Nonprofit Workshop: From Connections to Contributions

Posted on April 18, 2025 - 6:03 pm by Heather DeVine

Heather DeVine of Transcend Ideas is happy to partner with The Community Foundation of Teton Valley this year and announces Pocket Talk: “From Connections to Contributions,” in-person workshop Wednesday, May 7th, 12-1 PM.

Join this free in-person workshop, we hope you’ll find it informative and an inspiring discussion. Heather will share helpful storytelling tips and available resources that you can use now as you prepare to inspire, engage, and motivate donors to actively participate in the Giving Period ahead of the Community Foundation of Teton Valley’s 18th Annual Tin Cup Challenge.

“Now more than ever, our non-profits need our support… there is an evident shift in funding priorities and spending hesitancy is on the rise. Despite the hurdles of today’s economic climate, there is a surge of energy surrounding the support of non-profit organizations that impact the community. I’m delighted to be a part of this philanthropic energy ahead of this year’s Tin Cup Challenge and can’t wait to ignite more with attendees of the Pocket Talk: “From Connections to Contributions on May 7th!”
Heather DeVine

Build Connection with Community

Nonprofits should consider the following when building a connection with community members and donors:

Authentic approach to storytelling with supportive graphics and videos to keep it dynamic and expand your reach
Identify your theme to wrap your “ask” around (ie. anniversary, impact/program focus, expansion)
State your case – tell the donors what/whom you are impacting and why it’s important
Set specific fundraising goals & give them voice to your donors
Identify donors: ask for an increase in the amount they donated last year
Pledge card – commitment made, making it tangible and real for both the org and the donor
Offer donation increments that will impact your org and the community
Highlight the important programs these non-profits do (maybe the ones that are not as well known, or at the forefront of the org). These could be small and simple.
- Some examples include:
  - Hole Food Rescue (HFR) in partnership with Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling (ISWR): during the Tuesday Food for the Community Event at the Grove, put on by HFR, ISWR provides free residential composting for anyone who brings their food waste to the event. It’s a small but really cool way that 2 orgs come together to help with food distribution and food waste in the community. I also don’t know if a ton of people know about this.
  - The Animal Adoption Center (AAC): Highlighting the Spay and Neuter events that they do in nearby Reservation communities. Yes, they adopt out cats and dogs, but they’re also helping the bigger picture by providing necessary care to communities that do not have access to such things readily available.
  - Teton Valley Community Recycling (TVCR): I feel a lot of people in the community know about Pierre’s Pedal Project (PPP), but they may not know that kids can go in and get free bikes, or that adults can buy bikes for cheap- creating a sustainable way to commute to work or just an affordable and accessible way to get outside.
Be strategic with your messaging – use multiple platforms, outlets to share your story (e.g. social media, newsletter, mailer, direct email, formalize letter, paid advertising, peer-to-peer campaigns – a personalized ask, yard signs)

“It really comes down to how we work together to support local nonprofits in our community. Year after year, the Community Foundation of Teton Valley works with local businesses, individuals, and volunteers, developing and nurturing a culture of giving that empowers local nonprofits that provide critical services to the people in the valley. Now more than ever, our non-profits need our support. With this new administration, there is an evident shift in funding priorities and spending hesitancy is on the rise.” Heather adds, “Despite the hurdles of today’s economic climate, there is a surge of energy surrounding the support of non-profit organizations that impact the community. I’m delighted to be a part of this philanthropic energy ahead of this year’s Tin Cup Challenge and can’t wait to ignite more with attendees of the Pocket Talk: “From Connections to Contributions on May 7th!”

Small Business & Tariffs: Navigating Economic Changes

Posted on April 15, 2025 - 11:53 am by Heather DeVine

As we move further into 2025, recent changes to tariffs on imported goods are beginning to impact businesses of all sizes across the country. At Transcend Ideas, we believe staying informed helps our community make better decisions.

Understanding the Landscape

The interconnectedness of our global economy means changes in trade policy have ripple effects throughout supply chains. While the full impact of these tariffs—ranging from 10% to over 50% on various imported goods—is still emerging, we’re already seeing different responses across the business spectrum.

