Turning casual fans into super fans is the dream for any organization. As marketers know, the best and most powerful form of marketing is “word-of-mouth” from your own constituents. Having super fans creates that authentic, word-of-mouth marketing needed to get through directly to a potential new super fan.
Building super fans is possible by moving past marketing to serving your audience. At South by Southwest, Jackie Halas and Tom Zellman of Digital Roots outlined how to do this through the 8-pronged approach they discussed in “How to Build the Ultimate Surprise and Delight Campaigns“:
- Find the conversation: Of all the chatter happening across the internet and social web, only 1-2% actually matters for your organization and its success. Find where that conversation is happening to connect with the people that are your organization’s target audience.
- Hone in: The nature of the internet means that what is being said about you, and available on Google, is no longer controlled by your marketing department. Social media conversation is available in real time and conversations on forums are indexed by Google faster than the content you’re creating. Your constituents are controlling the conversation so make sure you are going to where the conversations are happening so you can be present to serve.
- Stalk, a little bit: Make the most of the public digital trail your constituents leave to get insight into who they are & serve them better. Look for publicly available info (Twitter profile, Foursquare check-ins, etc.) for insight into constituents, if possible add  this information to your organization’s CRM system. Keeping track of this insider information will help you serve your community better.
- Choose the scope: Decide which department or departments will need to be involved to listen and serve your community properly. If more than one department is involved, figure out how you will collaborate.
- Choosing the reward: People respond to being acknowledged for their contribution – how will you make your followers feel that they matter? Something as simple as public tweet, stickers, or branded t-shirt can go a long way toward rewarding community members. Figure out what will appeal to your community, that is within reason given your resources, to make them feel they matter.
- Plan your social attack: What system will you put in place to recognize influencers or potential long-term community members (customers/donors/etc.) Once you’ve identified them, how will reach out to these individuals in a meaningful way?
- Deliver in a meaningful way: Make any direct acknowledgement of your community members immediate and personal. Brand loyalty is driven by immediacy and personalization.
- Build your brand loyalty: More than a one-third of companies believe that personalization is the factor that drives brand loyalty most. Make the shift to becoming a social businesses to foster connections that make personalization possible.
Learn more about super fans and how they can help you build word-of-mouth marketing here.