You remember 20 years ago, right?  Marketing was passive.  You would run a TV commercial or have the local radio station pitch your product.  Consumers would either listen or turn the channel.  For you to win the passivity game, you simply ran more commercials more often (if you could afford it).

Then comes the Internet with participative marketing.  This is where consumers have a voice just as loud as yours, if not louder.  They discuss you in social media, post reviews, comment on your site, and make a relentless stream of videos. Today’s marketing is all about participation… Or is it?

With such an overwhelming focus on participation marketing, entrepreneurs are forgetting the ever present power of passive marketing.  The vocal (participative) minority is just that, the minority.  The majority of people who become aware of your offering will never participate in the dialog. They’ll just take notice, never say a word, and decide to buy or not.

Marketing today requires that you support both passive and participative consumers.  The vocal minority can be your branch of the army that works to get the word out.  The passive group can be your other army branch that buys what your offer.  Serve both.