Hello and welcome to the 175th edition of Fresh Salmon.

If you're new here, welcome aboard! 🧡
And if you’d like to catch up on past issues, click here.

Meet our primary partner for today’s edition: guidde. Check them out 👇👇

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Why your content isn’t sticky and how to fix it with the IKEA Effect

In the 1950s, Betty Crocker launched a revolutionary product: instant cake mix.

All you had to do was add water and bake.
It was convenient. Delicious. Foolproof.

And it completely flopped.

Confused, the brand brought in psychologists to investigate.
Their discovery? The problem wasn’t the cake.
It was the lack of effort.

The target audience — American housewives — didn’t feel like they had made the cake.
There was no ownership. No emotional investment.

So Betty Crocker made one small change to the formula:

Sales skyrocketed.

That egg — the tiny effort — transformed consumers from users into creators.
The product went from feeling transactional to personal.

Psychologists later coined this the IKEA Effect:

And today, it's the most underused marketing lever in your toolkit.

Meet our secondary partner for today’s edition: AdQuick. Check them out 👇👇

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You can learn more at www.AdQuick.com

What Does This Mean for You?

If you’re building a B2B brand, here’s the truth:

• Your ICP doesn’t need more content.

• They don’t want to be “nurtured” or “drip-fed.”

• They’re tired of being marketed at.

They want to participate.
They want to see themselves in the product, brand, or content.

That’s where the IKEA Effect comes in.

You don’t need to add complexity.
You just need to invite effort.

The 3-Part Framework to Activate the IKEA Effect in B2B

Here’s how to make your customers, audience, and even team feel like co-owners of what you’re building:

1. Invite Effort (without friction)

Let your audience crack the egg.

• Run polls to help decide your next podcast guest or episode topic

• Let your followers name your next feature drop or product tier

• Ask for real user stories to include in newsletters, decks, or ads

• Drop Easter eggs in your content — reward engagement with inside jokes

• Ask your audience to submit ideas — then credit them when used

This creates micro-investments that compound into emotional ownership.

2. Co-Create (close the loop)

Most companies skip this part. Big mistake.

If someone contributes something — acknowledge it.
Name them. Thank them. Screenshot their comment.
Make the feedback public. Celebrate the co-creation.

This is how your audience goes from:

3. Signal Co-Ownership

Now that they’ve helped, show them it’s theirs too.

• Talk about “our mission” not “our product”

• Turn your audience into ambassadors with shareable assets and tools

• Build rituals — like welcome messages, badges, sneak peeks

• Let them create: branded memes, templates, shoutouts, testimonials

• Use first names in public thank-yous. Feature them in LinkedIn posts.

This transforms followers into tribes.

The best part? It’s self-reinforcing.
Co-ownership leads to loyalty.
Loyalty leads to content.
Content builds the brand.

How Taylor Swift & Joe Rogan Already Mastered It

Taylor Swift hides clues and Easter eggs in her videos.
Fans decode them, obsess over them, and feel like they helped shape each album era.

Joe Rogan? He gives you three hours per episode.
After that long, you don’t feel like a listener. You feel like a participant.

That’s IKEA Effect 101.

How to Apply This to Your Content Machine

Running a podcast? Add a segment called “Ask Our Audience” — where you pull in a listener’s question.

Building in public? Let your audience vote on your next experiment or A/B test.

Launching a product? Share the roadmap and ask for input.

Running LinkedIn content? Highlight a thoughtful comment and use it to start your next post.

The ask doesn’t need to be huge.

Just add an egg.

Why This Matters?

The difference between a customer and a cult follower is simple:

• One consumes

• The other contributes

If you want people to stay, care, and share — don’t just serve.
Let them stir the batter.

Let them feel like they helped bake the cake.

Interesting Thing That I Read This Week

That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.

See you next time!

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways in which I can help you and your business:

#1: B2B Marketing Consulting and Go-To-Market Advisory for your business.

#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.

#3: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.

For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.