Halloween is in the books and now memes abound re: decorating for Christmas the minute the calendar flips to November. Most people find this a bit much, opting to hold out until Black Friday & beyond, or December 1st. Somewhere in that first week of December there is a very dramatic shift from “too soon” to “way too late”, and I often find myself scrambling in the panic of the latter. 😂
What I can tell you as a shop-owner is that retailers have, by and large, been thinking about these upcoming 6-8 weeks since at least the summertime.
As consumers, we are not pawns in someone’s game and we do not need to respond in Pavlovian style to the tactics of people who are very smart and very skilled at their jobs! I love marketing — I consider it my primary job, and it does excite & enliven me — but, there is a lot of, shall we say, indignity and manipulation that I do not appreciate as both a professional and a customer.
Here are some ways to resist the ugly side of holiday marketing, and to assert our own priorities & values during a noisy season.
Unsubscribe
Did you sign up for an email newsletter to get a discount code or special download? If the emails are no longer providing you with something that is helpful, valuable, or interesting to you: unsubscribe.
(My goal, of course, is that our dignify weekly email falls into the helpful/valuable/interesting category 😉)
Personally, email still is my most important tool, reference source, and mode of communication and I use it every day. Text is gaining in prevalence, but email is still massive for most people in every demographic. Even if there's nothing negative about the specific emails I am receiving, more and more promotional emails during this season can become overwhelming, messy, cluttered, and distracting.
At least once a year, I need to take stock of what is coming in and unsubscribe from some of the noise. Fewer notifications and lower unread message numbers = simplification, clarity, and space.
Unfollow
All brands will be ramping up their efforts in the next couple of months. If you scroll past posts from a brand that rubs you the wrong way, or offers something you simply aren't interested in: unfollow.
The brand's voice will become louder and more frequent in the coming months... unless you truly are interested in what they have to share (inspired by the beauty, connected with the vision, etc.), you may want to consider whether to keep listening to that voice.
Put it Down
A further step would be take a break altogether. Stop getting promo mail & flyers to your house, remove apps from your phone, put limits on your electronics use. It's like taking a break from social media over Lent, or going sober for the month of January.
The noisiest time for shopping consumption is November & December, so if you feel overwhelmed & want to take an extreme action, cutting marketing sources out altogether may be the way to do it.
Write A List (Or a Few)
The best way to be intentional about your spending (at any time of the year, but especially during higher shopping times like the holidays) is to make a list, and work from your list.
Start a list for gifts, a wish-list for your home, a list of upcoming needs for your kids' activities or clothes... whatever it is where you envision your dollars may go in the coming months. Some upfront planning will help to minimize buyer's remorse, stick to what you actually want, and minimize decision fatigue.
2 comments
Leave a commentThis is a brilliant and helpful post, thank you.
My gf reminded me just this morning that we can choose to take a social media break. Maybe set it aside until we need to make contact that is only available that way. Phone a friend works over a text too. Remember to breathe.