Its Bell Let’s Talk day today. An annual event to increase awareness and reduce stigma around mental health. The telco Bell Canada donates 5 cents towards mental health initiatives in Canada for every call, text, or social post using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag.
Today I want to talk about an elephant in the room for business by asking you to ask yourself a question.
Does you customer’s experience with your brand encourage mental wellness or does it contribute to mental illness?
I know, tough question isn’t it.
For me it’s about holding a positivity bias rather than a negativity bias.
Marketing and customer experience is grounded in emotions. Traditionally, fear and lack are big drivers in marketing. Embedding a sense of urgency around decision making. Certainly, it’s harder at times to reach people talking about hope and abundance. All too often, brands take the easier path.
Product marketing focuses on identifying customer problems. Instead I prefer the wider concept of “jobs to be done” theory instead. Sure, a job may solve a problem. It’s just not focusing on the problem as the driver.
My personal mantra for 2022 is “seeing possibility”.
I am working on cultivating a positivity bias of seeing possibility. Instead of dwelling on all the things that could go wrong. Using the cultivate word in the way that Brené Brown does in The Gifts of Imperfection. Our personal work is often on a continuum of doing more of this and less of that.
I know it’s hard at this point in the pandemic. Everyone is fatigued about everything.
Yet, it’s a worthy goal.
So, let’s talk to our customers in a way that encourages them to aspire to their greater goals. Let’s show them empathy. Listen to them. See them. Let’s provide a experience with our brand focused on helping them thrive.
It’s worth taking a moment to reflect on how you can do that in your messaging and products. Then make some tweaks and changes where you might be missing the mark.
Let’s aspire to be inspiring.
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