I wondered if I was writing this piece because I’m in holiday mode. Or because it’s nearly my birthday. But I’ve been thinking about joy. Really off the back of this Ted talk, which is definitely worth a watch (13 minutes of joy).
Your work gives me feelings of joy
Isn’t this a fantastic thing to have said about what you do? And can you imagine how you’d feel if your customers said that about anything you do? It might not be a usual business success criteria, but if a brand makes a customer feel joy, then I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be a success.
An intense momentary experience of positive emotion
Imagine those moments of joy that you feel. They’re not necessarily big things, like buying a swanky car or a flashy diamond. I get joy from a decent cup of tea, the smell of sea air, a post with no spelling mistakes.
You might think that it’s a all a bit hippy, dippy, claptrap. But can you imagine if the email that landed in your inbox, that you decided to read, left you feeling a bit of joy, wouldn’t that be an amazing thing? Wouldn’t you want to check out that brand a bit more? You’d browse what they did with just a little more positivity than before that momentary experience.
That feels like a set up to a potentially successful interaction.
Joy is about feeling good in the moment
Your content exists as a moment in time. A few moments in your customer’s life. Make them joyful. You can do this by being helpful or just by giving them a moment. I mean, who doesn’t want to see biscuits flying around a tea factory?
There is some sort of commercial reasoning behind why Yorkshire Tea made this video. They do have a new product called Biscuit Brew. They could have just done some dull old school press release. But they did something that was in the moment. Look at the faces of the people watching.
That’s joy.
What did your face look like watching it do you think? Will I buy Biscuit Brew? Maybe, maybe not. But I’ll continue buying Yorkshire Tea, and keep looking out for what else they get up to.
What do you need for joy?
I love the part in Ingrid’s talk where she talks about joy coming from a sense of abundance and multiplicity, and from a feeling of lightness and or elevation. Think about how you can bring those things into your content, in a way that makes sense to your business.
Choose to be the joyful brand. Choose to bring abundance to your customers lives.
Or at least bring them a decent cup of tea.
How will you bring joy?
I’m off to invest in some joy for a few days holiday. My legendary housesitting aunt and uncle are at my house, and I’m heading off to take lungfuls of sea air and feel joy.
Have a joyful few weeks. Create content that brings a moment of joy. And potentially great sales, great reviews, and great joy to others.
