Why Your Best Marketing Post Might Be the One You Almost Didn’t Share
We were in the area and thought, Why not walk through Burnsville Center?
It wasn’t on the agenda. We were curious.
Our family had made so many memories there over the years. Weekend shopping trips. Last-minute Christmas gifts. Wandering the mall without really needing anything. It was one of those places that quietly became part of our story.
Seeing it almost empty was surreal.
Like I usually do, I started taking videos. Not because I was creating content for my business, but because I thought it would be fun to use CapCut to create one of those abandoned mall videos with eerie music.
I posted it, smiled, and went about my day.
A few days later, it had been viewed more than 91,000 times.
Then it happened again.
The northern lights lit up the Minnesota sky, and I did what so many of us do when something beautiful unfolds right in front of us. I grabbed my phone.
Not because I was thinking about engagement.
Not because I was trying to grow my business.
Because I wanted to remember the moment.
That video received more than 2,200 likes, dozens of comments, and nearly 200 shares.
Neither post was polished. Neither post was part of my content calendar. Neither one was promoting my Fractional CMO business.
They were moments that meant something to me.
And maybe that’s exactly why they meant something to other people.
They were successful because they made people feel something.
As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about marketing, I couldn’t stop thinking about why those posts resonated.
I help businesses build marketing strategies. I believe in having a plan. I believe in understanding your audience and creating content with purpose.
But I also think we’ve reached a point where so much content feels… expected.
Every post has the perfect hook. Every video follows the same formula. Every caption feels like it’s leading us somewhere.
Sometimes that’s exactly what your business needs. But sometimes people are looking for something that feels real.
The abandoned mall wasn’t just an abandoned mall. For thousands of people, it reminded them of their mall.
The northern lights weren’t just another pretty sky. They reminded people to look up.
Those posts weren’t successful because they were strategic. They were successful because they made people feel something.
And isn’t that what great marketing is supposed to do?
Strategy should never replace humanity.
As a Fractional CMO, I don’t believe the answer is abandoning strategy. Quite the opposite. Strategy matters.
The strongest marketing doesn’t happen when you’re trying to sound like a brand. It happens when people can see the person behind the business.
So if you’ve been staring at a photo, a video, or even your next blog post, wondering if it’s “business enough,” let me encourage you.
If it made you stop. If it made you smile. If it made you remember.
There’s a good chance it will do the same for someone else.
Sometimes the posts we almost don’t share are the ones that connect the most.
Not because they’re perfect. But because they’re real.
Lisa Carmichael is the author of Marketing Dopamine: What Your Brain Is Really Doing When You Think You’re Building a Business. Learn more at lisarcarmichael.com
Great post! Thanks for the reminder to be genuine. I sometimes hesitate to write the post that I’m actually feeling at the time.
Thank you! That hesitation is so real. I’ve learned that if something feels genuine and true to who you are, it’s probably worth sharing. You never know whose day it might brighten or what conversation it might start.
I appreciate you highlighting the people piece of business, if we aren’t connecting with others, what’s the point?
Thank you! I couldn’t agree more. At the end of the day, people do business with people. We can spend hours perfecting our marketing, but if we aren’t creating genuine connections, we’re missing the whole point.