“Large retailers with significant purchasing power (like Walmart) can often negotiate with foreign suppliers for discounts to offset tariff costs. However, small businesses typically lack this leverage, potentially facing more immediate challenges in maintaining their pricing structures,”
from an NPR story linked here.

Wide-Ranging Effects

It’s important to understand that these economic shifts will affect virtually all businesses—not just those directly importing or selling foreign goods. Service-based businesses like Transcend Ideas will also experience impacts, though on different timelines and in different ways. As our clients adapt to changing economic conditions, their marketing and branding needs may evolve or even take a backseat. Rising costs in one sector inevitably influence spending patterns and priorities across the entire business ecosystem.

Why This Matters

We share this information not to raise alarm but to encourage awareness. Economic shifts like these highlight why supporting small businesses in your community matters more than ever. Local businesses are the backbone of our economies, providing unique products, personalized service, and keeping dollars circulating within our communities.

Moving Forward Together

During periods of economic adjustment, small businesses demonstrate remarkable resilience and creativity. Many find innovative ways to adapt their sourcing, streamline operations, or enhance their value proposition beyond just price.

As consumers, our choices have power. By intentionally supporting small businesses—whether through direct purchases, positive reviews, or sharing their stories—we help maintain the diverse, vibrant business ecosystem that makes our communities special.

Let’s stay informed, shop local when possible, and remember that small businesses thrive when communities show up for our local small businesses.

If These Fonts Could Talk

Posted on June 11, 2024 - 11:09 pm by Heather DeVine

Fonts tell us a lot about a brand, and there is much to discuss about them. We like to think that fonts have their own personalities, and they make a big difference in how consumers communicate with a brand. We could go on for a while, but we’ll try not to get too nerdy. We’re font fanatics here at Transcend Ideas.

Typography vs Fonts

Let’s start by clarifying the difference between typography and fonts. Typography is the art of arranging type to facilitate effective communication. While typography encompasses everything related to text, we are focusing on fonts in this discussion.

Font Vocabulary

To discuss fonts, it’s helpful to understand some of the important terminology you might hear surrounding fonts.

Typefaces: The visual designs that give characters their distinct style.

Fonts: The digital files that allow typefaces to be displayed on screens and in print. (Typefaces are what you see and fonts are what you use)

Weight: Refers to the overall thickness of the strokes in a typeface within a specific font. (ie. bold or regular)

Style: Regular, italic, oblique, and small caps are all examples of styles that can exist within a single typeface.

Font Family: If we consider a typeface to be the core design, then the different weights and styles could be said to be instances of that design, and together they form a family (or type family, or font family).

Definitions source via Google fonts. Learn more typography-related terms here.

Serifs vs Sans Serif

A serif is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol. Fonts are either serif fonts or sans serif fonts, with “sans” meaning “without” these strokes. For example, Times New Roman is a serif font, and Arial is a sans serif font. This text in particular is a sans serif font.

Typically, serif fonts make for an easier reading experience and work well in body text, especially at smaller sizes. Sans serif fonts tend to work well on signage where there is minimal text. However, there are exceptions, and serif and sans serif fonts can be paired within the same document to create a harmonious look.

Primary & Secondary Fonts

When selecting fonts for your brand, you should choose a primary typeface that reflects your overall brand identity. You should also select a secondary font that complements the primary font and helps create supportive documents. Sometimes, contrast is effective with a thicker primary font and a thinner secondary font or a serif paired with a sans serif. Other times, more subtle differences between the primary and secondary fonts can work well.

The Use of the Font

Consider the purpose of the font when choosing one. Is it for a logo, a newsletter, a graphic, or a flyer? Font use will vary depending on the content you are creating. For example, the controversial font Comic Sans tends to work well within a classroom setting, but using it for a funeral program would be deemed inappropriate.

Tone of the Font

The choice of font can come down to the tone you want to convey. How do you want to present your brand to your audience? A lot depends on the taste of the organization itself. For example, a bank will likely have different fonts than a flower shop. Is it important for your brand to be approachable? Formal and informative? Quirky and cool?

