A well-worn approach in strategic marketing communication, yet one that is good to revisit, and refresh, regardless of your role or years of experience.
‘Think-Feel-Do’ is an outcome-based framework looking at three key outcomes of effective communication, whatever your organisation or business, sector or objective.
Outcomes are preferable to outputs for myriad reasons – another blog coming soon about this and the fantastic Barcelona Principles from AMEC - yet the main reason being outcomes are what the business needs or wants to achieve, whereas outputs are the deliverables: actions or items that contribute to achieving said outcomes.
Note: one prerequisite to this, is having a clear understanding of who your intended audience is (or audiences are), before embarking on any more nuanced activity. There usually is more than one particular audience at any given time.
Taking an early call on how you wish to prioritise these audiences, or which ones you wish to connect with through specific activities, messaging or channels, helps to focus activity AND intended outcomes/objectives.
How do you want your audience(s) to REspond, act or behave?
Think: What do you want your audience(s) to think about your organisation or business and its authority/expertise/approach?
Feel: What kind of emotional response do you expect from your audience(s); how do you want them to feel about your brand?
Do: What do you want your audience(s) to do, what action should they undertake next, and how do you hope to influence their behaviour to do this?
The key thing is to not overcomplicate such outcomes – trying to get people to think, feel AND do three entirely separate things can be complex. As can conflating two audience personas – i.e. an older person with more experience of your product/service will be communicated with differently to a younger ‘new’ person, who doesn’t know of you. Any overlapping think-feel-do’s should align and be complementary.
For example – sadly this is timely – for a regional public sector message about healthcare, you would like the audience to remember that services are stretched, that they feel supportive and positive about doing their bit for the NHS and local teams, and to take alternative actions to relieve the pressure. Measurable outcomes in this instance could be fewer visits to A&E, more calls to 111, or fewer bank staff in hospitals.
Alternatively, a brand selling shoes online may like to get people the think about fast delivery and good quality, you’d like the to feel like they align with the brand’s image and personality, and you’d like them to sign up to socials/email subscription for more offers (an easily trackable metric).
Think Feel Do examples:
Think: What do we want the audience(s) to consider after being given this information?
For instance: “I didn’t know that”, “I need to find out more about this”, “That was helpful”, “These guys know their stuff”, “I didn’t know they did this”, “There is nothing to worry about”, “This is aligned with my values and intentions”, “I can use this piece of info”.
Feel: What emotion or response do we want to evoke with our communication?
For instance: informed, supported, more confident, relieved, intrigued, prepared, concerned, relaxed, frustrated, empathetic.
Do: What specific, tangible action do we want the audience to take?
For instance: download, sign up, follow, give feedback, get involved/participate, visit the website, contact someone.
Why start with Think, Feel, Do?
This enables us to work backwards to develop stories, narratives and journeys to engage your audiences in the most effective way possible. There will be different routes and messaging for different audiences, yet understanding the audience’s intended behaviour or thought process is a key way of getting them into the marketing funnel.
Whether you think of your business or role as marketing or not, you should consider how you connect with your consumers, stakeholders, partners, media, or other audiences to optimise your impact.
Whether you’re selling something, sharing important information, trying to get bums on seats, or just convincing the audience of a particular POV, connecting on an emotional and practical level can help you more accurately measure the effectiveness of your communications and adapt accordingly.
Remember, this all comes from knowing WHO your different intended audiences are, but that’s for another blog!
What do you think about Think, Feel, Do?