Digital wellness as central to your comms strategy
Coldplay recently played six sold-out concerts in Singapore. Before launching into ‘A Sky Full of Stars’, Chris Martin challenged the audience: “Let’s do this one song with no devices at all except your body and your soul. And your eyes and your ears. And each other”.
How many of the 55,000-strong audience do you think put their phones away?
Many, if not most, of us have an unhealthy relationship with our digital devices. Here are some key learnings from a marketing perspective that can help you promote digital wellness while keeping your target audience engaged.
#1. Quality over quantity
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. With so many digital tools and channels at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever to create reams of content for multiple audiences. But always think carefully about what you’re creating. Releasing one clear and single-minded message that truly cuts through the clutter is always much better than firing off multiple hastily executed messages that fail to resonate and simply add to the digital noise.
#2. Take an Integrated Approach
Digital channels that allow messages to be rapidly broadcast and the response instantly measured are understandably attractive. However, don’t forget about your offline channels. Maintaining an integrated, well-rounded approach is key. Ensuring your message is omnipresent (where relevant) means you’ll still be heard – even when your target audience decides it’s time for some digital downtime.
#3. Put control in the hands of your clients
Brands are built on trust and loyalty. In an era of digital overload, why not demonstrate how much you value your clients’ digital wellness by letting them control how often, and through which channels, they receive comms from you? Instead of a terse ‘set your communication preferences’, why not use friendlier, more empathetic language: ”We care about your digital wellness, which is why we want you to decide how you’d like us to communicate with you. Simply go to our Digital Wellness hub and set your preferences.”
#4. Design mindfully, simply
When designing website and app interfaces keep it simple. Map out clear user journeys that offer a streamlined experience free of unnecessary clutter and excessive features. As a brand marketer, we like to measure the time that consumers or clients spend with a brand. But ensure that time is well spent. Intuitive navigation allows clients to find their way more quickly around your platform – giving them more time to focus on your informative and engaging content.
#5. Incorporate Wellness Features
Tech giants like Google and Apple actively incorporate digital wellness tools into their products and services. Apple, for example, provides data visualisations on screen time stats and allows users to set limits on certain apps. Google, on the other hand, has introduced supportive defaults such as silent notifications during meetings and sleep time. Social media platforms have also begun incorporating such features, for example, Instagram’s ‘You’re all caught up now’ prompt that discourages incessant scrolling. Adding wellness reminders and mindfulness content into the tech platforms we develop helps clients to better manage how they use it and creates goodwill.
#6. Digital Wellness as a strategy
Depending on your business, you could take it a step further and make digital wellness central to your brand or marketing strategy. A few years ago, KFC Malaysia ran a campaign urging customers to stack their phones together via a QR code to encourage IRL conversations in their restaurants. The longer the stack was unbroken, the more points were gained – and more discount rewards customers received.
The UK’s Meantime Brewing Company is another brand that has gone down this road. They have made the concept of ‘time well spent’ – be it crafting the perfect beer or enjoying a beer with friends – central to their brand strategy and consumer messaging.
Incorporating digital wellness does not mean sacrificing relevance. On the contrary. With a little forethought and planning, baking digital wellness into your marketing strategy is good for the client and your brand.