Your Audience Versus Your Fanbase

Modern Music 3.0 marketing strategy talks about building your fanbase, which is essential for ongoing success. But how does a fanbase differ from an audience? They're both groups of people that consume the entertainment you offer, but each has a different mindset.

An audience consumes your music or sees your shows and then moves on with no lingering effect. They don't buy your merch, seek out your music, or add you to a special playlist. Their involvement is temporary. They can be classified as "casual" fans.

Using a television analogy, an audience tunes into a television show, but doesn't engage in social media around the show or seek it out online if they miss an episode. They don't talk about it to their friends, or even think about the next episode. It's passive consumption.

On the other hand, a fanbase is rabid in their following. They're interested in everything about the artist, even down to the smallest trivia. They own merch, try to make every show, watch every video, and follow closely on social media. They're more commonly labeld as "super fans," "uber fans," or as marketer Seth Godin calls them, "your tribe."

A fanbase is essential to success because they are the fans that will always be with you. They are they fans that will support you, buy your product and see your shows. They are the fans that allow you to continue to make music because they demand that you do so.

In Music 3.0, the smart artist caters to the fanbase because it's easier to determine what they want. While you'd like to turn your "audience" into fans, the fanbase are the ones that ultimately pay the bills.

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5 Questions To Ask Your Fanbase

In Music 3.0, your fanbase is a living, breathing thing that needs your attention not only in order to grow, but to keep from dissipating. Marketing guru Seth Godin calls your core fans your "tribe," which needs a leader to keep the group active. The leader can either be the artist himself, someone designated by the artist, or even someone very vocal within the group. Either way, it's the leader's job to constantly check the pulse of the tribe to keep it healthy. Here's an excerpt from the Music 3.0 Guidebook that explains that process, as well as 5 things to ask your fans to gauge their interest.
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"The leader must constantly check the pulse of the tribe to hear what the members are feeling and thinking. This can be helpful in determining just what the tribe likes and dislikes about you and your music. Maybe there’s a direction that you briefly touched upon on your last record that drove the tribe wild, or maybe one that they hated? You might choose to follow your musical instincts instead of listening to tribal feedback, but at least you won’t be surprised by the resulting reaction. 

Taking the tribe’s pulse also lifts the mood of its members, since interaction with the leader is always appreciated and results in more participation. Showing your appreciation for their participation fosters even greater loyalty and participation and gets them invested emotionally and intellectually.

So how do you take the tribe’s pulse? You ask them questions or ask them to help you. For instance, you can:

1. Ask them which piece of merch they prefer. 

2. Ask them about the best venues in their area, why they like them, and if they’d prefer to see you there. 

3. Ask them what song they’d love to hear you cover. 

4. Ask them who their favorite artists are (this answer is great for other elements of social marketing as well).  

5. Ask them to judge the artwork on your next release. Then, when they respond, reward them. Give a free T-shirt to the first ten people who respond. Send them a secret link to download a track that’s available only to them. Give a personal shout out to some of the best responses. 

All of the above makes them feel special and great about belonging, and keeps the interest in the tribe high."

You can read more excerpts from Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age, or my other books at bobbyowsinski.com.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

5 Tips For Fan Motivation

The other day I spotted a nice post on Hypebot regarding turning your fans into marketers. It came from Sanjay Dholakia, CEO of Crowd Factory, who posted about motivating your fans in such a way that they become guerrilla marketers for your brand. "How To Turn Your Superfans Into Guerrilla Marketers," written by Dholakia, is a quick intro to the concept of the "superfan" or "your tribe" and how they will market for you if they're rewarded appropriately.

In brief, these are his 5 tips for superfan motivation (my take in italics):

1. Offer exclusive content. This can be behind-the-scenes videos, song remixes or outtakes, special invites to shows or after-show parties, or any number of other possibilities. The fact of the matter is, a true fan loves even the smallest detail, and that can be used to your advantage.

2. Raise the rewards as sharing increases. The more the fan markets for you, the more he/she is rewarded, which increases the motivation yet again.

3. Provide a platform for expression and reward that activity. This is necessary for growing your tribe. Your fans need a forum both to talk to you and to each other.

