connection > distance
Photo by McKenna Phillips on Unsplash
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My neighborhood is usually a pretty busy place.
Not like “Brooklyn busy,” but like “yeah, people actually hang out here” busy.
We’ve got 3 cool bars…
3 coffee shops…
A brewery…
And a hot chicken restaurant.
Oh and if you’re not familiar with hot chicken, it’s exactly what it sounds like — but spicy hot, not temperature hot… otherwise they’d call it “heated chicken.”
*ba dum tss*
Normally, when you walk by these places, you’ll look inside and see at least a couple people. But not right now.
It feels kinda like a ghost town.
I was talking to my roommate, Cody, about it the other night.
“It just feels cold,” he said.
And he’s not talking about temperature cold. He’s talking about impersonal, lack-of-warmth, Cruella DeVille cold.
Maybe I’m just a hippie…
But you can almost feel a sense of sadness just walking around. It’s quiet. Almost lifeless.
I can deal with hanging out at home all day…
I can deal with feeling like I should wash my hands after every breath I take…
But that sense of emptiness is just haunting.
And (I’m not the first person to say this) I think it highlights how important connection is for us. I think, now more than ever, we’re realizing that we are, indeed, social creatures.
We crave connection.
The products and services we offer solve a problem. And our marketing pretty much always centers around that on some level.
But right now, or at least over the next month, I predict our biggest problem will be this empty sense of distance we feel from those around us.
If that’s the problem your customers have…
How can you position your company as a solution?
I don’t mean you should go and hang out with them…
(please for the love of God don’t do that)
And I don’t mean that you should start a virtual dating app or virtual meeting app or virtual hangout app or virtual anything app…
I just mean it's a good idea to tweak your marketing to focus on connection right now.
Because that's what people need.
This isn't revolutionary. And a lot of companies are already doing it. But if you haven't done it yet...
Now might be a good time.
Peace, blessings, and air hugs with at least 6ft of distance between us,
Robert