The concert ends and the applause begins. The applause gets louder and louder, and then it happens. One person stands.

I’ve never started a standing ovation in my life but I’ve been a part of dozens.

“People like me do things like this… Normalization creates culture, and culture drives our choices, which leads to more normalization.”

Seth Godin

If you want your listeners to engage in something, create a tangible way for them to see how people like them do things like this.

Whether with online music research (Google shows how many have seen your review), a station promotion (the Ice Bucket challenge became a social media phenomenon) or a fundraiser (Facebook helps you to share your cause with others), success involves normalization.

“Changing our behavior,” taking the survey, entering the contest, donating to the fundraiser, “is driven by our desire to fit in or our perception of our status.”

Seth Godin

When you fail to show the behavior of folks like them, you’re basically asking your listener to be first. And first means alone. Alone rarely leads to a standing ovation.

This Frost Advisory is inspired by concepts in Seth Godin’s new book, “This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See,” which I highly recommend.