First of all let’s acknowledge the orange elephant in the room. Especially in the past 3 1/2 years. We have noticed fallacies in the way that we do things. Not us in particular, but our government, our infrastructure and also on a global level. Issues happening in your part of the world is probably going on in another country thousands of miles away.
One thing that I have noticed since the dark cloud of covid has canopied it’s gloomy weather globally, are certain phrases like, woke, awakened, conscious and in the world of marketing, organic. There are many, many, individuals who have gone from their 9 to 5 jobs to a questionable future and have done anything and everything to make it, (it’s called a side-hustle). And many of these side hustles have created businesses.
This year being such a pivotal part of humanity, we can’t help to think what will happen to companies and the way companies deal with their marketing and content. And it would behoove businesses and yourself as a marketer or a start up independent business owner to take “awareness” ( I would use finger quotes if I could) of the changes that are going to be set in place after all of this subsides.
I’ve been watching more television, listening to more podcast, vegging out on social media as well as looking and analyzing things behind the scenes. And I can’t help but to share whatever little knowledge as a 10 year digital marketing director can.
Refrain from Being a Sheep!
Based on my tags and title, I hope that the readers are on the level and believe that most of marketing and corporatization are not necessarily in humanity’s interest. We can say that a lot of the old ways of thinking are outdated, marginalized, and are directing us into a barn that wants to sheer off your beautiful body of wool.
There are so many individuals out there who feel marginalized, not heard, upset and for the most part, ready to see something that really speaks to them. Companies are also getting an influx of new thinkers and progressive people. In the past 2 companies I worked for I was often asked; “What would I do, or how do I think about this and from your point of view would this resonate with you?”
Look at how the LGBT community is having an impact on film, television as well as marketing. This is because they have been a force to be reckoned with and a voice that needs to be heard. From a few posts on social to a major movement in the world. And the change is going from this outlandish secondary gender, to a common normalized human, (I just finished season one of Euphoria, it’s awesome!).
Understand the power of now, and do the exact opposite!
Okay! So, I know it was a popular book. However, in marketing foresight needs to be 20/20. One prime example that I am seeing is how fixated these hug sleeplike companies are with how they go about their marketing. There was one report that says that, “masks in commercials are favorable by consumers.” But if you are looking for long-term growth, why have something in your portfolio that shows about a negative time in our existence.
The conscious person, which I believe is moving towards trying to create a more positive and harmonious reality, has there eye on the bigger prize of positive “manifestation”. Which means that living in a past that because of what ever reasons, had us not trusting each other, fearing those without a mask, or those that were different from us, racially, religiously and politically, will soon be a thing of the past… if we let it. And are we really going to be wearing these god awful masks in two years?
I’m not telling you not to wear a mask or support unhealthy behavior in your work environment. But I am telling you that this cloud will loom over us for a while, and that you have to find ways to get around the fact that people hate it, and it will bring negative connotations to your brand or the brand that you are representing in years to come.
“Ain’t nobody got time for that negative energy”
If you are thinking about the longevity of your brand, then take a ratio approach to things. For every one sign of the time campaign that you do, create 5–10 forward thinking campaigns. That is one mask to 5 to 10 normal pieces of content.
We want normality.
Remember, people will not want to look back on bad times and in the world of manifestation, always focus on the positive. That is where the conscious people are.
Technology can be our friends
I have always been a creative thinker, that was until I became a higher up in digital marketing. There, everything is about tone of voice, analytics, conversions, content marketing and a bunch of other mathy stuff that I hated until I actually embarrassed it.
Now I have 2 brains.
So, if you are a marketer and want to tap into the conscious person, who has also been forced into the digital analytical world, because if they aren’t they probably are not seeing anything in media, then you need to do the math.
I have a few tools that I use to understand and speak to my audience.
Google Alerts: A great way to choose what type of news you get in your feed everyday. Try typing gin some popular buzzwords on consciousness. (Woke, Vibration, Spiritual awakening, consciousness).
Buzzsumo: Another way of getting trending alerts about what it is you want to know about, or find people who think like you, are that you are trying to market to . It also pulls up popular trending articles and posts based on specific keywords.
Google Analytics: Now google analytics is interesting because it won’t tell you everything you need to know as far as keywords, but you will get a good understanding of how people are searching. And I have noticed an insane change in the past few months. Also, look at your Geo-Demographics, not everyone in every country thinks the same and you may be surprised who the next country of thinkers and influencers are going to be.
These are just a few, but there are many out there that you can use.
Learn the language
This comes not only from marketing but from interviewing for various marketing positions. I’ve noticed that if I am myself, the interviews and the marketing work I do is more fruitful. I think that is what the world is looking for, something different.
Now, as far as interviews go, I may have had to do more interviews as “myself”, but at the end of the day, the company that I was with was a more symbiotic relationship than if I wasn’t.
Know your lane
You can’t market everything to everyone. Let’s face it. And one thing that I am noticing that is very very sad right now, is that we are being merged into groups. The big separations, which I, as a conscious, loving, human being hates.
But if you play your cards right, you can take from what you know and grow.
For example, if you are a mocha colored, curly haired female millennial, you can use what you know to embrace like minded people are similar people, tell a story, create a following and have others follow you based on your story. But make it inspirational and make it beautiful. Kinda like this one here.
So don’t be afraid to shoot from your hip, tell your story and be yourself. But just remember to do the work and be in harmony with yourself because once that happens the universe is in harmony.
Conclusion
Now, outside of any other time, is the time to tap in and know yourself and just be you! Don’t try to make your interviews, your commercials, your podcast, your overall content like the TV. Make it you, perfect it, invest in yourself, keep your eyes on the light of the future and fucking soar guys!
