With so many messages, how can a brand reach consumers and genuinely bond with them? Facts and information used to be the most prominent tools for PR specialists and finding the most suitable channels to disseminate them meant a big step for a successful strategy. But gone are those days, as PR is changing and adapting to the new trends, and constantly looking for disruptive strategies.
What is the change this year? The focus shifted on emotions, as the ultimate differentiator between brands.
Everything is about consumers. PR professionals have already mastered the skill of understanding the consumer’s needs and the channels they use when they look for content to interact with. But that skill must evolve and give them a sharper perception and increase their empathy.
Psychologists said that when confronted with sensory information, our brain can process information in one-fifth of the time it takes the cognitive part. Did PR specialists have lived in the dark? Not exactly, just the various communication channels and platforms have expanded the borders.
Scientific discoveries also play a great role in this evolution as more and more scientists have studied the brain and had breakthrough findings. Are you curious to find out one example? We’ll share it, either way – mirror neurons. Thanks to them, humans developed the capacity to be empathic, while today, understanding how they work is a wonderful opportunity for the communication professionals to create better and more persuasive messages. Mirror neurons activate when a person sees another one doing an action. Take, for example, lifting a glass of water, playing basketball, or eating ice cream. In each of these situations, the mirror neurons will trigger in the observer’s brain similar motor skills. Don’t you feel sometimes tired after watching a game?
- What emotions do you want to send? – which are the emotions people experience on a daily basis? Happiness, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, and surprise are the most common. It is obvious that not all of them will make the best PR strategy, so creating content that emphasizes positive feelings will offer brands better opportunities to interact with their target audience.
Entertained and happy consumers share more posts and generate better overall engagement with brands’ content. Betting on fear and sadness is not something we recommend as a healthy strategy.
- Emotions humanize a brand –have you ever wondered if consumers look at your brand as a provider, or do they give it a series of human traits and picture it as a human being?
In fact, consumers create mental representations of brands as human beings. That’s why a PR strategy that will generate emotions will improve your brand’s image and will create a more positive perception.
How to achieve that? Try promoting your employees so consumers can see who is behind their favorite products or services.
- The old, most effective tool, the storytelling –Stories are the most compelling approach to create emotions. Brands must tell stories consumers can relate with, that inspire them, that follow their dreams, that connect them.
Over 70% of consumers’ brand loyalty is based on emotional factors. Nowadays, brands need to invest more resources and creativity in finding new ways to appeal to their audience to keep consumers connected. Markets are more competitive, new products and services emerge, while digital environment multiplies communication opportunities.
Never forget – a good story will always be the best way to build an authentic relationship with your audience.
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