Here in Western Washington the weather is changing, the days are shorter and cool wind blows in from the ocean.

I don’t have much to say about marketing this round. Not that anything hasn’t happened in the world of marketing, we are just feeling the pinch of a pandemic that has no signs of slowing down as we approach the second year of tenuous family gatherings for our birthday and holiday season. Plus, the industry I primarily work in is notoriously slow through the winter. This means I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the end of the year and after so many stressful months, I’m feeling exhausted.

I think acknowledging this is important for me as a marketer. Not only is it crucial for me to take care of my own health, it is also how many of the people we are trying to reach are feeling right now, too. The next four months are going to be hard for a lot of people.

This doesn’t mean we should all start making sappy brand videos about “these trying times”. But, you should probably pull back on those emails, social posts, and ads that are to “emotionally connect” with your customers. Give the people what they need and keep doing it, consistently. The last thing everyone needs in their life right now is more emotion.

In fact, let’s stop trying to use emotion in marketing. Saying you leverage emotion in your marketing is a polite way of saying you emotionally manipulate people. Brands don’t have emotions. Brands aren’t people.

Talk straight.

I want to hear from you. How are you feeling going into the final stretch of 2021? What do you want to still get done? What can you do with the next 122 days? How can you take care of yourself?

How can I help?

Hit reply, let me know

So it is a short newsletter this time.