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We’re here at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2014 Type-A Parent Conference. Our opening keynote speaker is Mack Collier (@MackCollier), Social Media Strategist and author of Think Like a Rock Star: How to Create Social Media and Marketing Strategies that Turn Customers into Fans. His clients range from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies.
Think Like a Rockstar: How to Build Fans and Community Around Your Social Media Efforts
“When someone does you a favor, you thank them. I want to thank you guys here for having me.”
20 years ago, all of our conversations were stuck in an analog world, and now we’re in a digital world. He sees all of our heads down typing on our phones, laptops, and tablets, taking pictures and video. Companies can now connect with their customers directly.
What do rockstars do to create fans?Are they a special breed? No, they do some very simple things that any of us can do, on whatever scale we work on.
Most companies are focused on acquiring new customers. There is a graphic showing a blog post called “9 Customer Acquisition Tactics for Smart Marketers.” But rockstars don’t focus on acquiring new, new, new. They work with what they’ve got. How do they make their messages relevant? They shift their marketing and put it in the hands of their biggest fans, who can connect with other people and spread the word to people in a way that is relevant to them.
The biggest pool of people is new customers, where most marketers focus their efforts. Brand advocates are a much smaller portion of the population, but they have high levels of loyalty and passion about your brand. Fans attract other people; they have a sense of gravity about them.
4 Ways You Can Create Fans Like a Rockstar
- Get in the Face of Your Fans
How can we have more interaction with our fans? Interaction -> Understanding -> Trust -> AdvocacyMack uses @AmandaPalmer as an example of a rockstar using Twitter to do this. She gave tickets to diehard fans who followed her from Twitter to leave comments on GetGlue for a secret show. Her fans left amazing comments about the show later on, and comments about how awesome Amanda was. This helped her later when she asked her fans to help her raise $100,000 for releasing her indie album in 30 days on Kickstarter. She ended up raising $1,192,793. Social media is not a direct sales channel, but causing value indirectly can open doors for you in the future.
Another example is SpinSucks.com. They look for the fans who comment and interact most with the blog, and then respond to those people to make them feel special.
Backstage Pass: Reward the behavior you want to encourage. What are the top 3 actions you want visitors to take on your blog? Is it obvious to your visitors at first glance? When someone engages, how are you rewarding them? On his blog, Mack has it set up to send a thank you to people who comment for the first time.
- Give Up Control and Get Control
Understanding and trusting your fans is only possible if you interact with your fans. Katy Perry did a video contest before she released “Firework,” asking fans who their “firework” was. A teenager from Georgia with muscular dystrophy was the grand prize winner for talking about why his mom was so amazing. But her fans didn’t just thank the special people in their lives, they also thanked Katy for giving them a chance to share how wonderful the people in their lives were.The Philippines tourism board let native Filipinos create campaign images for #morefuninthephilippines using their own photos.
Backstage Pass: Connect with your fans and give them a plan. Fans want tools to help you succeed.
- Find the ‘Bigger Idea’ Behind the Content You Create
Don’t focus so much on being self-promotional. Figure out the bigger relevant context that makes it more relevant to other people. It’s not about a digital camera; it’s about the amazing pictures it takes to capture memories of weddings, births, etc.Sarah McLachlan was given $150,000 to shoot one of her videos. She ended up reading a paper about a college student involved with Engineers without Borders, and she instead donated the money to organizations like Engineers without Borders. Instead, she took $15 to throw together a “souped up PowerPoint presentation” that broke down normal video production expenses, and instead showed figures detailing who the money actually helped via donations.
Facebook study showed what drives engagement on brand pages, and the most successful type was updates related to the brand, like, “I want to start saving so I can afford to buy ____?”
Backstage pass: Create reader-centric content. What problems can you solve for them? What new skill can you teach them?
- Love the People That Love You
“Maybe it’s because I’m a Southerner, but this just seems like common sense.” Show appreciation for your fans to validate their feels of appreciation for you.Find ways to say thank you.Backstage pass: Give your fans special access.”Victory in marketing doesn’t happen when you sell something, but when you cultivate advocates for your brand.” – Steve Knox
“Create something amazing…for the people that love you.”
(Keeping it real: Mack just hugged Fadra when she asked him a question.)
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That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
