. And the less risk you have to carry forward as well ;)
It forces choice. It forces change. It forces honesty.
Because avoiding the misalignments don't actually protect your brand. It quietly turns your brand into a prison; an echo chamber. And the connection we already talked about? Zip.
Listening in the Age of AI
We’re entering a moment where AI can help pretty much anyone generate “good enough” marketing. Language is no longer scarce. Templates are everywhere.
What can’t be automated is human attention.
Listening — real listening — is the work that can’t be outsourced. It requires curiosity, humility, and the willingness to be changed by what you hear.
Brands that listen don’t sound perfect. Because reflecting back what a human says sounds innately...human.
And the experience that another human has of being heard? They don't get it from AI.
So, if we're really talking about differentiation, why not invest in what, in today's market at least, seems to be the most valuable differentiator there is?
At The End Of The Day...
The acto of branding becomes a problem when there's no listening involved. Because at that point. all of your efforts are only about yourself, and not solving your customers problems.
And I hear day after day that marketing efforts continue to feel more promotional, more difficul AND less effective than they used to, yet we continue to do MORE of what we've always done.
At this point in history, the answer may not be getting louder — but a deeper pause.
So here’s a reflection to sit with:
If your brand went quiet for 30 days, what would you learn that you’re currently too busy broadcasting to notice?
If that question feels uncomfortable, it’s probably pointing at the work worth doing 😉
Oh, and btw, I almost ALWAYS start with this exercise with my clients. It's a great way to see what's working (if anything), and reset...if you're willing to accept the invitation 💖
If your LOUD marketing practices aren't doing it for you, let's connect. More listening might be just what you need 🎉