Accessibility

Another important aspect of fonts and typography is considering accessibility. Some fonts can be more difficult to read for individuals with intellectual differences and physical disabilities. Clarity, size, and contrast are crucial details to consider. In general, you want your fonts to be easy to read both up close and from a distance. Learn more about accessible design here. When we design inclusively, we widen our audience and extend the reach of potential customers.

Choosing the Right Font for Your Brand

Fonts significantly influence how customers and viewers perceive your brand. A poor font choice can lead to embarrassing consequences. Many problematic fonts are overused—looking at you, Papyrus. With a bit of knowledge and careful observation, you can avoid these mistakes. A carefully selected font can make an immeasurable impact on your brand’s perception. Finding the right font takes time, knowledge, and experience. Often, it also requires some typography work from a graphic designer to make it truly shine.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

We get it, there’s an overload of information out there on fonts and so many to choose from. Take a deep breath and reach out to us to help with your design. There is a difference between a designer’s perspective and a client’s perspective. With clear communication between the two, the perfect font is out there waiting to be put to use.

📧Email Marketing with Subject Lines that work

Posted on May 28, 2024 - 2:15 pm by Heather DeVine

What stands out to you in your inbox?

Email marketing with subject lines that work will help draw in readers to increase open rate and click rate. The first things the recipients see is the Subject Line and the Preview Text, it’s true.

You’ve probably hear it a million times when you run a business, the most valuable lead you have for your business is through email addresses. If you can get into their inbox you are in the door, so to speak. When you are in the inbox, you are occupying their mind. They may not even open up the email but that first impression of your brand is in the Subject Line and in the Preview text of the e-mail. Those impression mean so much and can potentially motivate an open. Once you have them open your e-mail that’s the next step into peaking their interest. What is it that you want to share?

Could you be promoting a sale you are running?
Hoping to inspire them?
Share an event coming up?
Maybe you are asking them questions (like I am right now) to evoke thought.
Perhaps you are giving them some tips or tricks they can use themselves.

Emojis draw eyes to the text 👀

It’s true, emojis help bring up the inbox feed. Use emojis that draw attention and stay relatable to what you are writing about. I use getemoji.com if I’m formulating my emails via desktop so it’s easier to access the library.

E-mail Marketing Formula that works 🧪

Use a template that matches your brand. Don’t obsess over the fonts here (trust me, I will in another blog) but for emails, it’s not necessary. Fonts vary based on email client by the way. What you don’t want to do is use images only. Images only means you message is not coming through at all for all audiences. If you strive to be accessible to all users, keep your text dynamic and utilize alternative tags for all images. You want your text to be dynamic and clickable. Your header font and button font should be a color that stands out and matches your brand colors.

The most helpful emails have a summary of what they are about to read. Then following that, topics with photos/graphics, a brief summary of that particular topic and a CTA (call-to-action) bringing them to a landing page to read more/sign-up/buy now, etc. Simple formula for success we think.

The best way to tell if your emails are truly effective is reviewing the metrics like: open rate (the average industry open rate is 37.72% in April 2024) and click rate (the average industry click rate is 2%).*

Testing

Utilize the A/B Testing setting to check out the click map to see what performs the best.
Mailchimp shares some common ways to use A/B tests to improve your marketing:**

What day of the week gets better open rates?
Does a subject line with an incentive or a teaser work best?
Does including your company name in your subject line increase engagement?
Is it better to use your name as the From name, or your company’s name?
Does the time of day an email is sent affect the click rate?
Are subscribed contacts more likely to click a linked image or linked text?
Do subscribed contacts prefer an email that contains a GIF or one with static images?

Don’t take unsubscribes personally. Watching unsubscriber activity might seem like a bad thing but it’s actually doing you the favor of narrowing down your audience. You want your audience to stick around to learn more about you and your offerings. If they aren’t engaging with your content they may not have the time or desire to read what you put so much time into. Focus on the audience who engages with you and experiment on what works.

Email marketing with subject lines that work:

Try different phrasing, or sales offers, or emoji to see what gets the most attention. A/B Testing is the best way to measure success here. Try different days of the week and times to increase open rates.

