The concept of giving good directions has been around since the first party invitation. In digital marketing we just didn't have a good term to describe the idea of making sure your prospects actually arrive at your intended destination. It's adapted from acadamia, used to describe a state of flow when students are fully engaged. Where the learning challenge is balanced between anxiety and boredom.

Flow Engagement

While trying to lead a caravan of Gators to the annual Florida/Georgia game, my wife asked me to stop at a fruit stand so she could indulge in a tailgate tradition, Green Boiled Peanuts. Although no one was harmed in the fulfillment of her request, there were some tense, NASCAR-like moments while the the rest of the group navigated around us and continued on to the game. That's not always the case when we design a digital marketing campaign. To be successful, a prospect must be able to navigate all the steps to create a state of flow. If you choose to launch your offer with a QR code, everything that follows must work within a mobile device. You can't expect your prospect to respond to your offer if you force them to read a PDF on their smartphone. If you expect them to place an order, the form needs to be tailored to work from a phone and perhaps include a digital wallet function.

Insight

When a digital marketing campaign fails, it's often because no one tested the flow. As soon as the process causes the prospect to stumble, engagement dies, the process stops, the sale is lost.

Resources

• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi