Pausing Marketing
Gregg Blanchard •
If there was one thing I learned to do as a marketer this week, it was this:
Shut up.
On Sunday night as things went from bad to worse, I texted my team and had them pause everything. No social, no email, no blog post would go live unless we had thoughtfully decided it was the right thing to say and the right time to say it.
As we thought through things, none of the normal stuff made the cut. Instead, the message was:
- “What can we do to help?”
- “How are you doing?”
- “We’re hopeful this can do some good.”
- “We’re all in this together.”
Our products have a few features that turned out to be golden when you’re dealing with this sort of situation.
Did I miss the opportunity to plug them? Yes.
Do I regret it? No.
Everyone will have to start selling again soon – our jobs will depend on it – but this week wasn’t the right time. Next week may not be either. But I feel that now is the time to err on the side of caution. To err on the side of compassion. To err on the side of being a human instead of a marketer.