The participation paradox…

So where does this get us?

It tells that a very small number of people buy us frequently, and know us very well. They’ll come into contact with our brand more often. They’ll be more likely to notice our advertising. And they’ll be more willing to participate in our marketing activity.

Equally, it tells us that the vast majority of people don’t buy us exclusively, don’t buy us very often, and don’t know us very well.

And it tells us that significant growth comes not from increasing loyalty but from attracting more people who don’t buy us at the moment. That is, people who don’t know very much about us, don’t have much contact with us, aren’t predisposed to notice our marketing content, aren’t inclined to participate in it, and won’t buy us very often.

So here we have our paradox:

The people LEAST likely to engage deeply…

… are the MOST important for growth

There is a way out of this paradox. But it requires us to embrace two principles:

The battle is for interest, not attention
Fans are actors, not the audience