After catching up with my far-flung friends on Facebook today, it suddenly struck me at how I’ve quickly become used to using emoticons to re-enforce what I am writing. In particular, I’ll use an emoticon to laugh at my own posts to show that I’m joking when the words I use mean that my audience should naturally pick up that it is a joke without the emoticon. This may say more about my ability to tell a joke or that my humour isn’t particularly mainstream. But it did get me thinking about how using emotion in PR has always been important if we want to get a reaction.
Firstly, I wondered how journalists would receive media releases if I used emoticons in them? I’m really not sure?!
Secondly, and most importantly, it reminded me how vital it is to strike an emotional reaction with our stakeholders in our PR campaigns.
Can you honestly say that you do this with every PR campaign for your brand?
Do you even know what would cause an emotional response from your different stakeholders? What works for your consumers doesn’t necessarily work for your prospective franchisees and, in fact, what works for one segment of your customers may not work for another segment.
Does a fear factor headline grab their attention or do they become loyal from being brought into a caring community?
Is it “angry face” or “smiley face”?
We know what works for our clients so why not get in touch 😉