← The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
OnlyParks, Thirst Traps & The Shift No One Is Talking About
00:20:38
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The world is already wild enough right now. So in this episode, we're going to take a little break from the stressors of the world to talk about a very fun trend I'm seeing happening with our national parks in the great old US of A. And really dive into this only parks trend and how you can apply some of these strategies to your business. But before I get into that, I gotta say this episode is brought to you by my amazing coach, Becky Mollenkamp. She is releasing a book called Liberate youe Business. And, y', all, this book is going to be so informative. First of all, Becky's amazing. I literally would not be here, I don't think, in this. Like, I think I would have quit my business if it weren't for her, because she really helped me understand why a lot of, like, the traditional business advice didn't work for me in my business. The. The fake urgency, the scarcity, the hierarchy, all of that, like, business best practices weren't working for me. And I felt a lot of shame around some of the decisions I've had to make in my business lately, around my life and kids and, like, getting separated and how all of that reflects in my business. And the way that she has these honest reality checks, the way that she reframes the narrative, the way that she talks to me about, like, it's not just a you problem, it's a systemic problem. Hello. Has really helped me be able to navigate this world and survive and live. And so I know this book is going to be amazing. I can't wait to read it. Read it. And I hope you read it as well. I'm going to drop the link in the show notes online, dre.com 403 but you can also find it by just Googling Becky Mallenkamp book, and it'll pop up. Okay, but click the link in the show notes too, because I got it there. All right, let's dive in to today's episode. I have notes for this, y', all, because I first noticed the national parks doing a thing, and I was like, oh, that's cute. That's fun. And then it kind of spiraled. So I want to talk about the origin story, what it is, and why I'm even doing a whole episode on this. So national park accounts. Thank your Yellowstone National Park. Okay, these park accounts are. And creators are posting their videos of, you know, the geysers, the. The animals, the trees, the nature, and then the audio over top, the sound over top are these, like, very suggestive, romantic Style basically thirst trap sounds that are put to these, you know, cinematic videos of the landscape. Okay, Think like audio narrator, voice energy over the cinematic. It kind of has an ASMR vibe to it, right? It's like a low rumbly voice or a sultry voice on top of this like visually stunning landscape. Okay? The contrast is the point of this trend. It's the contrast of like the stunning landscape with the unexpectedness of this, like basically only fans adult explicit content stuff without being too far. Okay? We've got class, we've got taste without going too far. And it's, it's so funny to me. And it's like the contrast of it makes you stop and watch the video and then it's blowing up because people are so unexpected with, and delighted and titillated by this content. And so platforms like TikTok and then the rest of y' all in the world are going to see it a couple of weeks later. Yeah, that was shade. Okay, Facebook, Instagram, even Pinterest are getting these videos of this, you know, central sultry voice, explicit adjacent content combined with the cinematography of the national parks in the U.S. okay, so some of these accounts are being posted by the national parks themselves. A lot of them are like content creators kind of jumping in on this trend. But I want to talk about in this episode why this is working. Because I think if we really delve into the why, we can extract some of these things and apply them to our own business. So the first thing that I'm seeing and why this is working is immediately it's a pattern interruption, okay? We are experiencing something unexpected and so we end up watching it and sharing it with our friends. And platforms like TikTok reward content that is consumed and that is shared. Okay? So not only are we watching the whole video, but we go, oh, I gotta send this to my friend. And we all have those friends where we like DM, the TikToks too, right? We text the TikToks too. When we see that kind of content, something out of place or something unfamiliar, we feel like we need to share it. So there's a, there's a psychological thing happening there, which is just how we use social media, which is the pattern interruption. We stop the scroll and we share. Okay? So if we can create content in that vein, we're winning. The second reason why this works is there is an emotional activator to this. We have a visceral response to this content. So not only are we stopping and sharing, we're feeling something with this. Maybe it's humor. Maybe it's surprise, maybe we're curious, maybe we suddenly looking at national parks in a way that we've never had before. Right. This kind of shapes how we navigate social media in general. We as humans are very emotional creatures. We love a good emotional experience, whether it's a laugh or a shock or something like that. And this kind of captured all of that. And y', all, this trend is not about the sexy audios and it's not about the parks. It's about the combination. When we see those two things together, we start feel a certain way. And so we feel that unexpected, that like, wait, why am I watching this feeling? And that helps us continue watching that video. Okay. So we tap into the emotional experience there. And if we could do that with our content, then it really helps kind of drive things forward with the people that we want to connect with. The third thing that I'm seeing, and this is something that I have been talking about my predictions episodes for two years now, is this actually for longer than that, but is this idea of this low lift, low pressure content style, okay, we're seeing a bigger shift from brands overall creating content that is low lift. What I mean by that is we're not doing the highly polished videos or over producing the videos. There is a time and a place