Engagement: Applying Social Action to Business

There was a certain prevailing notion about business that I and many others from my generation experienced as we ascended the rickety and treacherous ladder to adulthood: it is by definition amoral. Profit is the holy grail, and any people, animals, or environments in the way of that goal were to be swept aside. Well, another part of adulthood is also sweeping aside the preconceived notions fostered in the boiling cauldron of teenage angst, so with that said, I'd like to put forth a proposition. The strongest businesses are those that can actualize and engage their intended audience. Social action is as large a deciding factor in the marketplace as it is when rallying for causes. People need to feel involved. With the advent of social media, we are all connected for better or for worse. There are no more numbers, only names. That's a liberating thought, isn't it?

As a result of this movement, it's no longer easy to get away with inundating potential customers with impersonal spam. Instead, it's necessary to learn about and nurture the connections you wish to make (see my lead nurturing article for more on that). An effective marketing campaign in the modern corporate landscape should take more cues from non-profits and social change efforts than it does from risk analysts and financial planners.

An emerging company that embodies this new mode of thought is Dailybreak. They market not only a product, but an experience as well. How? Through interactive snippets of content called challenges. These unique digital packages encourage consumer participation, what Dailybreak calls, aptly enough, social actions. Whether through a bite-sized game, a photo contest, a public vote, or an abundance of other options, Dailybreak pulls people in and makes them feel as though they are a part of something. This may sound familiar, as it is a very similar model to the one that Kiva uses, which I discussed in an earlier post. Social responsibility influencing corporate culture. Who'da thunk?

Anyway, I find Dailybreak's approach so fascinating because it can be applied almost anywhere. Just find the interactions most appropriate to your particular line of interest and off you go. The best part is that there's no way to be disingenuous here. To follow such a model necessitates a deep understanding of your audience and a genuine interest in connecting with them on a personal level. The old methodologies of simple trickery go out the window in this scenario. Corporations now have to be responsible in order to even attract customers.

Bravo, I say. Bravo to the Age of Information. As Neal DeGrasse Tyson put it, "We are all connected to each other biologically; to the earth chemically; to the rest of the universe atomically." The more that business assimilates this truth, the more ethical practices will prevail and the more people will get what they need instead of just meeting a series of transient, fleeting, implanted wants. Keep that in mind the next time that you advertise, and I wish you the best of luck in finding those in the world who need what you have to offer. They're out there, I promise.