The Profitable Power of Unified Action

All sorts of unified groups — from a cult to a movement to a spin class — require leadership. And that’s what a Leading Expert provides to prospects.

Military basic training is intense.

Most people who haven’t been through it will think in terms of grueling physical conditioning. But it’s so much more than that.

“Boot camp” is essentially a process of resocialization — an intentional campaign by which recruits’ social values, beliefs, and norms are re-engineered. The goal is to cause new soldiers to unlearn what they know and relearn the way of the corp.

Beyond physical conditioning, psychological techniques are used to shape attitudes and desired behaviors so that recruits will obey orders without question and kill their opponents in battle, all while facing the prospect of imminent death themselves.

But the most important shift is from an individual in general society to a member of a unified group of warriors. While larger unifying concepts of patriotism and nationalism may already be present, recruits are intentionally bonded with other members of the military in general and their unit in particular.

Combat veterans will tell you that their greatest motive was protecting the fellow soldiers they fought alongside with. When it comes down to the trenches, you’re not fighting for a flag but rather the brother or sister beside you.

Acting together is a powerful thing. Even when group membership already lends itself to a shared identity, unity can be amplified when people act in unified ways.

For example, football fans of The University of Michigan share an identity around the team. This group identification also extends to the school itself for students and alumni, but often, nothing beats sports when it comes to bringing people together.

At the end of the third quarter of an October 1, 2016, Michigan home game against Wisconsin, fans took action together in a way that has further bonded them ever since —and all it took was the guy in charge of stadium audio for “The Big House” trying something new.

He played the song “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. The sold-out crowd not only sang along, but they kept singing even after the music was cut. “Mr. Brightside” has been a third-quarter crowd ritual ever since.

It’s an odd choice when you think about it. The song is about infidelity and jealousy and has nothing to do with football. None of the band members have any association with Michigan. And although I also have nothing to do with the University of Michigan and am not a fan of the Wolverines, I absolutely love hearing the crowd singing together.

I’ve given you two drastically different examples of unified action to drive home an important point. Group unity can occur across a broad spectrum of experiences, ranging from life-or-death to life-affirming. 

Ultimately, unified action can make the difference between having a passive audience and becoming a profitable Leading Expert. And it’s at the core of many successful brands.

Leading Your Prospects to Action

Marines will tell you that the United States Marine Corps is indistinguishable from a death cult that puts the Manson Family to shame. The context and aim of the former make it acceptable and even admirable, while the latter group is unacceptable and frightening.

Unique language, ritual and symbolism, and a desire to belong led by strong authority figures make the two essentially the same type of group phenomenon. But ultimately it’s the unified activity the group engages in that strongly bonds members and leaders together.

Now think of SoulCycle and CrossFit, two commercial organizations often accused of being “cultish.” And it’s true that all the basic elements of a cult are present in both, combined with the potent glue of unified fitness activity. Remember, all unified groups operate on a spectrum of fanaticism, and these two athletic brands intentionally incorporate indoctrinating elements into their memberships both for marketing and retention.

Nike, Harley-Davidson, and Apple are considered the top “cult” brands in the world. With impactful advertising messages and the right products, fans of these companies run, ride, and compute in a way that facilitates a shared identity with each other and the brand itself.

If talk of “cults” makes you squeamish, let’s dial it back to the idea of a movement. That’s a group of people with a particular set of ideas working together through a series of organized activities toward an objective. It’s not the same as a cult, but it’s in the same ballpark.

All sorts of unified groups — from a cult to a movement to a spin class — require leadership. And that’s what a Leading Expert provides to prospects. But you must lay the groundwork before you can lead your audience into action.

The Mission and Movement portions of the Empowerment Marketing Framework have you off to a good start. You chose your audience based on your own sense of purpose and values. You then expanded your empathy by exploring how your ideal prospect thinks, feels, sees, and behaves in the context of the problem or desire.

As a leader performing the role of a mentor, you have to understand who your prospect wants to become, what motivates them, and how to concurrently elevate their individual status while satisfying their need to belong.

That means you have to revisit the idea of regulatory fit between you and your prospect. When a person believes that the way you’re guiding them toward the achievement of their goal is a personal match, they will be more engaged with the process and "feel right" about it.

The good news? Regulatory fit happens when a person pursues a goal in a way that maintains their personal values, which is how you began your strategic process in the first place. Once again, you see that values are at the root of everything.

Remember, the ultimate goal is to prompt a specific type of action, and that’s a purchase. Invoking the Unity Principle with your marketing leads to more of that particular form of action, which is often sparked by first leading prospects to engage in other activities

You want people to act in general. That means not only buying from you but also succeeding at solving their problem. When your audience takes action that leads to their success, they’ll attribute that success to your advice, products, and services. And that’s the beginning of a powerful marketing flywheel that leads to higher status and credibility for you, which, in turn, leads to a larger audience and more sales.

Spark Unity with an Action-Focused Audience

Some people want to attract an audience to be the focus of attention and adulation. But the most effective audience-builders put the audience first. In fact, they think of their following as a team they’re a part of and responsible for, just like any good leader.

Once you’ve established initial credibility and exposed people to your new or reframed ideas that depart from the status quo, it’s time to find ways that inspire action. And before you get mass purchasing action, it helps immensely to spark unified activity.