See samples of the subject lines that draw attention to your readers:

🍕Eat Pizza, Support the ARTS 🎨
Preview text: Join us tonight at Hand Fire Pizza 5-8 pm

👀READ 📧Email Marketing with Subject Lines that work
Preview text: Increase your open and click rate with a formula that works

🌿Grow your Garden ⚠️ without Invasive Plants
Preview text: Learn what native plants you can grow in your garden

💎Handcrafted GIFT Ideas: 💖Valentines Day
Preview text: Use Coupon code: VDAY24 for a 10% off discount

*Constant Contact: Average Open Rate – April 2024
**Mailchimp: A/B Testing

Was this helpful? Read another blog post we wrote about “Leverage the Power of Email Marketing”

Transcend Ideas Emails

😉A little plug of our own here: I like to provide our readers, clients and public information they can take and run with. Me and my team are collectors of information and if we think it’s helpful we will share it.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Building Awareness with Marketing

Posted on March 22, 2024 - 9:00 am by Heather DeVine

The most effective marketing campaign is one that builds awareness on issues. They can evoke a thought, a pause, a consideration, an emotion, an action, a changed behavior, and at times all of those things over time. Learn how you can start building awareness with marketing. There are many tactics to make an awareness campaigns stick, here are some great examples:

In summary that this blog post covers:

Catch Phrase
Evoke Emotion with Bold Imagery/Design
Consistency
Educate and Inform
Influencers
Normalize Issues

1. Catch Phrase

A successful catch phrase will stick with the audience. Something short and sweet and easier to remember is key.

“Only you can prevent forest fires” from Smokey the Bear to build the awareness around what you can do to prevent forest fires.

What makes a catch phrase work:

Short and easy to remember/recall
Direct
Actionable (clear call-to-action)

**“Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires”** – Smokie the Bear

2. Evoke Emotion with Bold Imagery/ Design

When your audience evokes an emotion it leaves a lasting mark on their heart. Shock and abrupt imagery does get your attention and discomfort comes up.

When imagery stands out and colors are bold, that’s a great ingredient to a memorable campaign.

The plastic straws (single-use plastic) campaign
Quit cigarette smoking
Gun reform in America

**“Plastic Straw Problem”** – Green Peace

“Every cigarette rots you from the inside out.” – Search ‘ Smokefree’ for free quitting support

3. Consistency

Consistent is key. When you see and hear this message consistently it stays with you. You can even recall the slogan years later – that’s good and effective marketing tactic.

“This is your brain. (egg)

This is drugs. (frying pan)

This is your brain on drugs.” (fried egg in the pan)

**“This is your brain on drugs”** – Partnership for a Drug-Free America

4. Educate & Inform

When you offer up education to the public you are empowering them with information so they can discover what they need to do or not to do based on this new information. When a campaign lays out the desired behavior and the reason why it’s important to change it – that’s an effect campaign.

PlayCleanGo – Clean off your gear, clothes, dog to help the spread of invasive species
No Poop Fairy – Clean up after your dog and directly impact our waterways

**PlayCleanGo** – What are invasive species?

5. Influencers

The very definition of “influencers” are those that influence others. Many public figures (singers, actors, television personalities) know their influence on others and want to use their persuasion to promote campaigns they care about.

This is no difference today with influencers you see promoting products on social media. You may also see them share their opinion on social issues like reproductive rights, the climate crisis, etc. Building awareness with marketing is what they think about full-time in how they present themselves, how they talk, and the products they promote.

**“Don’t listen to rumors about AIDS. Get the facts!”** – American Red Cross

Logic’s song “1-800-273-8255” the Suicide Prevention hotline with a story about suicide ideation and asking for the help they need

6. Normalize Issues

Over the years there are many issues that are being normalized to lift stigma. When discussions are brought to the surface that many face in our society they begin to breakdown and remove the shame and stigma surrounding them. More than ever before examples of this happening now more than ever before;

Mental health
Pronouns (she/her | him/his | they/them)
Gender Identity – education of what it is and is not
Suicide Prevention
Body positivity
Race
Abortion
Sexual assault

@waltermasterson
Pronouns
♬ original sound – Walter Masterson

Womxn Life Freedom campaign

This was a privilege to work on this campaign. The women in Iran are rising up and protesting all the country and the world. This campaign is meant to build awareness of the fight for freedom of women, including those that identify as women.

