John Maxwell once said that “we live in a culture that rewards image- often over integrity. We promote people who appear to have their act together, and encourage others to do the same”. With this in mind, it makes sense that you might be tempted to err on the side of caution when it comes to content marketing and PR by only sharing your achievements or highlight reel. However, contrary to the cultural beliefs alluded to by Maxwell, research shows that when leaders at the top of their game are transparent and vulnerable by “revealing that [they] aren’t perfect, it makes [them] more relatable” and therefore more likeable. This is known as the pratfall effect and is especially important in business because, as the old adage says, people will only do business with people that they know, like and trust.
Since PR (or Public Relations) is, by definition, action that leaders can take to promote “goodwill between [themselves] and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc,” the pratfall effect is clearly something that you will want to harness. So how can you do this? Well, as in my most recent Black Ballad article, you should create posts that:
