Monday, Dec. 18th

Happy Monday!

Here’s the Business Buzz with A Helpful Trend, Tip, Tool, and

a Hot Take from HiveThink to help you this week… but before that we have an exciting announcement.

01 HiveTrend - Nostalgia Marketing Is Here To Stay

When you look back and really think about, nostalgia marketing has been around for awhile, but in recent decades it feels like it’s become especially prevalent.

👾 I could be wrong about what the core memory was that kicked it all off, but to me it felt like it all started on July 15, 2016 when Stranger Things Season 1 hit Netflix.

🎹 Stranger Things made the 80’s feel like the coolest time that ever existed. The fashion came back. The wave of synth-inspired-music appropriately named Synthwave has boomed.

In its wake, nostalgia marketing has led to more remakes and reboots than there are movies in the first big arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So, what to expect for 2024? How can we used nostalgia within our marketing?

👋 Well, first off, while the 80’s is amazing, it’s seeming like there’s more and more 90’s and 2000’s nostalgia coming back. Here’s Hank Green talking about slap bracelets.

🕶️🪀🎧 So, if you have some favorite fashion, toys, or music from the 90’s and 2000’s it might be time to bring those dearly loved things back and play around with them in your content.

🧢 Also, as more reboots and remakes come out, remember to take your marketing hat out and see if making content related to them makes sense for your brand.

02 HiveTip - Diagnose Your Content Pt. 4 (“Why Aren’t More People Sharing My Content?”)

🤔 Ever wonder why other people get so many more shares than your content? Well, you’re not alone, but the good news is there are things you can do to increase your odds of getting your content shared.

One of the biggest perspective shifts that’s important to getting more shares is to take a moment and think about why YOU share what you share.

If you take that personal inventory, you might find some unique reasons that matter to you that also matter to others.

That being said, here’s a really powerful aspect of what makes things shareable…

💡 Identity and Tribes.

When thinking of content intended to be shared, one of the biggest things you can do is to factor in the different labels we all naturally place on ourselves and others; cat people, artists, metalheads, etc.

🎯 If you create content specifically geared to speak to a certain type of person or tribe, there’s a good chance that people that see themselves as that thing will share that content. 

👥 But it gets better. Say we have a piece of content about being a cat person. Not only will the cat parent people share that content, but friends, family members, or coworkers are likely to send that content to the cat people in their lives.

If every piece of content you make is for everyone, then it has to be absolutely mind-blowing value to be shared, but if you take the time to aim your content more specifically, there’s a good chance you can get the right people to share it.  

How to evaluate your share-ability?

📋 01 Does your content make a certain type of person or a tribe feel seen, heard, understood? This can be funny, serious, etc., but as long as it resonates with someone specific, your share-ability chances will greatly improve.

🔎 02 Look through some of the content you’ve shared or even the content people have shared with you. How does your content stack up against those pieces of content. What can you do to up the share-ability when you put on your consumer glasses instead of your marketing glasses?

03 HiveTool - For When Times Are Crazy

December can be a rough time for a lot of people. We all have less time in general. There’s lot of things to take care of at work, at home, with friends and family. It has it’s greatness, but it also has its stress.

😓 Often, when we feel stressed or drained we revert to the easiest thing to try and “recharge”, scrolling on social media, but does this actually make us feel refreshed and energized? For me, most of the time that’s a no.

🔋 Today, we thought it’d be good to share a tool to help with truly recharging the battery whether you have a little time or a lot of time.

It’s a called a “Dopamenu” (dopamine menu).

🛒Just like when you go to the store with no list, you’re liable to impulse buy things that are worse for you, if you make choices about how to recharge while tired, you’re more likely to choose unwisely.

Your Dopamenu is your recharge list of activities made by you when you’re in a good state of mind.

🧠 This tool comes from the YouTube channel “How to ADHD”. While, the intended audience is those with ADHD, we think this tool is probably helpful for anyone.

🔗Click here to watch the full video from their channel if you want all the context.

📝If not, read on for the TLDR version.

1 - Design Your Menu

🍽️ Entrées: Activities that excite you and make you feel alive.  

🍨 Desserts: Your recharge go-to’s that you probably overdo it on that numb more than recharge.

🍤 Appetizers: Things that give a quick dopamine burst, but don’t take a long time.  

🍲 Sides: Things you can add to other activities that make them more engaging.

🌟 Specials: Things you can’t do as often, but are really awesome when you can.

2 - Omit Anything That’s Not Realistic Right Now

3 - Prep Your Ingredients

🧰 Try and set up any of your activities to be as easy to access as possible. If painting is one of your entrées, have a spot set up where you can jump right into painting, or if you love playing guitar, have the guitar out and on a stand instead of locked away in a case in the closet behind a wall of clothes.

🔒Also, consider making desserts that you want to do less of harder to access.  

4 - Advertise

Turn your Dopamenu into something you can see multiple places and consider taking some time to make it look nice or happy to you, so you’re more likely to look at it and actually use it.

Best of luck as you get more intentional with your recharge activities!

04 HiveTake - Want Better Results Sooner? Get Feedback sooner.

🏎️ The drive to get things done quickly can be a good one to get us into action, but this can actually be a detriment if you aren’t balancing your progress with feedback.

Why is that?

🔍 Well, as the creator or leader pushing something forward you have your intent, all your context in your mind. Because you’re so close to it, you can easily slip into seeing your project through the most optimistic, positive, and forgiving eyes possible.

If everyone had your context they would probably see it the same way, but the thing is they don’t.

👂 Feedback gives you the data you need to know what aspects of your project get lost in translation, helping you  improve them. The sooner you get that feedback, the greater the chance that you don’t do a bunch of work in the wrong direction.

Ultimately, the sooner you get feedback, the sooner (and more likely) the odds are you will make something people actually want.

For a deeper dive into this topic, tune in to our latest podcast episode which you can listen to by clicking here. We'll explore the importance of feedback as we break down how we heavily leaned on feedback from others in the creation of our new monthly community building event, Coffee Break.

Until next time,

The HiveThink Team

P.S. If you missed our first monthly Coffee Break where the guys behind CreativeMornings Chattanooga spoke on a panel about community, you can watch the panel discussion here!

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