Marketing in the Participation Age: A Guide to Motivating People to Join, Share, Take Part, Connect, and Engage

Chapter 6

D + E + C = P2

Discover

As previously discussed, all three Participation Way principles are intrinsically connected. The goal is not to activate them independently, because focusing on just a single principle limits the marketing program effectiveness. However, practicality in the planning and activation processes requires us to think through and address each individual element independently.

As we know, the Participation Way discover principle comes from the self-determination theory. Digging a little deeper into what this means will help us bring this to life for participants in our marketing programs. We have already discussed how technology has enabled humans’ desire and ability to continually learn in unimaginable ways—and at any given moment. As such, the following should be considered when activating the discover principle in a marketing program.

1. Discover “Findability”

Today’s participants expect to be able to pick up any device at any time and access the information they are seeking. Therefore, the first order of the discover principle is to make sure your product or service can actually be found. This means making every element of information findable—not just what the product is and why it’s great, but everything around it. You must make information available about where customers can purchase or see it, hours of operation, customer service and troubleshooting, recommendations, and so forth.

One way to envision findability in today’s connected world is to ...