Participation is the best practice for incorporating it into market strategy.Many companies are using social media marketing and business blogging in their market.Customers are more happy to give review on social media.online forums are also created by companies where customer are participating.Marriot international also create Facebook game My Marriot Hotel that invites player to manage their own virtual hotels.participation does not have to be complex. The 5 P’s of Marketing helps managers and owners control to satisfy customers in their target market, add value to their business, and help differentiate their business from competitors. They should make sure that to check the network properly and respond actively to customer complaints ,suggestions and interaction in general. Good marketing includes clear picture of target customer and well defined plan that include all five P’s.

Participation has definitely changed through recent years. To encourage more engagement from customers, marketing departments have created many advertisements that they put on different social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. There are also different videos that are used as advertisement on YouTube, Snapchat, and different websites. Some of these videos are very quick but grasp your attention to want to see the ad again and potentially buy the product. Other methods are flash sales where you have certain companies sell their items for a few hours/days for a discounted price. Many companies also sell their items in bulk for a lesser amount then a single item. Sometimes people have celebrities or other well-known people use their items and put it all over their social media as a marketing method. Many people also have social events where they invite their customers for snacks and to try their product and see if they like it. Customers can interact with each other as well with the developers of the product. Sometimes, instead of a social event, people will take out their customers for lunch and a light conversation where they bring up their marketing proposal to the customers. Also, people who start a new business will give “freebies” to the first 100 customers to have more people come to their location. These methods don’t always work but it also depends on the people you’re trying to grasp the attention from.

Some of the most interesting methods of subtle marketing I have seen are used in television. Everyone knows that no one pays attention to advertisements in between shows. However, everyone who is watching the show is going to pay attention to the show itself. Oftentimes, a company will pay the show producer to include their product in the show, but not outright advocate for it. An easy example is soda. Some shows have their actors only drink Coke products or get excited about a new flavor/brand. This is most popular in clothing/food/drink companies because it is easy to implement and the producers can integrate it into their characters personalities without seeming suspicious. It is sort of like push marketing in terms of sheer amount of exposure, but without the risk of annoying the customer.

I think that the key to increase customer participation and interest in a product is to offer something that would entice them. One way to do that would be to state in the advertisement that they will get a discount on the price if they immediately answer the advertisement or commerical. One thing you can do is to raise the initial price to a point higher than you intend to sell it for. Then, you can state in your advertisement that a discount will be offered if they get interested in the product. Customers love to hear about sales and lower prices and if you give them the notion that buying your product is a great deal, then they will most likely buy from you than your competitors. Also, you won't lost money because the discount will reduce the price to what you originally intended on selling it for. A key thing to note is that the quality of your product is what ultimately matters. Steve Jobs stated that the way to be successful is to offer products that already have features that customers don't even realize that they needed. MacBooks are sold at high prices because of their capabilities and consumers views personal computers as long-term investment. They expect that their computers will provide them with what they need and also that they will last a long time.
Social media, which has become an significant part of the live of every individual, is a great way to disseminate your product advertisement. However, coupling your products with coupons and discounts is what customers will make them interested in your product. They want to know that they are getting a great deal from you because that what keeps them from buying something similar from another business.

One thing I've noticed that's becoming more popular among companies are giveaways. These giveaways always interest people, because of course, who doesn't like free stuff? The caveat is that the person has to interact with the company in some way. Either buy buying a product or advertising for them on social media. Online, they may have to like or subscribe to their channel/page. It is quite a clever way to get people interacting together and with the product that companies hope they will buy. People are more likely to want the product or see other products from the same company that the customer will then want to buy. It's a relatively small investment for the company with large possible windfalls as a result.

One clever way of participation that I noticed and it actually worked on me is through social media platforms such as facebook, instagram and twitter. They do not force the ad on anyone but it just pops up. Especially an ad that pops up multiple times. For example I was scrolling through instagram and I kept seeing the same ad for a game called Toon Blast. It was a video so it looked like someone was playing it and since I saw it so many times I went and actually downloaded the game. I think using the social platforms is a good way to advertise because it is not force because it is not like the user has to look at the ad but instead it is just subtlety on your feed

With respect to clever uses of participation that used as a marketing strategy by some companies, I did witnessed some successful tricks that actually works for finding potential customers, and even driving them to ask for the product actively.
For instance, some small companies will run their facebook, twitter or instagram accounts by posting their promotions positively and always show their best attitudes with trending hashtags so as to increase their exposure rate to as more people as possible.
Another example is when people are reading posts on some very popular forum websites like reddit and github, there will always be some susceptible "soft advertisements" that looks very familiar to a usual post but has implications that some products are actually really good. But in fact, those posts are very likely to be traced back to the companies who sells the referred products.

I agree that talking to the customer is a great way to market. It is the best way actually because as much as we want to make the best item we also need to know the customer needs. So for example if you are creating a medical device you need to know how the customer or the surgeon will use it. You need to know what it is for and how it will be used. Speaking with the surgeon and exactly understanding what is needed will help sell the item. Someone won't buy what they won't need but if it is exactly what they need why wouldn't they buy it.

This is so true because the more the video is shared on the facebook the more people will see it. Within a couple of days videos on facebook have millions of views. Social media is the easiest way to advertise lately because almost everyone has social media. No one will get rid of it just because of advertisements.

