4 ways to incite action online: flying like a dragonfly
- Fri, April 29 2011
- Filed under: Social networking and web 2.0
I attended the Fast Company Innovation Uncensored Conference in New York yesterday. Thought leaders from JetBlue, Hulu, Pepsi, OWN/Oprah Winfrey Network, DonorsChoose and even Jared Leto discussed the future of marketing, branding in an age of social networks, and how to create culture of innovation at your organization. Today I’ll share what Jennifer Aaker, author of the Dragonfly Effect, said about inspiring infectious action. Tomorrow, I’ll share what I learned about building a strong culture at work.
At her session, Jennifer discussed the Dragonfly Effect, named for “the only insect that is able to move in any direction when its four wings are working in concert.”
Here are the four wings:
1. focus on a concrete goal
2. have an appealing cause that grabs attention and tell a great story about it
3. provide an experience that engages the individual
4. feature an easy call to action
“Small acts can create big change,” she said, “and you can generate momentum for a movement when you connect meaning to social media.”
By way of illustration, Jennifer told the story of her friend Sameer Bhatia, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who got leukemia and needed an elusive match for a bone marrow transplant in order to live. Through Facebook, YouTube videos, and friends recruiting friends through many other means online, a match was found—but in addition a movement was started to enter donor registries and donate bone marrow. While Bhatia eventually passed away, what lives on is a massive registry of potential donors for others in need of bone marrow transplants. The four wings were flying: a concrete goal, a compelling story and the basis for and call to action. Online organizing prompted offline action.
Good principles to keep in mind when you seek to connect - and inspire - action for your cause.
(I guest posted at the Dragonfly Effect blog with my thoughts on social media here.)
Comments
Well, I have read half a dozen of your blogs today, and was still thinking about what it means to count “expressions” and not “impressions.”
I dedided to comment just to let you know that I am impressed enough so far to express it.
Thanks for excellent advice, especially about engaging an audience through emotion and narratives.