It’s back. Before we could prepare properly for the emotional changes we would experience, it was in our ears and eyes. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic for the return of MLB postseason baseball. But the moment was real because it reminded us of the power of emotional structure and the opportunity for seasonal customer connection.
The Emotional Structure of Seasonal Moments
The baseball postseason makes sense…even when they add the Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge to the playoffs. It’s emotional, but orderly. We can’t say that about the political or economic environment.
Not a fan? The sound of October baseball coming from the other room, or the conversations happening in the office, are reminders Halloween and Fall Festivals are near.
We noticed something else during Game One of the Wild Card Series. Our phones were pinging with communication from friends we talk to once a year — October. We were welcoming the rite of passage into the next season.
The MLB playoffs gave us a platform to make comments about the games and one of our favorite seasons.
Finding Communication Opportunities Beyond the Big Holidays
But more importantly, it gave us a platform to simply make a connection. No self-promoting. No sales. No complaining. Okay, that’s not exactly accurate because sports allow us to safely complain about something.
Which seasons or events create a communication opportunity with your brand and your team? Advertising and database messaging tend to have a mass-appeal strategy. However, do we invest and strategize for the niche categories?
Your brand can easily communicate to Christmas fans during the Holiday Season. Can it communicate with the much smaller Earth Day patrons? As a leader, are you aware of your team members’ passions and how their differences show up in clothing, speech and PTO requests?
The opportunity isn’t only a way to show our awareness of the moment. That’s basic. The expanded engagement opportunity is found in our connection with a customer, patron, employee or prospect through a specialty or shared experience—even if it’s once a year.
There’s one more step before we make the connection: We have to know more about our customers, patrons, employees and prospects.
Play Ball!
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