4. Recognize loyalty with prizes and public status. A shout out from stage, on a blog, tweet, Facebook post or just about anywhere else goes a long way to maintaining that loyalty.

5. Help them do good. Help your fans give and volunteer for a good cause.

The first four items are points that I have espoused both on this blog and in my book, Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age. They're the basis for the tribal concept of fans as set out by Seth Godin, and are necessary to maintaining and growing any fan base. The 5th point is new in that it also adds a charity element to the others. People enjoy giving to and volunteering for good causes, which can add extra luster to your brand that can go beyond the benefits of the other 4 points.

Follow these simple tips and you'll find that not only will you keep your fans, but they'll help recruit even more for you. 

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.

Understanding The Like Button

There's a great article over at Music Think Tank by Robin Davey about how to successfully grow your fan base using Facebook. One of the parts that I really liked is about how to react when one of your posts is "liked." Take a look.
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"UNDERSTAND THE LIKE. When a post of yours is liked, it is important to take a step back from that. Don’t think too highly of yourself for saying something that enticed a click on the “Like” button. Instead, understand that they have clicked that button because, in some way, they feel your post defines them. They are endorsing you, putting their name to your comments. If you get an above average number of likes, it’s not just because you said something clever, it’s because your fans are responding to something they want to associate with. Look for patterns in this and hone in on them.

Was it something funny, meaningful, or controversial?

This is important because you want to get fans coming back to your page. You can reel them in with something that interests them, and when they are there, they will want to look deeper. Maybe even download an MP3, or go one further and purchase something.

For instance, if you were outraged by the Prop 8 result, or thought an SNL skit was funny, you can bet that a portion of your fan base does too. If you are passionate about something, people will relate and interact."

There's a lot more great advice in the article How To Successfully Grow Your Fan Base Using Facebook (And Not Spend A Dime). It's worth checking out.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

The Circle Of Sales

The chart on the left comes from marketing guru Seth Godin's blog from a post entitled, The Circles. Seth relates the chart more to customer acquisition, but I want to use it as it's related to an artist's fanbase in regards to sales.

• At the bottom in white we have the "True Fans," sometimes described as "superfans," 'uber-fans,' or as Seth calls them, your "tribe." These fans love you and everything you do, and as a result, will purchase the most obscure product that is of no interest to virtually anyone else, even the artist himself.  Think rehearsal recordings, studio out-takes, sound check jamming and stained undershirts of the artist. The True Fan wants it and will pay for it.

• "Fans"are a bit more casual about it. They like you but don't love you. They'll buy certain items but could care less about anything obscure. They can be turned into True Fans, but it will happen either over time or the release of that one song that puts you over the edge.

We'll skip "Sneezers" and "Customers" because they don't apply to our model and go right to "Listeners."

• "Listeners" are the next down the totem pole of sales. These are people who have heard of you and maybe even heard some of your songs. They neither like nor dislike you. They may turn into fans at some point, but just as likely might not.

• Next comes "Friends." Notice how low in influence circles that your friends are at. Don't ever rely on them for sales or spreading the word. They're your friends. Like know you and hopefully like you, but it doesn't mean they like your music. In fact, most of them probably don't but will still support you because of your friendship. You probably don't have enough of them to make any significant sales impact anyway.

• Last comes "Strangers." They've never heard of you before. Maybe they like your kind of music, must most likely not. They are blissfully unaware of your existence as an artist.

Here's what we can gain from this chart:

1) Don't waste your time trying to convert friends to fans. It's such a long shot that it's not worth the time or effort, and can even be detrimental to keeping your True Fans happy.

2) Don't waste time on your friends. You don't have enough of them to worry about, and they're probably only being polite anyway.

3) Be aware of your listeners, but don't try to convert them to fans. The chances are it won't happen.

4) Fans are important. They already like you and have told you so, probably by buying product, signing up to your email list or friending you on a social media site. They can be turned into True fans, but at this point, you can't count on it so you can't spend a lot of effort trying.

5) Your True Fans love you. They will walk to the ends of the earth to tell others about you. They are your evangelists and will covert others into Fans and True Fans for you. They are to be embraced, coddled and cultivated because they are your future.

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Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.