Every Business Needs a Fan Club
Four Reasons You Need to Build a Cult Following
It seems like every day there is some new way to build a following for your business: Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn Groups, blogs. They all offer an ongoing point of contact for customers and prospects. Fan clubs are not something new—bands have had them for ages. (You know you joined one as a teenager.) And with the online tools available today, creating a loyal base of followers is easier than ever. But just because you can, does it mean that you should? Here are four reasons why your business needs a fan club:
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Fans talk.
They talk to each other, their friends and family, and people on the street. If you have a product or service they love, then they will be talking about you. Wow! Your word of mouth exposure just increased exponentially.
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Fans are loyal.
If they love you then you can bet that they will come back for more. It is much easier to sell to an existing customer or client than to someone new. You have already gained their trust and they know your product. But creating loyalty is not easy; the relationship must be nurtured and fed on a regular basis in order to grow. The key creating fans is to reward them for being loyal, to give them something special (only available to them), and to provide them a place to gather and get the inside scoop. Sounds just like a Facebook Fan Page to me.
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Fans make good guinea pigs.
It is the perfect mix—fans love to have access to the exclusive and new and you have a new product that you need to test. Pitch it to your fans or invite them to a focus group and you are sure to get good feedback. Besides you and your staff, no one knows your company better than fans. Listen to their ideas and opinions and you are sure to create a winner.
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Fans are fun.
If you have ever been to an opening at an Apple store, then you know exactly what I mean. Fans line up outside the store for hours before the opening. When it is time to open, the staff lines up and snakes through the crowd trading high-fives with the eager customers. All the while loud music plays in the background. It is a retail rock concert and a great time.
Starting a fan club (or Fan Page, Twitter feed, or forum) is not something to jump into without careful consideration. In order for your efforts to be successful, you have to be able to devote time to building the relationships and conversation. “Build it and they will come…” does not apply here. If you do it right, your fan club and its members could become your businesses’ greatest asset.
Go further
Check out Andy Sernovitz’s book Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking
