The power of why

This is a guest post from Spike Jones — Group Director of Engagement at WCG and co-author of the book Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements. See the original post this is adapted from and more like it on his blog.

whyWe ask so much of our customers on social media. Click this. Like that. Share with your friends. Leave a comment. Write a review. Retweet. Enter now. It’s endless. And alongside that, we tell them HOW to do it. What to do. When and where. But the thing that we never really talk about is the WHY.

And to clarify, that’s why with a period, not why with a question mark.

Another way to think about WHY is to think about PURPOSE. When you explain the purpose of something — you’re introducing an idea for someone to believe in. If it’s compelling enough, then it leads them to want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. When people have a purpose, they have context. An origin point. Meaning.

And that’s something worth sharing. In fact, it’s word of mouth in action.

About Spike Jones

Spike Jones is a results-proven communications professional, specializing in digital and offline word of mouth marketing. With more than 15 years of experience, the career path goes something like this: Baylor University; a decade at Brains on Fire; SVP of the Customer Experience team at Fleishman-Hillard; Group Director, Engagement at WCG; and now SVP, Managing Director SW Region at Edelman Digital. Spike is also a co-author of the book Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements.

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