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How deep is your love? PR is all about the feels

PR is all about the feels; ultimately, it’s about engaging hearts as well as minds.

Charlotte Nichols, founder and managing director of PR, social media and content marketing agency Harvey & Hugo, explains why she and her team are always attuned to the role emotions play in marketing.

At Harvey & Hugo, our aim is to build lovable and memorable brands, one story at a time.

Because the very best campaigns make an audience feel something – you just need to turn on your TV over the festive period to see all the competitive heartstring-pulling.

So, with this being the most romantic day of the year, let’s take a deeper look at why your brand needs to give audiences all the feels.

The Way You Make Me Feel

Every single touchpoint your audience has with your brand will affect their emotions – which will ultimately have consequences for their purchasing decisions.

That’s why, at Harvey & Hugo, we always tell clients that everything they do is PR; it’s not just the press releases they distribute or their social media feed.

Your PR is your logo, your tagline, the video you made, the business card you handed out – every single one of these made the audience feel something, however fleeting it may have been.

Your people are also your PR: how every member of your team acts, how they answer the telephone, how they look, what they wear, their body language and what they say all goes towards forming that impression – and creating those emotions.

So, like it or not, your customers add to their subconscious feelings about your brand after every touchpoint, meaning you have to be on point at all times.

Otherwise, while your product may be the best on the market, if your customer service is lacking, you’re still going to be making audiences feel bad – and that will turn them off.

Little Things

Just like in human relationships, it’s the little things that make all the difference when it comes to building something more long term.

For example, while one well-received and successful press release can create immediate attention, evoke emotion and generate an initial sales boost, it’s not necessarily the key to a long-term relationship.

For that, you need the small daily touchpoints to keep you at the forefront of your audience’s mind, such as the follow-up email, the special offer, and the engaging and entertaining daily social content.

More Than Words

Of course, all this is easier said than done – especially when your primary focus is, as it should be, your day job of running a business.

But while you may think you’re not doing any PR or marketing, you are; you are telling your story in small ways every day and consumers are reading it, so if you get it right at this stage, it’ll become second nature.

A good place to start is by creating a brand story – what is it that you want people to feel? This part is so often overlooked, in a perfect illustration of trying to run before you can walk.

Next, you need to figure out how best to tell it – this is your strategy. This roadmap considers your target audience and their behaviours, as well as establishing which of the marketing tools at your disposal will be best to reach them.

And now you need to tell your story, little by little, every day.

Whether that’s through the big, formal means such as a press release (although these shouldn’t be too frequent) or how you answer the phone and respond on social media, it all adds up.

Too often, people think this side of their services is inconsequential or a ‘nice to have’, and just want to skip straight to sales. However, elements such as this form your brand’s emotional foundation – so, once you’ve got this right, it will make your sales team much happier (and busier) in the long run.

You Can’t Hurry Love

Phil Collins was right – you just have to wait.

Building a lovable brand doesn’t happen overnight, and certainly not if you want it to last.

Once the first flush of romance has worn off, you need to make sure there’s enough common ground to sustain a long-term relationship – and you need to make sure you’re right for each other.

That’s why it’s important to always check with your significant other to see how they’re feeling; would they like fewer emails? Have their circumstances changed? Do they still feel the same way?

If you’d like us to fix you up with some PR and marketing tips for your brand, throw us a bone on 01325 486666 or email info@harveyandhugo.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harvey & Hugo .