Ask yourself “What would I like to evoke in my next campaign?” Consider pulling in inspiration from past campaigns that have been effective, perhaps you have a personal experience with them yourself, look into campaigns that align with your brand or have some similar audiences. I personally like working with Pinterest to pull in inspiration.

Do you need help building awareness with marketing? Contact Transcend Ideas to learn how we can help you build awareness around your messaging!

Meet Meredith Runkle Olson, Copywriter

Posted on September 7, 2023 - 2:58 pm by Heather DeVine

Meet Meredith Runkle Olson, who has joined the Transcend Ideas team offering her copywriting skills. Meredith helps amplify our client’s messaging through thorough research and thoughtful and relatable writing. She shared a bit about herself in this Q and A so you may get to know Meredith in her own words.

Meet Meredith Runkle Olson, Copywriter

1. Where do you hail from? Where do you live now? And how did you come to be there?

I was raised in Maryland but I moved out west for undergrad at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mt. I absolutely love mountain sports and the pace of life here so I doubt that I’ll ever move away! I currently live in Jackson and have called it home for seven years.

2. What do you like to do for fun?

Hiking, trail running, biking, any type of water sport, volleyball and soccer.

3. What do you do in your role with Transcend Ideas? Do you like knowing your work helps others? And what areas are you most passionate about?

I am currently a copywriter. I’ll do anything from blogs to social media posts to editing. When I know that my work helps others it makes me want to work even harder. I’m passionate about conservation, the environment, social justice, finances, history, and public policy. I’m the nerd who goes to museums on vacation!

Meredith Runkle Olson

4. What are you grateful for? Big or small?

Jesus, my husband, our baby girl, Helen, the state of Wyoming, family, friends, and the amazing public lands here in the U.S. (There’s so much more but I’ll leave it at that)

5. Do you have any office mates? Animals? Partners?

My favorite office mate is my seven month old baby, Helen 😉 I’m currently a stay at home mom (the best job ever!) and I work part time as a copywriter. My husband works in town and tries to come home on lunch breaks so that all three of us get some quality time together. No doggos, although Helen LOVES animals.

“When I know that my work helps others it makes me want to work even harder.”
Meredith RUnkle Olson

6. What are you looking forward to this Summer?

I’m trying to train for a big trail run in the grand canyon so I’m looking forward to running in the Tetons or the National Forest this summer. Ooo, I can’t forget the people’s market, grass volleyball in May park, and outdoor concerts. There are just so many things in Jackson! No matter what I do, I love to show Helen my favorite spots and activities. My pace of life has dramatically changed since having a baby but I’m learning to love every day and be thankful for the little things.

Image of Meredith Runkle Olson in the Tetons. — Meredith in the Tetons

7. Do you have advice to a business or organization that wants to connect with their community and customers these days?

It’s simple, ask the people what they want.

8. For whom do you feel responsible?

I feel the desire to raise Helen and other children we have, in a healthy way. I want them to love nature, eat healthy, stay active, love others, serve those in need, and learn how to be mentally tough. Plus, I definitely feel responsible for the environment. At the rate that the whole world is going, our future generations won’t experience what we do. I want to help our communities focus on sustainable practices in every realm of life. I also want my children to understand finances. Most people my age were never taught how to avoid debt, wisely invest, budget, live frugally, and think about life in the long term. I want to change that for my family. Most Americans have out of control spending habits and I refuse to be a part of that.

9. What are you hopeful for this year?

I want to fully embrace being a great mom! It’s such an important role. I can pursue other things later in life but I can never get back this precious time with my baby. That being said, I still want to be active and show Helen how my hobbies and passions are important to me.

10. What are you proud of right now? Could be a personal accomplishment, big or small.

My husband and I are debt-free (besides a mortgage), I did all 42 miles of the Teton Crest Trail in a single day, and even though I decided not to go this route, I studied hard and got into law school with a great scholarship, and I created life.

