media update’s Talisa Jansen van Rensburg takes a look at why being empathic as a PR professional is so important to achieve success for all parties involved.
What is empathy exactly?“Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling,” according to
Greater Good Magazine.
So, having empathy in the PR industry would mean that you are able to understand what your clients, and even their consumers, are going through. By better understanding
their concerns, you will be able to dive into those concerns, resolve it and, ultimately, deliver excellent customer service.
Here are three reasons why PR pros need to focus on being empathic:
1. Empathy improves communication with clients
PR pros need to be empathic towards their clients to be able to better understand and communicate with them. By being empathetic towards current or potential clients, you will be able to comprehend how the client feels when a crisis has struck its reputation.
For example, if one of your potential clients got a bad rep due to a campaign or advert not going the right way, they might sit with the issue that other PR companies may be hesitant to work with them.
However, with the power of empathy, you would be able to understand what the brand has gone through and assist them with rebuilding their reputation. This leaves you with a new client and new doors opening to exciting opportunities for you as a communications specialist.
Additionally, once news spreads about how you were able to fix a brand’s seemingly ‘unfixable’ reputation, you’ll be able to build on your own and expand your services to a wider range of potential clients.
2. Empathy allows you to see both sides of a story
PR pros are specialists when it comes to communication, and in order to be
great communicators, they
need to be objective. For example, they can’t be biased when it comes to writing press releases and social media posts for clients or when they’re talking at a press conference.
By having empathy and being objective, the PR pro is able to see both sides of a story when a client’s brand has done wrong. This is because, instead of just talking about the brand’s side of the story, you will also be able to see how that specific issue made consumers
feel.
By seeing the consumer’s side in a PR crisis you’ll be able to come up with the right words to say in your presser. This is because you’ll be able to all parties sides that are involved and remain unbiased to the situation, allowing you to (
hopefully) rectify the situation with a good apology and a show of remorse.
This essentially allows your agency to be more open-minded when it comes to fixing a brand’s reputation or keeping it intact. This is because being empathic will remind you to stay objective and focus on the
bigger picture.
3. Empathy will improve PR strategies
By having empathy, PR pros are able to think like their client and understand the brand’s voice, objectives and image. This makes their communications efforts a lot more successful.
Your strategies for press releases, social media posts, campaigns and press conferences will also be profitable when you have a comprehensive understanding of the client and brand, meaning you’ll get better at speaking for them.
Also, by having empathy for a brand’s consumers you will be able to better tailor the brand’s messages to them because you have a clear understanding of what they are feeling, which allows you to achieve more engagement and a more successful return on investment overall.
Can you think of any other benefits of cultivating a culture of empathy in the PR industry? Let us know in the comments section below.
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*Image courtesy of Vecteezy