May is Mental Health Awareness Month. At TopRank Marketing, we care about mental health.
We care about it because we care about people: their words, their stories, their experiences. Those things matter, and in order to protect them, we have to protect the well-being of the individuals they come from.
Did you know that in the United States alone, there are over 50 million people currently experiencing some form of mental illness? You might even be one of them. If that’s the case, thank you. Thank you for getting up this morning. Thank you for reading our words. Thank you for being here.
To acknowledge the importance of this month and our dedication to the cause of positive mental health in our industry, we’re starting a new column on the TopRank Marketing Blog: Mental Health in Marketing. The goal of this column is to share empathetic, practical, and accessible tips for maintaining a good headspace while in your workspace.
No blog can replace the medical advice and care of both psychologists and licensed therapists, however. Our advice is here to help you navigate day-to-day work with a little more ease. For long term care, we highly recommend seeking the help of medical professionals.
We’re looking forward to having you join us as we discuss topics we care about: avoiding burnout, improving communication, cultivating comfort, and streamlining success. Fidgets, too.
For our inaugural post, we wanted to share a few basic mental health tips that come straight from the hearts —and keyboards —of a number of TopRank team members.
1 — Wellness Tips From (and For) B2B Marketers
“Walks are the best. Getting back to nature in any way. I do some gardening which is my zen time. Also: yoga and meditation in general.”
— Debbie Friez, Influencer Marketing Manager
“I love to rejuvenate and reflect by getting outside daily either trail running, freestyle cross-country skiing, single-track mountain biking, or hiking. Keeping a year-round connection with Mother Nature in either a solo or group workout — depending on what you need that day — can go a surprisingly long way in helping to maintain both physical and mental health.”
— Lane R. Ellis, Social Media and Content Marketing Manager
“Walks. Walks are everything. I make a point of getting out for at least an hour long brisk walk everyday. If it’s cold out, I bundle up. Find a good podcast and some tunes that can let your mind escape from everything else. Especially in this age of remote work that often has us working inside and alone all day, the fresh air and exercise are incredibly refreshing and invigorating.”
— Nick Nelson, Senior Content Marketing Manager
“What works in the moment is three deep breaths. One to let out the stress. One to reconnect with your body. The last to center you on what you need to do next. I use the Insight Timer app for body scans during times I’m feeling particularly stressed. Also… there’s no harm in scheduling time on your calendar to sleep in or quit early during periods when your body needs it!”
— Elizabeth Williams, Director, New Business & Client Accounts
“My mental health go-to is also getting my body moving! Mine is typically in the form of OrangeTheory workouts, but anything to take a step back from work (or life) and just go autopilot – no screens, great music, and body movement. Drown out the noise of life with a great song instead. Plus it forces you to drink more water… which can be a hard thing to keep up on.”
— Amy Otis, Account Manager
“I think the most important thing when it comes to mental health is to remember that progress isn’t linear. Some days will be good, some days won’t be… and that’s okay! The greatest thing about each day is that there are only 24 hours. Eventually midnight will come, the clock will reset, and you’ll have another chance to write a new story. Zero o’clock.”
— Sam Kirchoff, Internal Marketing Manager
“Nick stole my answer. Come to think of it, so did Lane.”
— Theresa Dorsey Meis, Content Strategist
2 — Workplace Mental Health Resources
While we’re going to cover many different topics during the course of this column, we don’t presume to know everything there is to know about workplace mental health. That’s why we’ve gathered some helpful resources and articles for anyone interested in digging deeper on why the topic is so important.
Resources
- CDC – Mental Health in the Workplace
- American Psychiatric Association Foundation Center for Workplace Mental Health
- Mental Health America – Workplace Mental Health and Wellness
Articles
- It’s a New Era for Mental Health at Work – Harvard Business Review
- How to Be a Mental Health Ally – Harvard Business Review
- Mental health at work: It’s (finally) time to talk about it – Fast Company
- It’s OK Not to Be OK: Addressing Workplace Mental Health – Forbes
3 — Have a Positive Mental Health Moment With Us!
You may have noticed that, when given the opportunity to share their best tip for maintaining mental health, many of our team members focused on the magic of movement. Walks, yoga, stretching, skiing, and so on.
They’re not wrong. The John W. Brick Foundation’s 2021 Move Your Mental Health Report found that of over a thousand studies examined, 89% found a statistically significant, positive association between physical activity and mental health.
Keeping that in mind, we put together a little game. Pick one of the ten links below. Each one links to a random music video for an upbeat pop song. Whichever one you end up with, turn the volume up and dance to the whole thing.
Have fun! Loosen those shoulders, swing those arms, and get your groove thing on. Trust us when we say you’ll feel at least a little bit better afterward.
The Future of Mental Health in Marketing
Even though we’ve reached the end of this article, we still haven’t touched on the most important wellness tip of all: do your best to remember that you’re not alone. There are others out there who have felt what you’re feeling and want to help. There are mental health resources, tips, tricks, and exercises that can make a difference for you, for your colleagues, for your workplace, for everyone.
Our dedication to mental healthcare at TopRank has given us the great privilege of building a team of B2B marketers who are bright, capable, and dedicated to the creation of award-winning B2B marketing that elevates and humanizes with authenticity. Contact us to see how we can help your brand like we have for LinkedIn, Dell, 3M, Adobe, Oracle, and others over the last 20 years.