Dear Canva, I LOVE you!

Posted on July 6, 2023 - 11:07 am by Heather DeVine

A quick geek out over Canva!

This is a geek out blog post about Canva. If you haven’t guessed, I love the platform and what they provide businesses. Their platform continues to amaze me and what you can do with it. How may I count the ways.. I love you, Canva!

SVG Magic in Branding Your Business

DeLacy Tea Company – SVG rosehips

Let’s begin with SVGs, which stands for: Scalable Vector Graphics.
This handy-dandy format allows for your vector files to be colorized before your eyes. That’s right. Exactly how you can pull an element from Canva and change out a color to your liking? I recently designed something for Mariel’s DeLacy Tea Company. Delacy Tea Company wanted to utilize the rosehips element on different tea labels. Each label needing to be a different color, so making a couple of elements she can then colorize in Canva was huge! An important tip for Illustrator/vector designers: make sure the vector is completely closed so the element can be colorized effectively in Canva. For this sample of their rosehips (right), I had the lines in the leaves transparent and not white so that the rosy color or any color of their choosing can stand out on a contrasting background.

There are some smaller businesses that need to be able to “play” with their logo and with this versatility it allows for a business owner to take it upon themselves to make necessary changes on their own.

From now on, when I package my client’s graphics and hand them over, SVGs will be on that checklist of elements that are an absolute must. Exporting elements for your clients that can be the most useful allows them to move freely in their brand without constraints. All too often clients have shared stories where they are left hopeless with ownership over their own logo files, domain names, hosting for their website, access to their social media platforms, etc. All forthcoming topics I will happily share in our blog.

Some Canva templates provided for marketing campaigns:

Bravo goes back to Canva, an Australia-women owned business. Canva has revolutionized graphic design for so many ambitious dreamers. Now design is accessible to anyone that wants to build a business with the help of their design platform. I couldn’t be more excited to recommend them to anyone who works in design or wants to dabble in it.

Canva Custom Template Offerings

Original price was: $837.00.Current price is: $669.60.

Non-Profit – Custom Canva Templates to Match Your Brand
Original price was: $930.00.Current price is: $837.00.

Custom Canva Templates to Match Your Brand

Forbes: Empathy Is the Most Important Leadership Skill

Posted on July 1, 2023 - 11:24 am by Heather DeVine

Empathy Is the Most Important Leadership Skill

I knew Empathy was a trait that helped better more relationships in all aspects of life. I’ve seen the difference it makes in mine. When the pandemic hit in 2020-21 I felt disconnection and I needed a periodic check-in with my team. A “how are you?” rather than diving right into work stuff became critical. I personally wanted my colleagues to care about me as I cared for them and their well-being.

Forbes recognizes the positive impact of empathy on innovation and retention. Studies show that empathetic leaders create engaged and productive teams. By considering others’ thoughts and feelings, leaders can connect on a deeper level, foster trust, and inspire empathy in return. This leads to a more compassionate and successful work environment.

“Leaders don’t have to be experts in mental health in order to demonstrate they care and are paying attention. It’s enough to check in, ask questions and take cues from the employee about how much they want to share.”
Forbes article on Leading with Empathy by Tracy Brower, PhD.*

Stress is a pervasive state and data suggests it is an affect by the pandemic and the ways our lives have been turned upside down.*

Empathy by the Numbers

42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health
- 67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted, 53% of people are sad, 50% are irritable, 28% are having trouble concentrating, 20% are taking longer to finish tasks, 15% are having trouble thinking and 20% are challenging to juggle their responsibilities
61% of employees reported with empathy leaders were able to be innovative, compared to 13% of employees with less empathic leaders
76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged, compared to 32% who experienced less empathy
57% of white women and 62% of women of color said they were unlikely to think of leaving their companies when they felt their life circumstances were respected and valued by their companies

As a leader in the community I know how important it is to engage in empathy. From the receiving end it feels good to be seen and heard. On a Board of Directors we engage in similar behavior with a check-in before we begin to discuss anything on the agenda. If any of us are feeling low or drained, the camera doesn’t need to be on when we meet virtually and if they need to leave early we honor that with understanding and compassion for one another.