for that. There is a time and a place for that. I'm not saying those are going away. I'm just saying majority of content now is shifting towards B roll videos, is shifting towards voiceovers, slower storytelling, the VLO lifestyle videos, the soft content, the day in the lifestyle videos. Right? People want this idea of like, I just rolled out of bed and I woke up like this and I didn't try too hard. And so that's the other thing about this trend is that it doesn't feel like the national parks are trying too hard when they create a content video that's like, hi, welcome to Yellowstone National Park. Today we're going to look at blah, blah, blah, it's fine, it performs, but it, it feels orchestrated. And so we know that like on a subconscious layer. But these videos feels like some Gen Z or you know, social media intern is like putting them together and like laughing because they think it's funny. And so like we think it's funny too because it doesn't feel like it. Like they tried too hard, you know. So not only do we have the pattern interruption, right? We stop scrolling and we want to share it. Not only do we have the emotional component, we feel something. Not only do we connect with it on a subconscious level because it feels like it's low pressure, low, low effort. The other thing is there's this idea around trends and general, that is insider language. So the insider borrowed language is why we feel such a deep connection to this. Because we feel like we're in on the joke. We feel like we understand it. And so for those of us who are chronically online, we will like and share the heck out of these videos because we feel like we're a part of something bigger. Right? So let's zoom out for a moment and figure out how this works for us. The regular schmegular business owner who is observing these trends, seeing them happening, going, that's cute or that's funny or that's interesting. But what does this have to do with me and my business? And I don't think this trend is random. I think there's a lot of things happening right now on a global level too. Why this works right now. I don't even want to talk about what's happening in the world right now. But it feels like I always have to bring it up because we're not living in an isolated bubble. So when there's a shit storm happening in the world and we look at something like only parks and we go, that's hilarious. It's because we're also overstimulated by bad news. Okay? So anything, sometimes that's good news works really well, especially on social media right now. So the light heartedness of it all, if you zoom out, kind of works really well right now. The other thing that's working really well right now is there's a lot of conversation around burnout as a business owner. And when we think about creating content, some of us even just thinking about creating content, we go, ugh, right? We're like, I have to make another thing. So when we see a trend like this, we go, that's fun. I wish my business could be fun. I wish I could whip up a video that's, you know, on trend but doesn't work for me. Right? And so when we zoom out, there's like this, this context that we feel when, when it comes to our marketing that we kind of, we like the humor and the levity of it all, but then we also feel shame or a disconnect in how we can apply it to our business. So I've got to address that too, because I don't want you to feel like you have to hop on this trend specifically because I'll tell you this right now, it's not going to work for most of you, unless you are a national park or some sort of park. It could even be a local park. Local municipalities, I think should jump on this trend. Within reason. Within reason. If you have like a kids park, I maybe wouldn't, but honestly, I think that the way that they're doing this is so beautiful that I think there's a lot we can learn from it. And I will say this is coming at an interesting time for me because I'm in the middle of this. No pressure postparty. And if you all are watching this or listening to this podcast in real time, I'm two days late on posting it because I had the nastiest stomach bug last week and it took me out. And so when I see stuff like this, this ties into the concept of showing up without overthinking it, to posting without being perfected, per. Like over perfecting it, to letting the content just be. To be simple and to like, get the data and the feedback of what's actually. Like, what do people actually care about? What are. What are the things that they're actually paying attention to? What are the things that they're actually liking and sharing? Instead of just checking the box of I posted content, I am doing this kind of short burst of energy on creating content to figure out what is actually resonating with people. And I feel like this only parks trend is that it's like, don't overcomplicate it, don't overthink it. Just do it and see what happens. Now here's what I think you can take away from this as a business owner. One, your perspective is a foundation to everything. Okay? Your perspective, you're. As a business, your business's perspective is the foundation to everything. So when we take the only parks trend, the perspective is that parks are sensual, parks are beautiful, parks should be praised. Okay? So that's their perspective. Then you combine it with this trend of the sensual audio erotica angle, and it just works. And when you know your perspective, you can know when to hop on a trend and when not to, right? So they have the B roll of the slow, you know, narrated landscapes. They have all the different angles of the parks in every season, and they just added that to this trend. Easy peasy, right? I think the second thing is, second takeaway for y' all is not only do you need to know your perspective, your. Your POV as a business owner, you don't need to do something new. You don't need a new idea. You need a new angle. Okay? You don't need new ideas, you need new angles. And so this is where I think we get in trouble as business owners is we feel like we have to come up with new ideas all the time. I can tell you right now, this podcast, I've said the things that I've been saying this whole time. My angle is that now I'm talking about the only parks trend. And specifically, okay, so you don't need a new idea, you need a new