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Online meetings aren’t new, but we are all moving rapidly towards using technology and taking leaps that we’ve been putting off in order to be successful in this new normal. So, maybe this is a refresher for you – or maybe you’ll learn some new tricks. Let’s dive in.

Your needs here are basic – internet, webcam and audio for each of your audience members and a secure video conferencing platform to do it on. Most online meetings can now be attended from a computer, phone or tablet from almost anywhere that one can get online.

(Because your needs and the regulations where you live will vary, I’m going to refrain from making suggestions on platforms by name – but I’m glad to have a conversation about pros and cons anytime.) 

We have an opportunity to innovate in how we approach our meetings in the new normal:

1. Be real. If only one positive comes out of the situation we find ourselves in today – let it be that we embrace the real us. To be human is to be vulnerable. Get on that video call and show your face. The real you – without a recent haircut, manicure or dye job. Skip the makeup if you want… skip the pants if you want. You are enough. You be you, and let others in your tribe know that they can be themselves too.

2. Break the ice. If virtual meetings are a newish thing for you and your team, consider throwing in a team building or icebreaker exercise. This could be as simple as having everyone stand up, stretch as one and clear their minds to focus on the task at hand. Or, as kitchy as a summer-camp icebreaker game. Try using the polling feature on your meeting platform to ask an icebreaker question with three possible answers and share the results with the team. This simple exercise can demonstrate that we are going through some of the same challenges and experiencing some of the same emotions. Choose an activity that will be mildly entertaining while highlighting humanity and strengthening the bond of the group. We’re all in this together, so be sure you connect as people before you dig into the work.

3. Be organized. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to add a virtual collaboration and task-management platform to your team’s software arsenal. More on this in a future post, but I can’t stress enough that you need to get your marketing deliverables in a live space that you can all communicate in. Don’t suffer through chain emails or forwarded work product ever again. These antiquated solutions are bad enough when we are all in the same office building, and nearly impossible to be productive with in an all-virtual space.

4. Be considerate. Be sure to communicate the anticipated length of your meeting ahead of time. Working from home means different things for each of us. Some are juggling kids, loved ones or caring for the ill, so be respectful of everyone’s time by planning ahead. You’ll need a digital agenda that can be found on your above mentioned collaboration platform prior to the meeting. Invite others to the task to add agenda items or resolve items that don’t need to be included in the meeting. Set a timeline for the meeting and stick to it, scheduling additional conversations for items that need more time.

5. Be branded. Brand awareness is paramount when we are dealing with each other in a digital paradigm. Take advantage of ways to showcase your brand online. Adding a branded background to your video calls is a simple way to break up the monotony of online meetings. Depending on the virtual meeting platform you choose, there are also opportunities to brand your business throughout the process of setting up, inviting and registering your audience for your meeting.

Meetings are a powerful piece of our cultural connections. Don’t shy away from them now. Push yourself to gather online. Take your brand boldly into the new normal. Keep pushing for real, authentic interaction with your tribe and keep your brand top-of-mind. If you need more ideas or a plan to get started, let’s talk. Remember, we are on this journey together.

Wishing you light and love. ~Hema

Welcome to the first article in our series, “The New Digital Marketing.” Over seven weeks I’m going to lead you through the steps of developing your own online marketing strategy from start to finish. Whether you’re a traditional brick and mortar business getting online for the first time – or have had your digital ducks in a row for years… the world has changed and we are adapting. Let’s do it together, starting where every business needs to start right this minute, “Realign and Get Online.”

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Humans love a good journey. A narrative that has a start, middle and planned finish. It soothes us, gives us purpose-driven meaning and assures us that we are doing the right thing.

Before you took your brand to market – you met with your stakeholders and aligned yourselves, right? You came together in a collaborative meeting of the minds to ensure that you were all focused on the same goals, united in the planned execution of deliverables and agreed upon, measurable KPIs. This is your brand’s journey.