**Listen to a two part Podcast on How Empathy Can Bridge Connection**

Empathy Fosters More Empathy

I’m a cheerleader for empathy marketing. When we engage with our audience in a way that they need and want, you are likely to be more engaged with us.

It’s clear that empathy should be a trait intertwined with leadership. It starts with caring about your team, and your community.

Cognitive empathy – Consider someone elses’ thoughts (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be thinking right now?”)

Emotional empathy – Consider someone elses’ feelings (“Being in his/her position would make me feel ___”)

Empathy is the most important leadership skill because it enables leaders to connect with their team members on a deeper level. Strong leaders understand and share the feelings and perspectives of their employees. They can make more informed decisions and create a supportive work environment. By demonstrating empathy, leaders foster trust, enhance collaboration, and inspire loyalty among their team. Ultimately, this drives higher levels of productivity and success.

Empathy fosters more empathy.

Master CTA’s (Call to Actions) with Empathy Marketing

Posted on April 20, 2023 - 2:34 pm by Heather DeVine

How can you master CTA’s (Call to Actions) with empathy marketing? What are CTAs you ask?

It’s the acronym for call-to-action, like:

Donate Now

Learn More

Buy Now

… and so on!

CTA is giving the audience direction and an actionable to take

When we market to our audience we are looking to add value and we are asking them to engage with us with curiosity. With my approach to empathy marketing I empathize with my audience and where they are. Here are some things to think about when you are generating your content and your CTAs when you write a newsletter, blog post, or a social media post.

When using empathy marketing, ask these questions:

What does the consumer feel?
What is the consumer facing right now?
How can we connect as a business?

Our content can shape the relationship

Our content can shape the relationship we have with our consumers. We use tone and personality and the consumer then responds to it. It’s important to:

stay relavant, stay informed (webinars, workshops, networking events, speak to your audience)
humanize your business
ask questions (use surveys – this will eliminate assumptions)
answer questions (use real Q&A here to share with the community)
share how you can help meet a need – *** Keep your content digestable info, bullet points will help led the reader, if they are curious about more they can contact you (DM or E-mail)
use clean graphics and nice photography to help compliment your message – this anchors those topics into your website and your social media feed
try an A/B testing to see what’s the most effective approach – look at the data and compare and try it again, see if it still works

Consider These Shifted Verbal Cues to Master CTA’s (Call to Actions) with Empathy Marketing:

Let’s Try Something New

Say YES!

Let’s Get Curious

Join the Conversation

Share Your Story

Are you interested to learn more?

let’s get coffee

How Empathy can Bridge Connection

Posted on April 15, 2023 - 9:05 pm by Heather DeVine

Listen to my interview with Kaeyy Noella on her The Love Talk Wall podcast. I introduce her to “empathy marketing” and how I show up with Transcend Ideas. I introduce (in Part 2) how “empathy” makes up the key ingredient of People Spread Love.

How Empathy can Bridge Connection

Part 1: Empathy marketing can be a powerful tool for small businesses looking to build stronger relationships with their customers and differentiate themselves from competitors. By putting the needs and emotions of customers first, small businesses can create a more loyal customer base and drive long-term growth.

“Empathy” is a key component to how I show up in many places in my life. I recognize human connection is what we all strive for in this life. When we feel heard and understood we can profoundly connect.

“The Clubhouse app helped me find my voice.” I jumped on the app with curiosity and met these strong women entrepreneurs. They encouraged me to step into Transcend Ideas. And I’m eternally grateful for their strength in their belief in me. And made me believe in myself.

Part 2: My audio cut off as I began introducing the brand. I continued the introduction of People Spread Love in Part 2. I introduce People Spread Love and my journey starting a movement in 2015. First, with becoming a 501c3 non-profit organization. The organization empowers community members to write notes of love to those facing adversity all over the country and world. This brings us back full circle to the power of empathy and how it can facilitate human connection.

Kaeyy asked me about self-love and I told her a story about how I recently fractured my knee skiing. I touched on how grateful I am, even more so after getting hurt.

Listen to Part 1 & 2 of the podcast interview and let’s connect!

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