angle. So for example, if you are email copywriter and you help people write their emails, you could say, here are three tips for how you can write your email newsletter this week. Great. That's a video one. Sure, it's a little boring, but you can go with that. If you wanted a new angle, you could say, here's one thing I do to make my emails feel like a late night voice note. You see how that's an angle that's specific. You could have the same tips in there. You can even do the same three things. But the angle is that feeling piece. That, that piece where we're like, oh, I really want my emails to feel and sound like me. How do I do that? Right? And so not only do you need to have your unique perspective and repeat that, you need to have new angles for the same idea. Okay, the other thing I will say about this is you can borrow from other. From the momentum of energy, right? There's a momentum happening in this only parks trend. Just in this example, the format's there, the audios are there, the, the blueprint is there. You don't have to even do a different angle. That that is the angle. You just borrow the momentum of that and do it. And, and I know some people go, oh, you know, isn't this stealing content? It's not the nature of TikTok. And the nature of trending content is that we're using the templated format and we understand the format and that's why the joke is funny. Okay? That's why the joke is funny. So use a format that already works and just adapt it to what you do. So in this particular case, it's Thirst Trap audios combined with, I guess they are Thirst Chat videos of national parks. Another takeaway for this, you don't have to be fancy. So you have your pov, you have what you want to say. It's the same idea, just a new angle you're borrowing on the momentum and then you're doing it in a way that's not fancy. Because I think sometimes, especially with trending content, the fancier you are, the less it performs. I. Again, it goes back into that psychological thing where when we feel like people are trying too hard, we kind of. Oh, golf clap. Good for you, sweetie. You know what I mean? It kind of reminds me of my. Both of my daughters are in this jumping phase right now where they say, mom, mom, watch me jump. And I'm like, oh, you did great. That jump was so high. Knowing, dang. Well, they made it not even an inch off the floor, but I'm rooting and tooting for them. Good job, baby. You. You got it. Go, girl. That's just the kind of mom that I am. However, I don't want you to feel like that about your content, okay? I don't want people to do the little, small golf clap. Good job for your content. And so we don't want it to be so much effort. We want it to feel effortless, and we want it to feel easy to consume, okay? And so I want you to lower that production bar, okay? Low. Don't overthink it and just post it. I will tell you this. I'm doing the no pressure post party. I am nine days in. You want to know what my most viewed video is? I'm in a bonnet. I don't know what y' all love about me looking busted and broke, but I was sick, okay? And so I just recorded this video. Like, look. Look at this thing that I found. I'm in a bonnet, y'. All. It's low production quality. Even as I rewatch the video, I have, like, crusty, dusty stuff on my screen. I'm literally pointing my phone at the screen. Like, I should have cleaned my. My. My computer screen before this. Y' all don't care. That's my most viewed video of this whole thing. Because why? Well, I borrowed off the energy of someone else. It's not even me talking about me. It's talking about Canva, which I love. It wasn't a new idea. It wasn't even my idea. I was just showing something excitedly, and that is it. And I think the last thing to this is you got to commit to it. Commit to the bit. There's a balance between not trying too hard but also not committing to it. And I think if you shy away from it a little bit. For example, I think if the only parks trend, if, for instance, someone, you know, filmed custom content for this, they didn't use B roll they already had. They, like, went and filmed custom content for this, and then it had to get three approvals by the lawyers, and then they created their own audio. It's just not going to work. It's not going to land right. And so I feel like also if you use audio that maybe wasn't explicit and tried to say only parks, that's half trying. Like, you either do it and go all the way or you just skip the trend. Just skip it, do the next one. Right? And so I want to, I wanted to come on the mic and talk about this because I think it's a great example of marketing that doesn't have to be so serious. It doesn't have to be heavy. Yes, it could still follow a strategy. Yes, it can still be about you and your business, but it doesn't have to be post, post more all the time. All the time. It doesn't have to be. We need to have a strategic campaign around this. It could simply be observing what your people are doing, what your community is doing and joining the conversation, participating in what people are talking about instead of being on a megaphone all the time going, look at me, look at me, look at me. Which of course, we need that in our businesses sometimes. But sometimes it's not posting more or being like more polished or being, you know, more having higher production quality. Sometimes the thing is you just show up and be light and be simple. Okay, now, if you liked this episode, especially if you're more curious about my no pressure postparty, come on in and join us inside of the Mindful marketing lab. I'm sharing my first report this week. This week one of doing the no pressure postparty and talking through the results. You can only get that inside of the lab. Come on in and join us online. Dre.com lab but my question for you today is, would you do your own version of Only Parks? What would happen if there's the next trend that comes around and you just let it be easy. Just let your marketing be that easy. I think you will be surprised. Stay tuned because I have another episode for you next week. I'm very excited about that. But in the meantime, make sure you rate and review us on Apple podcasts. And Spotify helps keep us in the top 100 marketing podcasts. That's all because of your support. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.