The participation aspect of marketing (the fifth "P") seems to have gained recognition over the past two decades due to the excessive tactic of "push marketing", which as explained in lecture is in decline. This results from the customer population becoming aware that they can simply skip or ignore ads that they feel do not apply to them. An example of push marketing today is when unwanted ads accompany the "free" apps we download onto our smartphones. Throughout use of these apps, we are force-fed ads that can only be skipped by paying, when in reality, many just put down their phones during these ads and use the time instead to stretch their hands or turn their attention elsewhere until the ad is over. It can be argued that some of these ads follow an algorithm that is designed to appeal to the viewer they are sent to, but it is also known that interaction and collaboration is more effective with the consumer mindset because it is a way of "pulling" people towards your product rather than "pushing" them away.

I personally believe that the main reason that push marketing is ineffective is because consumers are aware that the companies are taking a lackadaisical approach to advertising by taking shots in the dark with their bombardment of ads, hoping that perhaps 1 in every 20 people receiving their pushed ads have a positive response. The problem with this is that the advertisers are not accounting for the other 19 people who now have a negative perception of their product, which can disparage the product via word-of-mouth. An online search that divulges more into the participation aspect of marketing seems to aim mostly at the use of social media marketing, as it is a way for a product's provider to immediately respond/interact with curious consumers. This can easily be accomplished by having a marketing team consistently monitor conversations on blogs and forums, and keeping their RSS feed updated with quick responses to any questions/concerns, thereby giving the consumers a sense of active engagement. In the end, even if a consumer is not interested in a product, at the very least they should have a positive impression regarding your brand and may be likely to suggest that product to one of their associates in need.

The Henry Ford Health System was one of the first healthcare companies to incorporate participation factors into its marketing techniques by involving itself with social media in 2009 where they actually live tweeted a brain surgery, resulting in an increase of social media adoption by other healthcare and medical device companies. Despite this, there are still many promising products that have the potential to reach market, but are most likely hindered due to their provider's lack of participation in marketing. Should the use of social media in marketing be perceived as a luxury or a necessity? Are there other methods of collaborative marketing other than through social media? Are there any disadvantages for a medical device company to invest in this type of advertising?

References:
(1) Abner, Kelly, "Participation-The Fifth Key of Marketing" (2007) Marketo
(2) Albee, Ardath "Participation: The 5th "P"" (2006) Marketing Interactions

Participation as "The Fifth P of Marketing", is a perfect name for this extra level of marketing. Push marketing is declining because the customer has the power to skip an ad, hang up the phone, or cancel the advertising service. However, there are places where the customers are actively searching out the new innovation and technology that is in their market. These mediums are conferences, expos, and information seminars, where hobbyists, clients, and potential customers look for future collaborators to outsource components. The next level of marketing is to "Participate" in these expositions. I was fortunate to attend the MD&M conference at the Javits Center in New York for two years. There, I saw many medical companies showing their products on display and creating new connections with potential customers. As a student, I was even asked about possible internships at some companies. This is an effective way to collaborate and market your products with new customers.

Recently, many companies have come up with very strategic and clever ideas to market since push marketing is declining. I have noticed that many of these techniques involve a two-way communication system where the company that wants to market their product or business will hold attractive events in return for a follow/like on one of their social media platforms.

I have seen this personally at NJIT. ResLife at NJIT held an event with free food and games, however the only way to get the free food and play the games was if you followed them on Facebook and shared their page. I thought this was a pretty clever idea because: 1. The page will now be shared among hundreds of people who are friends with that particular student and will draw more attention to the page. 2. Both ends will be happy. The students gets free food and can play games while ResLife will have more followers and more visitors on their page.

I feel that the best way to achieve the Fifth "P" of Marketing is to offer something in return to the potential customers, that will also benefit the company itself.

Has anyone else seen this two-way communication strategy implemented with medical device companies?

As mentioned in Dr. Simons lecture, the marketing strategy include product, price, promotion, placement and participation. Participation marketing, the fifth P of marketing is created with the intention of drawing audiences. This type of marketing happens in online, offline, blogs, events, forums, online stores and social media. These types of platforms are easily shared between the customers. Thus it helps in marketing the company products too.

Some of the best participation marketing tactics are brand activation and events which include massive conferences like Vidcon, San Diego Comic-con and sponsored podcast videos.

With the continuously increasing forms of entertainment platforms that one can choose from, it has become more crucial for companies to engage the attention of viewers and assure that their form of advertising is being watched. One form of participation that I have seen companies use is the promotion of social media hashtags, they would like customers to use when sharing pictures with their products. As a result, one marketing strategy in particular that comes to mind is that of Coca Cola adding names to their bottles of soda, so that people would be motivated to find their name. Another common form of participation being used by companies is to sponsor or do brand deals with social media influencers such as those that make YouTube videos. Since, many viewers regularly watch such content creators on a daily basis, companies often send them their products, so that they can be promoted and used in the videos. Correspondingly, I believe that many creators of such YouTube videos have gained much success due to their active participation and engagement with users. For example, many social media influencers host events where fans can meet them while they are able to promote their own products such as clothing apparel. Lastly, another clever form of participation used by companies is to host fun events that attract people to come and share their experiences on social media.

Well, I agree with the previous statement that the most popular way of marketing is to use social media. In China, a very popular short video application is called Tik Tok. This application can share the short video to all the users. If you are a popular author, you can make money by embedding ads. Users can click like, comment and forward the short video. Taking myself as an example, I like a talk show author. He will cut out the funny parts of his show and share them on this application. I didn't know who the author was, but through this application, I knew the name of his show and the name of the sponsor of the show. I think that's the smartest way of marketing right now. Because this way directly targeted the exact target group. I like funny shows, and this short video successfully recommended this show to me, and as one from the target group, I don't hate this advertisement, so I think this way is very smart.