Day 2: Engagement Ecosystems need a purpose

Yesterday, I introduced the concept of Community Engagement Ecosystem Design (CEED) and its foundational principles. At its heart, an Engagement Ecosystem is about cultivating a community around your business, grounded in shared values, mutual respect, and vibrant collaboration. Unlike traditional marketing strategies focused on short-term gains, CEED emphasizes long-term success built on trust and authentic relationships.?

Understanding the Purpose of Your CEED

Building a CEED goes beyond merely enhancing customer loyalty or increasing sales—it's about creating a space where your business and customers grow together. It's about developing an environment where customers feel valued not just for their purchases but for their ideas, feedback, and who they are as people. This sense of belonging and ownership turns customers into active participants in your business's journey, fostering a deep, lasting connection.

Everybody goes home happy

For an Engagement Ecosystem to be truly effective, both the company and its customers must collaborate to create value for all parties involved. It's not about short-term incentives or sales spikes. Instead, it's about recognizing each other for who they are and what they desire. When this mutual understanding and cooperation are achieved, the community delivers exceptional value, fostering a dedicated group of advocates who can propel your business forward.

?For more than two decades, my guiding principle in developing Engagement Ecosystems has been simple: Everybody goes home happy. This philosophy underpins every successful Engagement Ecosystem. When your company derives tangible value while your community members are delighted by their experiences, you have created something extraordinary.

Start with "Why"

The first and most crucial step in creating an Engagement Ecosystem is understanding and defining the "Why." This involves answering two fundamental questions:

1. What do you hope to accomplish? What business metrics are you aiming to improve, and how will customer engagement directly contribute to these goals?
2. What will motivate and excite your participants? Customers engage based on their own needs and interests, not your business metrics. How will you design a program that is enjoyable, fulfilling, and engaging for them?

Defining Your "Why" with Purpose

Understanding your "Why" involves identifying the shared value you can offer. It’s not just a marketing slogan—it’s a foundation for connection and action. Here are a few examples:

Building Authentic Connections

In an era of digital noise and impersonal transactions, customers crave authenticity. They want to connect with businesses that reflect their values and understand their needs. A CEED provides a platform for these connections to happen. It allows businesss to engage with customers on a deeper level, moving beyond surface-level interactions to foster genuine relationships.

?For example, Patagonia, an outdoor clothing business, has built a community around its commitment to environmental activism. Through its CEED, Patagonia engages with customers who share a passion for sustainability, creating a strong, loyal community that goes beyond the purchase of a jacket or backpack. This is about more than selling products—it’s about connecting with people who believe in the same causes and who are willing to advocate for the business because of its shared values.

Creating a Shared Narrative

Every business has a story, and so do its customers. A well-designed CEED brings these narratives together, creating a shared story that resonates with everyone involved. This shared narrative becomes the foundation upon which trust and loyalty are built.

When customers feel that their stories are part of your business’s story, they are more likely to engage and invest in the community.

Take LEGO, for instance. My goal when I was building the first Engagement Ecosystem was to convince the world that LEGO is a creative medium (rather than a toy for boys 7-12). The community has grown up the last several decades around establishing and growing this idea.

Through its CEED, LEGO effectively partners with customers to co-creators of the business. This shared narrative strengthens the bond between the company and its customers, fostering a sense of belonging that goes far beyond the product itself. This has lead to incredible sales for LEGO over the years because audiences are expanded, Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) increases, and customer advocacy brings in significant new business.

Fostering Innovation through Collaboration

One of the most powerful outcomes of an Engagement Ecosystem is its potential to drive innovation. When customers have a metaphorical (and sometimes literal) seat at the product development table, they feel a sense of ownership, they are more likely to contribute ideas and provide feedback. This collaborative environment can lead to the development of new products, services, or experiences that better meet customer needs.

By involving customers in the development process, businesses can tap into a wealth of knowledge and creativity that might otherwise be overlooked. Recently I worked with a company making tech products for golfers to build an Engagement Ecosystem specifically focused on final stage product development and launch support. We recruited 40 golfers with diverse backgrounds to engage in a private discussion platform and shipped them each an early review product.

Their feedback, ideas, testing, and usage insights help not only the engineers working to finish the product but product managers and product marketers working to prepare for launch, the customer service understand how to prepare for launch, and post-launch advocacy on day one after launch.

Enhancing Customer Loyalty and Advocacy

Loyalty in today’s market is not just about repeat purchases; it’s about building a community of advocates who are willing to support, promote your business. An Engagement Ecosystem helps turn customers into advocates by making them feel like integral parts of your business’s journey.

When customers feel valued and heard, they are more likely to advocate for your business, sharing their positive experiences with friends, family, and on social media. This word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable, as it comes from a place of genuine support and belief in your business.

Contributing to Social Impact

Beyond business goals, Engagement Ecosystems can be a powerful tool for social change. By engaging customers around a common cause or purpose, businesses can harness the collective power of their communities to drive positive impact.

TOMS Shoes, for example, has built a community around the idea of giving back. With its “One for One” model, TOMS donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. This purpose-driven approach has attracted a loyal community of customers who not only buy the products but also believe in the business’s mission to make a difference. Their purchases mean something to them on an emotional level. It moves out of the functional realm and into the emotional. This is more than just telling someone a donation is being made from their purpose. It grows their sense of self.?

The long-term power of CEED

Building a Community Engagement Ecosystem Design is more than a short-term strategy; it's a long-term investment in your business's future. By identifying and understanding your purpose, you create the foundation that an Engagement Ecosystem grows from. This foundation allows genuine connections, innovation, enhanced loyalty, and so much more to bloom.

Thank you all for subscribing and following along with this 30 Day Engagement Ecosystem Playbook project! Please feel free to comment or message me with feedback, requests, or thoughts on each day's post.

If you're interested in talking more about how Engagement Ecosystems might help you grow your business, please message me or setup a quick conversation via Calendly . I look forward to hearing from you.