Escalation of commitment is the phenomenon where people justify increased investment in a decision, based on cumulative prior investment (whether the prior investment was wrong or right doesn’t matter). Escalation of commitment is why you continued walking in the same direction even though you were clearly lost. Escalation of commitment is why you kept watching that awful movie even though you know you should have turned it off after the first hour. Escalation of commitment is how Jim Jones was able to get 900 people to commit mass suicide.

If the goal the marketer is to move people from some general state of being unaware to one of extreme engagement (purchase) and loyalty (advocacy) then escalation of commitment is a tool you need to be well-versed in.

For a masters class in escalation of commitment you should check out Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Church (whether you’re religious or not, this book is a great marketing resource). In it Warren describes how he systematically built his Saddleback Church to over 10,000 plus loyal followers using two basic concepts: market segmentation and escalation of commitment.

Like any great marketer Warren recognized early on in his career that people have different needs. And, if you could fulfill those needs it would lead to greater levels of trust and commitment. As he built his Church he would systematically assimilate (his words not mine) members of the general public with the ultimate goal of moving them to his inner core. His five stage process moved people from being members of the Community (people not attending church), to become part of the Crowd (attenders but non-believers), then the Congregation (members of the Church), onto being Committed (Disciples), and finally the Core (leaders/evangelists).

Throughout each step he asked his members for a deeper level of engagement and, not surprisingly, a greater level of commitment. For example, before a member of the Crowd can become a member of the Congregation they are asked to take a class (101) and sign a contract outlining their responsibilities. And, again, before moving from being part of the Congregation to the Committed, members are asked to take a class and sign another contract – one that details even greater responsibilities. To ensure members live up to their commitments other Church members are asked to ‘police’ each other’s behaviours. If you break the contract, you’re out. There are no ‘loose contacts’ in Warren’s Church.

Throughout this process Warren systematically uses communications and well-designed programming to encourage people to make the next level of commitment. For example, he ensures that he creates specific sermons targeted at the Crowd, to make sermons more accessible for the unbelievers. He asks his devout to refrain from speaking in tongues (as to not scare away the public). He uses language that is easily understood (refrains from teaching biblical history). He connects with the needs of the average person (trying to make the sermons applicable). He uses upbeat music to make it a fun atmosphere. The list goes on. It’s all a system designed to move people to the next level of engagement. As Warren describes, it’s about creating an “Army.”

So, why am I babbling on about this?

Well, for starters, if social media is all about membership then I think there are some good lessons to be learned from Warren:

1. Don’t treat everyone the same. Create well-defined target audiences, segmented around ‘level of engagement’ and then choose the correct combination of tools and communications to increase engagement over time.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask for commitment. If you are adding value to your audience (or customers) then having them further engaged with you will only add further value to both of you. Remember it has to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Know who to ‘unfollow’.

3. Define your purpose and then do everything with purpose. If you can’t seem to find the purpose of your activity then it’s likely your audience will find it pointless as well. Without purpose you just have a crowd. Before you tweet ‘just washed my hair’ ask yourself why?

4. Start from the outside and work your way in. Start with the crowd and build a following. Don’t try to convince your ‘friends’ first.

5. Empower your following. Help them find and take action on their purpose. There is no greater reward then teaching somebody to teach.

6. Remember escalation of commitment is a powerful force, and developing a following is an enormous responsibility. Don’t use these strategies to create the next Jonestown.*

*I really want to emphasize this point…that shit is sad.