I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “engagement” and how it is bantered about in the marketing world. Everyone is talking about how important it is to engage consumers and customers. Whether it’s social media, advertising, PR or even the experiential marketing world, it is a buzz word everyone has embraced. I think focusing on engagement is backwards. Engagement is all about the act of engaging “to” someone.
Think about the last event marketing event report you saw. It probably tracked impressions and engagements along with lots of other data. Would the numbers have changed if the tracking was all about participation? How many chose to participate? How long did they choose to participate with your brand? Were they actively participating with your brand or were you actively engaging them? There is a difference, isn’t there?
I believe PARTICIPATION is a better way to look at your marketing efforts. Participation is from the consumers point of view, not the marketer and that is the way we all need to be thinking. It is all about the consumer, end of story. Look at it this way; is it more powerful when you send an email out or a consumer sends one to you? Is it more compelling when you knock on a consumer’s door or when they come into your store?
So, let’s stop talking about engagements and start tracking participation. It really is all about the consumer, not the brand.
Consumer Participation Marketing… the new CPM.