How to Facilitate Co-Creation Workshops That Inspire Action
Posted by Marketing & PR on 24 Jul 2025
_400_350_c1.png)
When it comes to creating meaningful behavioural change, there’s nothing quite like bringing people together in a room, rolling up your sleeves and solving real-world problems collaboratively. That’s the power of a co-creation workshop. Done right, these sessions don’t just spark ideas — they inspire real action.
Whether you’re working in social change marketing, behaviour change marketing or developing a campaign with community input, co-creation workshops are a powerful tool to move from talk to tangible change. But how do you make sure your session delivers more than just good intentions?
Here’s how to plan and facilitate a workshop that drives momentum, not just conversation.
Start With Purpose
Every co-creation workshop needs a clear purpose. Are you exploring ideas for a new campaign? Testing early concepts? Trying to understand barriers to behavioural change? The more focused you are, the more productive your workshop will be.
Avoid the trap of trying to do too much. A strong single aim keeps energy high and participants engaged. Consider what outcome would make the session a success, and plan everything around that.
Invite the Right People
Diversity of perspective is the lifeblood of co-creation. Your attendees should include people who:
● Live or experience the issue you’re exploring
● Understand the context or systems involved
● Can help turn ideas into action
This mix could include service users, frontline staff, subject experts, creatives or community members. The key is to create a space where everyone feels heard and valued, regardless of role or background.
Create a Safe, Energising Space
People do their best thinking when they feel relaxed, respected and safe. Start your workshop with something warm and welcoming — a round of introductions, a fun icebreaker or a shared moment of reflection.
Set a few simple ground rules: listen attentively, stay curious, and remember that no idea is a bad idea. Make it clear that this is a shared space, not a traditional marketing brainstorm where the loudest voice wins.
The physical set-up matters too. Choose a comfortable space with plenty of light, break-out areas and, ideally, walls for sticking up ideas. Snacks, drinks and good coffee help too.
Use Creative, Inclusive Methods
Co-creation marketing thrives on participation. Avoid long presentations and instead use hands-on activities like:
● Journey mapping
● Role play or scenario building
● Storyboarding and sketching
● Rapid prototyping with simple materials
Mix individual thinking with small group work to give everyone a voice. Keep activities fast-paced and varied to maintain energy. Use visuals, props and prompts to help bring ideas to life.
Focus on Action, Not Just Ideas
A great co-creation workshop generates a flood of inspiration, but the real magic lies in what happens next. Towards the end of your session, help the group narrow their ideas, identify quick wins and define clear next steps.
You might use a voting activity to prioritise, or work in pairs to shape ideas into workable concepts. Always leave time to reflect on what the group wants to carry forward and how they’ll stay involved.
Document everything clearly, and send a follow-up that captures what was shared, what will happen next and who is responsible.
Follow Through and Keep Momentum
Too many workshops end in applause and goodwill but lead to little real change. To inspire action, you need to show progress. Share updates, develop ideas further and bring people back into the loop.
In behaviour change marketing, this follow-up is where trust is built. It shows participants their input matters and helps keep energy alive. It also builds stronger foundations for future collaboration.
Final Thought
Co-creation workshops are more than a feel-good exercise. When designed with care, they are one of the most effective tools for sparking behavioural change and driving community-led ideas into the real world.
So, whether you’re delivering a co-creation marketing project, launching a social change campaign, or looking to go beyond traditional marketing methods, bring people together with a purpose. Invite their ideas. Trust the process. And most importantly, act on what you uncover.
Real change starts with shared ownership. And that begins in the room.
Our Expertise
We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.
This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour that benefits individuals and entire communities for the greater good.
Within our team, we have leading nationally recognised academic professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy that advise what messages and mediums will deliver the best response when we scope out a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.
This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence of knowing that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design and using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether it’s on a local, regional or national project.
Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients like schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.
If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.
No tags where found.
The power of automated marketing
Download Report