We’ve officially arrived at the one-year anniversary of when COVID-19 hit the United States. As I’m signing documents and marking down dates, I find myself getting confused. I mean, wasn’t it just March 2020? Wasn’t I just scavenging grocery stores for toilet paper, stocking my freezer with Trader Joes goods, and gearing up for hibernation?
Last March, I spent most of my work days cancelling events and coordinating with media outlets to accommodate their shifting editorial calendars. My mind was taken aback at all of the things that were being taken away from my clients and their stories. No book tours, no interviews, no book festivals or writing retreats, no nothing. I hadn’t allowed myself to cross the line form being sad to using that sadness as motivation, and to be honest, I didn’t cross that line for a while.
April 2020 was a month of adaptation. Adapting to being at home all the time, transitioning in-person meetings to virtual, in-person events to virtual – learning how to “be together” while physically apart. Something we could have never predicted we would need to do, or fully prepared for. Having said that, I would say the last year has been all about learning and putting forth our best efforts to continue connecting with each other. Thinking about and looking out for one another. Once I got my mind wrapped around this idea, the drive started to set in.
I feel incredibly grateful to work in a field that celebrates storytelling, an art form that feeds the human heart. We needed stories over the last year and as soon as I got over the initial shock of what was happening, I knew it was time to get to work. Time to deliver stories to the people who needed them. Everyone needed them. I needed them.
I’ve learned more about publicity technique in the last year than I have in my 8 years of working in this business. We had to get creative in how we connected with people, really look for new ways to do this. In reflecting on all that I’ve learned, I’m grateful for the following publicity tactics as we navigate a different kind of normal:
Zoom: I’m sure you expected this one! I, and I’m sure many others, experienced extreme Zoom burnout by the end of 2020. So. Many. Zoom. Events. Looking at the screen all day is tiring, and it certainly doesn’t replace the buzz you get from being in the same room as other people. But, I’m not sure what we would have done without it over the last year. It gave us an option, an opportunity rather, to really be with our people. Through Zoom, we’ve had the unique ability to look at everyone’s faces a little bit closer – see their reactions to discussions, readings, concerts. We could see their creative spaces in the backgrounds. We could see the impact. It feels personal to me. I’m grateful for that.
Social media: Social media gave us the opportunity to connect with each other in a fun, valuable way. With the bulk of my clientele being writers, something we found valuable was the use of Instagram Lives and poll features. We were able to really engage with audiences this way. With more time at home, came more writing for my people. More writing means needing more feedback, which through social media, we were able to get quickly.
Email marketing: OK, OK, this one is controversial. As a marketer, I love email marketing. I love receiving email marketing, I love crafting email marketing – maybe I am, in fact, a marketing email. I know a lot of people who didn’t love the emails they’d consistently get from brands. For me, the pandemic motivated me to get super creative with how I communicate marketing messaging. The key that it should never read as a marketing message. This year, it was easy to write authentic notes to readers because really, we just wanted to connect. Email campaigns were built from that drive – to connect with our friends, family, readers – and give them the gift of a good story. All the while checking in on them, seeing how they were doing.
The last, and more important, thing I’m grateful for as I look back on the last year, is for my writers. They helped keep me sane with their stories and general creativity, pushing me to pivot and reframe my methods. With each person I work with, I grow and I learn.
After everything we’ve all collectively been through over the last year, if there’s two things I’m sure of, they are that storytelling is a crucial part of the human existence, and we can do anything if we do it together.
xx,
H