Image by Stephen Eastop
How important is it to know who really cares about your business or your music?
Until very recently, most successful businesses would aim to market their goods or services to the ‘safe centre’, the large section of society that follow the crowd in seemingly predictable ways.
Trend setters, geeks and super-fans were not worth marketing to directly because there are never enough of them to sustain growth.
We are, however, going through a monumental shift in consumer culture, you may have noticed! This shift not only affects our buying habits, but also how we connect and build customers (or loyal fans).
Where we once watched TV adverts and followed the masses in product choice, now we have switched off, quite literally. Consumers now view marketing campaigns that cost millions as background noise. There is so much choice for consumers, so many channels and purchasing options that savvy businesses are quickly realising two things;
- Being safe in today’s business world is risky
- It’s often better to find the super-fans who really care about your product
Being different, risky or on the fringe is becoming a safer option than being good, nice or predictable. We’ve often heard how being original in music is important, but that advice usually comes with a caveat, don’t be too original!
Maybe now is the time to throw all restraints away and truly do what you believe in and create what you love. Be as unique as you can and then find the people who really care about what you do.
By switching your attention from the masses to the super-fans, you’ll create a stronger core of followers. It’s this core that will endorse your product and tell their friends, which produces ‘fans’.
Here’s a great video showing (in real time) how one leader can enjoy large amounts of followers after cultivating a few super-fans.
So, if you’re wondering how to create a meaningful fan base for your music, try finding those people who really care and can champion what you are doing. A few super-fans can lead to a large fan base if they really believe in you.
Something that really stands out from the video above is the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals and making everything be about the ‘movement’ and not just about you.
So, how do you find who really cares?
Finding and communicating with super-fans is more important than many bands and entrepreneurs realise. Trying to build a following without super-fans can be a shot in the dark experience. It is the super-fans who really care about your business and your story. The crowds will follow your super-fans, not you.
Finding your super-fans can be as simple as asking the question, “who wants to be a super-fan?”. People who love what you do and enjoy championing a campaign or being part of a movement will respond passionately. It is actually very easy to find your super-fans if you ask!
We’ve just started accepting “Ambassadors” for Audio Rokit. We want to get to know our ‘super-fans’ and build our brand with them at the centre. We sent a personal email to a select group within our member base and explained that we wanted to have support from people who really believe in our service. We outlined a few things we wanted our super-fans to do for us also!
Make sure you give something back to your super-fans. We explained that our ambassadors would be the first to hear of new developments at Audio Rokit and that they could (in a very real way) help us shape our business.
The response was incredible. Almost immediately it became clear who our super-fans were because their passion was evident in their email response. “I love your pitching platform” … “How can I help spread the word” … were typical of the responses we received from our members. We know that these people are our super-fans and we will make sure we talk with them regularly because Audio Rokit is now about them, not us!
If you are in a band and have a mailing list, why not offer promotional discounts or behind the scenes material to anyone who becomes your super-fan. Make sure you make it clear what you want from your super-fans so that they know what their role is. People really respond to a direct request for action.
Whether you create super-fans or ambassadors, if they identify with you and your plight, you’ll have a much stronger relationship, and if your lucky they might start to spread the word!
What is Audio Rokit?
Audio Rokit makes it easy for musicians to audition their songs to top music industry reps who are seeking music. We don’t charge ‘per pitch’ and we have awesome customer service!
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3 Comments on "Who Cares?"
Now, you see, that’s what your talking about!
Super fan training like this is the best training for all of the reasons you mentioned. It contains all of the other posts about things to do. Not just a list of fans, but superfans, not just posting and posting, and announcing, but getting extremely focused on the only thing there ever really will be, superfans. And, you put it so simply. The long tail starts here…the announcement list starts here, “who will respond to my blog” starts here, etc. etc.
I have been trying to figure out how best to use my time.
This will always be the center of the way. Lose this, and you have lost your way.
Thank you!
Randy
If you can’t get people to care about your music or your business, then you can’t sell it.
great post. thanks!