Activation is not a secret

Persistent, consistent, and frequent stories, delivered to an aligned audience, will earn attention, trust, and action.

Marketers spend a lot of time talking, and on working on what we’re going to say. We need to spend far more time doing. Talking means focusing on holding a press conference for the masses. Not talking means focusing on what you do when no one is watching, one person at a time, day by day.

Marketers make change happen: for the smallest viable market, and by delivering anticipated, personal, and relevant messages that people actually want to get.

Persistent, consistent, and frequent stories, delivered to an aligned audience, will earn attention, trust, and action.

As marketers, we go to market to influence behavior. Everything we do is in service of this imperative—buy this, not that; go here, not there; drink this, not that; support her, not him; join this, not that; use this technology and not the other. We are in the business of behavioral adoption.

Regardless of what the specifics are, if you’re a marketer, you’re in the business of making change happen. Denying this is a form of hiding; it’s more productive to own it instead.