Why Using Empathy is Great for PR

PR is a way for your business to show that it understands its audience, and what its customers want from the business or product.

If you think empathically when writing your company’s press releases, you are more likely to make a genuine connection with your audience.

People have become jaded with a hard-sell approach, and are more likely to respond positively if they feel that they are understood, and their needs are catered for.

Reasons why PR needs to use empathy

• It builds better communication with customers. By being empathetic to customers, you can understand how to speak to them and what their needs are.
• Using empathy in your PR strategy can boost your brand identity. When developing a PR strategy, if you can put yourself in the client’s shoes, you can target your brand’s image so that it ties in with your customer’s values.
• Having a better understanding of your customer means you can write better content. If you really understand your customers, and what they want, this means your press releases, blogs and social media campaigns will have more impact, and reach the desired audience. Most business writing is short on empathy and instead is packed full of facts, figures and graphs. If you think about what your customers need, and write with empathy, you are more likely to write engaging content that your customers will enjoy reading.
• Customers will be loyal to your brand if they believe that you understand them. If customers think your company cares about their needs, they will have more brand loyalty. Consumers can recognise that a business understands their point of view, and will be more likely to have a favourable view of the company if they feel respected and understood.
• It enables you to see that there can be two sides to a story. If customers are unhappy with something that your business has done, you need to be objective to communicate with them. Instead of just sticking to your company’s viewpoint, think about how your customer feels. Empathy allows your business to stay open-minded, which is invaluable if you have to improve your brand’s reputation.

How to use empathy in your PR content.

To produce content that shows that you have empathy for your market, think about your audience before you develop your content strategy. Don’t overstuff your press releases with sales talk; write content that expresses how your company cares for its customers' needs.

Define what empathy looks like in your company. Do you want to be viewed as being authentic, or is being ethical your focus. Determine what metrics you want to track. This could be customer complaints or comments on social media.  Use tools such as surveys and studies to measure customer or staff satisfaction.

If you can show genuine empathy, and really understand your customers, it will help you stand out from your competitors. Using empathy will allow you to connect with more people and be seen as a trustworthy business.

There is no question; empathy is great for PR.