Happy Friday Swoop Scoop Readers!
We have a special edition of #SwoopScoop this week with a message from our Founder, Jennifer Usher. We hope you are all safe, healthy and focusing on staying positive.
Times are difficult AF right now (not going to sugar coat this) and everyone is feeling uncertain, scared and trying to do what they can to survive.
It’s been a really hard week. It’s frightening to think about all of your hard work and dedication over many many years go from thriving to flat out worry about what tomorrow may bring.
Then after some really hard soul searching, self pity and digging deep I realized – there is a network of the world that is feeling the exact same way.
As a marketer, we are problem solvers. When we get stuck - we go into rooms, we strategize, we brainstorm with our teams, we reach out to our network – we find the solution to the pain points and execute on them – yet for some strange reason this virus has literally paralyzed the world for a moment. Paralyzed our process’ and ‘know how’ – why? Why is this?
Well I will tell you why for me - because for the first time we are being pushed 1.0Mx out of our comfort zone and as humans we like rhythm, we like process, we like structure and guess what WE LIKE KNOWING TOMORROW. Unfortunately, we can’t anymore.
We need to learn new ways, how to pivot to survive and to ultimately just be people to each other. Plot twist here – our society is fully consumed by screens and digital media, yet we still need to be people and interact. We need to humanize ourselves behind our brands and companies to develop stronger relationships and loyalty rather than focusing on building brand awareness. At the moment we are limited to only using digital communications, so how do we do this effectively?
First, off – It’s okay to not know what to do or what to say. Right now, none of us do. We are all navigating these uncharted waters together. So let’s help each other and get through this united. Let’s do our part and #stayhome, #socialdistance and move our worlds to a new pivot, whatever this might look like to you.
Take care of You! Go easy on yourself. Give yourself space to think and relax.
Small Business Owners my thoughts through this new transition:
Time to shift your marketing and messaging strategies. I’ve had to really think about this myself. Small business owners and content creators can’t just stop working. Business must go on but our BAU is gonna look a little different now. We need to shift our strategies to align with today. This means you may need to review and edit your current brand tone and start to cover more relevant and timely topics. Internet and consumption usage is up drastically – people are consuming content like it’s Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!!!! So align to this.
Keep building your business. Be gentle in doing this with your message and push. The worse thing you can do at the moment is not doing anything. If you are in a position to have a business that can still operate, don’t be shy or feel bad about continuing to market your brand and business. People need services, so show up and humanize your value. We want business’ to stay in business. Shift your mindset and play your part of being compassionate with support, content and resources when our society needs this the most.
COVID-19 is a huge reminder to us - You never know what tomorrow may bring, those simple things we always took for granted can all be removed in one simple day. Let’s please do our part, stay safe, help our families, help our communities and all of our front-line works and first responders who are absolute super hero’s through this.
We are stronger together. Be kind.
Please call me if you are stuck, don’t know how to push through this with your business we will navigate this new journey together.
Jennifer Usher
Chief Marketing Consultant & Founder
Swoop Marketing & Communications Ltd.
d: 647-236-2027 e: jusher@swoopmarketing.ca