Then, the last month happened…

So, I invite you to join me on a new journey. We are going to reboot, restart and realign. Your marketing journey has a new route (maybe even a new destination) and you and your stakeholders need to realign and pivot. Your new journey’s path is digital and you’ve got to get everyone onboard and online to get to your destination. Here’s how:

1.Meet. Get a virtual meeting scheduled for a week from now. Include department heads or stakeholders from every group, not just sales and marketing. Do you have an online meeting platform? If not, now’s the time. You are going to be using it a lot. Like, really – a lot.

2.Engage. Give your team a heads up that you are going to realign your marketing goals with a digital focus and ask for contributions from each member based on their areas of expertise and engagement. Don’t dictate to them, connect and engage them in the process. Their ownership of the outcomes are directly related to their involvement in the planning.

3.Plan. Be ready to discuss where you were headed in your journey and which parts of that map need to be adjusted and brought into the new normal. Send out brainstorming topics ahead of time to encourage big-picture and both long and short-term thinking, planning and goal setting.

During your realignment meeting:

1.Strategize. Set new or updated goals. Identify and adjust target markets. Think carefully about how you will connect with them online. Use empathy to determine what their pain points are and how you can relieve them right now. What about in a month? Six months? Bring them humanity and added value, not a sales pitch.

2.Organize. Set yourself up for digital success. Think about what needs to happen on your website and social media to reach your target audience and make your goals happen. Plan to revamp and relaunch a more robust website. Be sure you are hitting all of your demographics by diversifying your social media platforms. Add digital conferencing and an online collaboration tool for your team. Develop analytics baselines from this point to determine forward progress.

3.Develop Executables and measurable KPIs. Don’t leave without an outline for a one month digital marketing plan. Organize your social media and blog calendars by topics that reflect your goals and target audiences – and then distribute content collaboration to the appropriate team members so that everyone has executable tasks and deadlines. Determine KPIs that will mean success in meeting your goals.

4.Evaluate. Assign ownership of analytics and reporting. Once a month your team needs an executive summary of progress and potential. Outline areas of success and those that need improvement. Determine now who will make decisions about minute change in direction when you are in-between collaborative meetings.

Then, be ready to realign and pivot again. And again after that. The world is changing fast right now, and you may need to repeat this process in order to realign with changing events, priorities and opportunities. Plan the next meeting now. Depending on your strategy and workload, you may want to meet weekly or even daily as you begin to travel this new path.

Join us in the coming weeks as we accompany you on this new journey. We will continue to develop each of the points above and will delve into innovation and ideas for your new digital presence. Let’s travel this uncharted territory as a team. We’ll explore how to bring your events and conferences online while still engaging your audience. We will work on strategies for developing engaging content and virtual experiences. We will examine new ways for you to expand your digital presence and heighten your customer’s experience with your brand.

You can do this. We can help.

Wishing you love and light.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
-Helen Keller

Collectively, we’ve experienced the loss of community over these past few weeks. Both on a grand global and profoundly personal scale, we’ve been disconnected.

And with any form of loss, humans need time and space to process grief. Yet, it is in how we overcome and rise from the loss that defines us.

Mourning Our Loses, Recreating Our Future

As passionate visionaries, we at Big Bold Thinkers believe every situation opens up a world of possibilities. These strange times hold great potential—despite the uncertainty ahead.

The challenge for businesses today is to recreate community, connection and collaboration in a socially distant world. Our current reality is that events, retreats, shows and conferences can’t happen for the foreseeable future.

However, this new terrain shouldn’t prevent us from connecting and supporting one another. We live in a big, beautiful world where we have the opportunity to create magic every day.

So where do we go from here? How can mindful marketing solutions include elements of community support and collaboration in a socially isolated world?

Here are just a few ideas to consider.

Plan a Virtual Event

Rather than altogether cancel an upcoming event or conference, switch to a digital platform. Create engaging digital content around your event’s theme to share with your audience.

You may need to condense your four-day gathering down to one or two days and include downloadable guides and materials. Maybe you mail out promotional products that you would’ve handed out during your event, or create live break-out sessions.

