Merging Thoughts

In this pandemic, many aspects of our work, business, and social interactions are moving to the digital space, and probably part of it will stay as part of the new norm. As we experience this new transition into the digital space or new norm, it is essential to remember to include the human element in our digital interactions.

You probably have seen a lot of companies, organizations, and entrepreneurs doing Zoom meetings, online workshops, virtual parties, and even happy hours. These interactions are great; most of the digital events I have attended have done a decent job making the digital interaction a welcoming and warm experience.

The problem comes when attendees do brand integration and promotion. I have seen people tried so hard that it becomes a sort of invasive, for example, virtual backgrounds in Zoom. People intend to do brand promotion and placement, but most of the time, they fail to do it right. Firstly, not using the right dimension, cropping the logo from the screen. Secondly, logo placement is not in the correct position, and it ends up covered by the person; and finally, low quality or too large that it feels right in your face (from the viewer perspective). 

Another example is the conversations in chatrooms; some attendees spam it with their LinkedIn profile link, website, or social media handles. As I mentioned before, I understand the intention; however, in my personal view, these make the digital experience invasive lacking the human element. 

What I mean by human element is the act of making the digital experience ‘more human’ feel more natural and organic. For example, spamming the chatroom is similar to attending a networking event and throw your business card to any stranger you see in the event without even engage with them. Do you see where I’m going?

Think about the tactics you used when meeting with people. Talk to them, engage, ask questions, share your knowledge. Remember that the point is to create a relationship, not just to use it as an opportunity to saturate them with your contact info.  

Brand Positioning and Placement. For your next Zoom or virtual meeting, tried to make your brand placement less invasive. Please, please do not use a virtual background at least you know what you are doing. Perhaps, only do virtual background if you have a high-quality webcam and decent light equipment.

A more effective way to integrate your brand is to incorporate it into your environment. For example, you can get a coffee mug with your logo and drink your coffee while listening to the speaker. Print your logo, frame it, and hang it on your back wall or place it on your bookshelf or desk. Lastly, you could print a t-shirt with your logo, which is my go-to tactic. These ideas are affordable and are not going to break your bank account.

You may think, who is going to look at my Zoom window… although it may sound weird, yes people like to scroll the window panel to look other faces. That’s part of the human element sentiment; people want to see faces, and yes, they also look at the environment behind you. Remember that we are curious creatures. 

Sharing Contact Information. When it comes to sharing contact information, think about centralizing and including all attendees in the chatroom, per said, one way to do it is to create a google sheet and make it public. Share the link in the chatroom and state that the purpose is to centralize everybody’s contact info. On the google sheet, create a column for name, title, LinkedIn profile, company, website, and remarks or message.

This way, the contact information is centralized and accessible for everybody. Attendees don’t spam the chatroom, or you don’t spend time scrolling up and down tried to find that particular persons’ contact info. By having a document accessible even after the Zoom meeting, attendees have more time to engage in a conversation, create relationships, and make the digital interaction more human. 

As we transition into a new norm, where most of our interactions are going to happen in the digital space, always remember to include the human element. It would improve your brand positioning, your experience, and help you create more meaningful relationships. 

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