I’ve been studying motivation casually for about a decade. The learning started with my own personal motivation and as a leader, what motivated others. Quickly, I started to understand what motivates one person, often doesn’t work for another. Over time, some things worked and other things didn’t. My favorite frameworks became Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies (how we meet expectations) and the 10 Sparketypes by Jonathan Fields.
Fast forward to the last couple of years and I’ve been working on motivation and engagement pointed back toward marketing. Instead of motivating myself and my team, I’m looking at how customers are motivated and how they connect emotionally with brands. This has gone in many directions, and I’ve been reading a lot about behavioral science and game design prompted by my work with Wayfarer Solutions.
What has been interesting is that I wasn’t able to find the framework I was looking for. I knew people were motivated by different things and this is confirmed in game design and behavioral science literature. However, no one was speaking to the marketing audience.
So, when you can’t find the framework, you dig deep and apply what you’ve learned to create your own. That led me to what I’m calling the Marketing Motivation Grid.
As a strategist, this grid makes me excited about the opportunities. There is a lot here to think about. However, when you layer behavioral science and game mechanics into the categories a toolbox is unlocked that I haven’t seen in my 20+ years in the 1:1 marketing space. You can speak directly to a customer in a way that is relevant to them at that moment. Taking “right message” to a whole new level.
Summary
This framework is still taking shape.
Research and conversations are happening to make it stronger.
If you are intrigued (and willing to give me some feedback) please reach out.
I would love to bounce it around with the smart marketers in my network!