What's on the Social Canvas today? ~ Soul Social #3

Today it was nostalgia, remembrance, gratitude posts, articles looking back to bring inspiration from the past, daily diaries & vlogs with the most diverse lockdown moments, old black & white photos reappearing, funny and embarrassing Zoom moments shared and going viral - like people forgetting to turn off camera when going to the toilet - #homeconferencelifeohyeah and ultimately, sunsets... and yes, painting.

And... marketing & advertising on Social Media - a topic we've been discussing with some clients today. It seems like it's a topic that triggers many and sparks lots of conversations and emotions. 

Is it right to market in these times? What does it actually mean? Who is right in what's right? Is it ok to advertise? What to do when competition pushes sales and keeps promoting? What to do when our feeds are inundated with free offers? 

Some leading very smartly into sales funnels, some very manipulatively, some just trying to make their business survive, and some just offering help and support and compassion and a lot of value in these challenging times. 

Is there an opportunity? For what? FOMO? JOMO? And what to do when you get stuck?

Which approach is right? For who? In what context? It is a very complex topic. Here is a great resource if you want to read top experts' various opinions and takes from the industry. I would love to know which ones you resonate with, please let me know!!

But what excites me today is the triggers. What is behind the scenes? What is my trigger? What is others' trigger?

Nothing worse in my opinion than be driven from a place of triggers...

When we see a post pop up. An ad pop up. It brings up emotions. The good, the bad, the ugly. You pick. I picked today the ugly. I've seen ads from businesses, colleagues, friend's pages, people who I look up on and respect their work. And I got triggered. By most, but not all. A few I really enjoyed and thought were very timely. And some were I thought very creative normally, but seemed to contribute to the noise today. There is a lot of noise, did you notice? Especially in my head haha. They pushed my buttons.

Yes, a good reminder to put the phone down and focus on life and real connections btw... feels still so hard at times to remind myself, but I am getting better at it.

But back to triggers... where do these emotions come from? Why is it pushing my buttons? What does it show me?

An interesting example that popped back in my mind today:

I've been recently to an event where one of the presenters at some point during his speech started selling. It was a soft sell, but somehow it made me feel really uncomfortable. I turned to my neighbours, one of them, a good friend, and they both said the same. I was wondering what's happening. Especially because I looked up at the presenter, he is great at what he does, and this includes selling and promoting his services and products.  

I proposed we go up to him all together and ask him - what does he know that we don't. For a moment I wished I could be so at ease at promoting my own services like he was. On the other hand, it didn't feel right. But I wanted to learn. 

His answer was what I deeply expected. He said something along the lines that he just got over himself and learned to accept himself the way it is. Not sure about what words he used, but this was the essence of it.

It was a relief to hear. I was grateful for his honesty. I felt a lot of respect for his work. The work he did on himself to get there.

So back to today.

Today, I put on my brave girl pants and looked deep. It was painful. But I finally understood where that trigger, and many others today, yesterday, other days, around this topic, keep coming from. 

This picture captures the moment of relief, lightness and joy. I wanted to capture this moment that was very special for me.

Today, I felt like literally painting the sunset.

I grabbed my phone, snapped the pic, captured the moment, pulled out a photo App to play with, and I created my perfect sunset painting. Exactly how I would paint it if I knew how to paint so well. The cherry on the cake was adding a special surface that makes the Canvas look like it's 30 years old.

Painting reinvented with a photo App. Memories, stories revisited from the past. And now, it looks like a Blast from the Past. 

Lots of things are being reinvented now as I write. ​Right? ;)

Maybe this is the time to look at triggers. So we can market best. Or just simply put, share best. Now, today, tomorrow, when the timing is right.

​No pressure. It's a long term investment into self.