Switching to an online event must still provide value to your audience. Fortunately, with today’s technology, that’s possible—even while everyone is responsibly practicing social-distancing.

Start a Facebook Group

Facebook is an excellent tool for creating a community, and now is an excellent time to learn how to use it to connect with your audience.

What type of value-added content could you create and push out around your industry that will engage and inspire people at this time? Use Facebook Live to develop real-time discussions.

This is a great way to make your brand more personable as you share your story.

Open Virtual Spaces to Connect

We may not be able to meet in person, but we have ways of interacting online. As people look for new ways to gather, finding ways to connect in real-time virtually is essential.

Using Zoom and other innovative platforms to connect, you can create a space to discuss anything and everything with people you know as well as make new connections with those you don’t.

At BBT, we invite you to join us for coffee in our Zoom room from 10a to 1p on Thursdays. We hope to connect visionaries, like yourself, looking to create a positive impact on our ever-changing world.

We hope to meet you there!

The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating community in our modern world. Being “all in this together” means working with our neighbors to be catalysts for positive change for all.

As we continually innovate digital communication strategies to meet the changing landscapes around us, we are always open to new ideas—especially when it comes to creating connections and inspiring collaboration!

Own those inventive solutions because now is the time to bring your big, bold ideas to the table.

Wishing all our readers love and light.

“All great changes are preceded by chaos.”
– Deepak Chopra

 

As modern life swiftly transforms into something entirely unexpected, people all over the world are creating new ways of communication. How we meet and interact with colleagues and loved ones is changing.

Yet, as humans, we all have an inner resilience to adapt. We have the skills to navigate through these uncharted waters, and create change within and around us – however this is hidden beneath fear.

Yes, uncertainty scares all of us. It makes planning and predicting difficult. When you don’t have all the answers, you are forced to dig deep to find the solutions hidden beneath the surface, and those are the solutions that the world is needing the most.

The world isn’t asking you to play it safe. Now is the time for your grand ideas and to have the tenacity to pursue them—what we at Big Bold Thinkers call “creating the magic!”

Right now, businesses all over the world are looking to innovate in new ways of working through this difficult time. Rather than get overwhelmed in the collective fear of uncertainty, we see this as a challenge to push boundaries, think big and innovate into a new reality.

This is our moment.

As passionate visionaries in the marketing and communications universe, we work with our customers to turn their ideas into unique experiences that drive customer loyalty and engagement.

Our clients are always under pressure to be innovative and provide the kind of magical product and service experiences that exceed audience expectations and the offerings of competitors – and now it is even more compounded.

So what is the best approach in this new environment?

In order to respond smartly and responsibly during this unprecedented time – it is important for customers to adjust their communication approach in order to respond to their audiences with tact, empathy and mindful marketing.

As a proactive measure, we have identified a few tips for consideration when addressing a marketing approach during a crisis.

 

Audit current marketing campaigns and consider what to prioritize or pivot: A campaign break is not necessarily a bad idea at this time – the break may give you some time and space to prepare for the next wave of communications when audiences are more at ease and this is when you will be most relevant and impactful.

Think about The Content: The use of images and words are powerful – so visuals of social interaction, use of marketing language such as ‘get in touch’ or messages encouraging immediate interaction may need to reevaluated and tweaked to suit the current mindset of audiences.

Don’t Talk about The Crisis: It is important to keep audiences informed however this works best when communicated in a spirit of humility and empathy at all times. Tactless messages tend to be a real turnoff in this climate of worry or fear.

Be Positive and Be Human: We are all in this together and we all need to feel connected at this time. Lean into human stories, let your principles set the tone, and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.

Spread the Magic: We all exist to provide value to those around us and this should be the focus at this time – how can you help at this moment in time? How can you inspire audiences that are stuck at home all day? The focus must remain on helping people and not yourself at this time. This is where innovation kicks in.

We are in a strange time and this too will end. However, while we remain in this storm together, we need to work together to try and build momentum, create value and inspire those around us. Remain thoughtful and proactive at this time and the rest should take care of itself.

Wishing all our readers love and light.