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Why The Most Memorable — And Powerful — PR Is Personal
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Jodi Amendola is CEO of Amendola , an award-winning healthcare and high-tech public relations and marketing agency based in Scottsdale, AZ.
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In past articles, I have talked about the art of thought leadership as a component of a robust public relations program and the importance of thought leadership in building awareness and credibility for your company.
As the CEO of a healthcare, health IT and life sciences-focused public relations and marketing agency for the past 18 years, one thing I've learned is that the most impactful PR you can deliver is personal in some way. Whether it's the physician CEO who saw a problem in workflows that negatively impacted patient care and developed a technology to fix it, or the company founder whose child had a rare disease that inspired her entrepreneurship, these stories resonate with media and your prospects, and they are a powerful way to further your company's thought leadership.
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Once you're an established thought leader, there may even be times when you decide to use your voice to get the word out about an issue you're passionate about — a social injustice, a safety issue or a public health concern come to mind as causes you may choose to support.
An issue that my agency has been immersed in for the past several months is getting much-needed information about Covid-19 to the media and public at large. The work that my team has been doing includes increasing awareness about Covid-19 clinical trials, providers helping on the front lines, technology that can improve treatments and approaches to improving vaccine adherence. Our professional concern about the topic has coincided with a very personal one for me.
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As I write this article, more than 500,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. Like so many across the nation, I have experienced the grief that comes from losing a close family member to this terrible disease. Late last year, my 96-year-old mother, Thelma Kurzweil, passed away from complications associated with Covid-19. What was even more heartbreaking was that her Covid-19 went undiagnosed, despite my pleas for testing. Her positive test result came back half an hour after she passed away.
Of course, my mother's life amounted to far more than just a statistic. She was a guiding force in so many lives — she was a loving wife, mother and grandmother, a successful entrepreneur, as well as a devoted daughter, sister and friend. She charmed us all with her life lessons and amazing stories. She made us laugh and all feel special — one of her many gifts. A long-time resident of New Jersey, my mother was a bit of a trailblazer for women of her generation. For 40 years, she led a commercial and residential real estate company that she founded in the 1950s (at a time when many women were actively discouraged from doing such things), all while caring for her family. She inspired me to believe that when it comes to a rewarding career and a loving family, women really can have it all.
Shortly after my mother's death, I shared our family's experience with Covid-19 and my memories of her in a guest column that ran in my local newspaper, the Arizona Republic. Since the column was published, I've been overwhelmed by the messages of support and well wishes I've received from friends, acquaintances and strangers alike.
How Personal Stories Can Inspire Others
After sharing my story, people I've never before met reached out to me with questions. Old friends contacted me to ask for advice on what they could do to protect loved ones. I received beautiful, heartfelt notes from people fighting through their own grief after losing loved ones to this vicious disease.
Not only has this experience been a cathartic one that has enabled me to better process my own emotions and feelings of loss, but it also has clearly demonstrated to me the power of personal stories to move people — and the ability of PR and social media to amplify those stories to inspire action, empathy and understanding in others.
This is just a snapshot: When I posted the article on LinkedIn, the post received 102 likes, 61 comments and 7,653 views. My Facebook post received 89 likes, 32 comments and one share, and it led to countless emails and messages. On its website, the Republic leveraged the article as sponsored content, and it obtained 101 views, eight comments and two shares. Finally, when I posted on Survivor Corps (a Facebook group for Covid-19 survivors and family members), the post received 265 likes, 37 comments and four shares — all from strangers.
As I reflect back on my personal experience with Covid-19 and the cavernous void it has left in our family, I can at least find a little solace in the dialogue that it helped create. What started out as an outlet for my own pain and sorrow has become much more — a testament to the capacity of a compelling personal story to break down barriers between people and create bonds between strangers.
Crises will always be a part of the human experience, but we can overcome them together. I have learned that it takes the power of real human stories — of sickness, grief, loss and, in the end, triumph — to help people empathize and take action in solidarity with one another.
Using This Power In PR
I have seen firsthand the power that personal stories can bring to creating compelling PR and marketing content. Sharing thoughts about which you are passionate can encourage others — even total strangers — to let their guard down and connect with you (and your brand) on an emotional level.
Creating an emotional connection with your brand makes it more authentic. There's no better way to do that than telling a story from your own experience.