Here are three ways that work:

Challenges

For the last decade or so, email challenges have been a smart way to build an email list. Essentially, you offer to guide someone through the process of solving a problem or achieving a goal through a sequence of content lessons delivered by email.

We’ve done exercise and meditation challenges for our Further audience. Other challenge examples include getting your first 100 email subscribers, designing a simple website with WordPress, or learning how to make sourdough bread. The idea is to solve one aspect of a prospect’s total problem before offering a solution to the remainder.

Challenges are a great way to build a list, but only some people understand the true power of attracting prospects in a way that allows you to establish your credibility while leading people through a unified process. Too many marketers conduct the challenge mechanically as a simple way to make an offer at the end of the activity, and it often works. But it can work even better by playing a slightly longer game.

Structuring your “lead magnet” into a group challenge allows for both indoctrination and unified action right from the start, which can be incredibly effective. You’re establishing authority with the audience even while providing them with an early actionable success that they will attribute to your advice and leadership. 

And yes, this puts you in a perfect position to make the first offer to purchase your products or services. But don't forget that not everyone buys right away, so you need a follow-up strategy to nurture prospects in a way that maximizes your overall conversion rate.

Community

Digital marketing is a buzzword-generating machine. And the buzzword that’s consistently been around since the beginning is community. Ironically, companies that invoke this “C” word the most are often the least likely to be at the center of a real one.

It’s important to note that not every audience amounts to a community. There are plenty of ways to build an email list where people have no affinity for you or the other people you send messages to. And even when following the Leading Expert Methodology, only a subset of your total list will be true fans.

Make no mistake, though, organizing a true community of customers, clients, and prospects is a powerful thing. This is why my former company was known for its community almost as much as its content.

When WP Engine acquired our StudioPress line of business in 2018, the larger company bought our popular Genesis Framework, our hosting infrastructure, and a software-as-a-service product that was patented in several countries. But what WP Engine was really buying (by their own admission) was the community that had developed among our 200,000+ customers.

We noticed early on that web developers and designers were building their entire businesses around Genesis and sharing both marketing and design tips in the support forums. That led to our active encouragement and support of this community, which developed into the proverbial marketing flywheel everyone dreams of.

We also created paid membership communities for advanced education beyond the free content we shared. These became arenas for active participation and collaboration among our best customers — giving us invaluable insight into their problems and desires and enabling us to develop other winning products.

I could go on and on about the power of community, but it’s a topic unto itself. Remember, if you can get your most engaged people acting together in a community environment, whether paid or free, you’ve transcended “content marketing” and have established leadership.

Co-Creation

Have you ever heard of the IKEA effect? Named for the Swedish furniture brand, the IKEA effect causes people to more highly value items that they have assembled themselves, even if they did a poor job. In turn, they also value the company that provided the parts to assemble.

This is an aspect of the broader concept of co-creation, in which people feel a special affinity for things they have a hand in creating and with the person or brand they co-created with. In other words, co-creation sparks a context-specific merger of identities. 

This is another example of the power of unified action, which means finding ways for your prospects to participate in your business can have potent bonding effects. While this seems like a tall task, it actually comes down to simply asking your audience for feedback in a particular way.

Audience feedback is critical to evolving your content and developing winning products and services. Often, this feedback comes in the form of signals your prospect provides indirectly: clicks, email open rates, sharing, and unprompted questions and comments.

But you can also specifically ask for feedback. Research reveals that to spark the unifying aspects of co-creation, you should frame your request as asking for their advice.

You’re not asking in terms of opinions or their expectations of you. And you’re certainly not asking them what they will buy, as the only valid answer to that question is an actual purchase. While it may seem like a minor detail, conducting a survey or other request in which you ask for advice leads to a linking of identity with the party making the request.

For example, a group of online survey takers were given a description of a new fast-casual restaurant and then asked for feedback. Some were asked for “advice,” while others were asked for “opinions” or “expectations.” Those who provided “advice” rated the concept more highly and showed the strongest desire to eat at the new restaurant.¹

There are all sorts of ways that asking for feedback from prospective customers can go wrong, such as when you suggest the answer you want with the questions you ask and the multiple-choice answers you provide. But an open-ended request for advice will often deliver surprisingly useful information while unifying you that much more with your audience.

Unified Action as a Source of Good

Group unification can result in both wonderful and horrific outcomes. “Tribalism” originally developed out of the necessity for the protection and survival of the group and eventually evolved into sophisticated civilizations. It’s a remarkable process, but we also know it has a dark side.

It’s essential to understand the psychological forces you’re employing for that very reason. As Voltaire (and Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben) said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And you can’t afford to ignore the effectiveness of unified action with an audience-first business model.

The techniques of email challenges, community development, and co-creation can be immensely useful when it comes to helping people in a way that elevates your business. It ultimately comes down to your intent — are you genuinely interested in helping people, or are you seeking to control them for your own personal gratification and gain?

This is also a question to ask yourself when it comes to the various groups you belong to and the leaders you follow. At a minimum, you now know the forces that are at play when it comes to shared identities and the power of unified action.

1. Liu, W., and D. Gal. 2011. “Bringing Us Together or Driving Us Apart: The Effect of Soliciting Consumer Input on Consumers’ Propensity to Transact with an Organization.” Journal of Consumer Research 38: 242–59.