Here is Part 1. You can download the full PDF version here.
Cultivate: Showing the Love (& Really Meaning It)
Once you identify your Raving Fans, you need to cultivate the relationship. Much like a courtship, you need to earn their trust based on an authentic and genuine concern.
More so, just like in a relationship (or at least a healthy one!) you cannot “fake” it. If you are not a “Raving Fan” yourself, you are going to have a really difficult time cultivating the relationship.
More so, just like in a relationship (or at least a healthy one!) you cannot “fake” it. If you are not a “Raving Fan” yourself, you are going to have a really difficult time cultivating the relationship.
You simply “won’t get them.”
Cultivating the Raving Fans plays off the idea that marketing has shifted from matches to gasoline.
In the world of ‘throwing the matches,’ marketers would throw a bunch of lit matches around and look for where a fire started. Most of the matches died out, but once in a while a bonfire would be lit.
In the ‘gasoline’ mentality, we pour flammable liquid on an existing flame to create a raging inferno of customer passion that expands (through Word-of-Mouth) to all the corners of that person’s network.
So, how can you pour gasoline on a fire?
Here is a sampling of ideas to get you started:
Cultivating the Raving Fans plays off the idea that marketing has shifted from matches to gasoline.
In the world of ‘throwing the matches,’ marketers would throw a bunch of lit matches around and look for where a fire started. Most of the matches died out, but once in a while a bonfire would be lit.
In the ‘gasoline’ mentality, we pour flammable liquid on an existing flame to create a raging inferno of customer passion that expands (through Word-of-Mouth) to all the corners of that person’s network.
So, how can you pour gasoline on a fire?
Here is a sampling of ideas to get you started:
- Advocacy: when a Raving Fan looks for a problem to be solved, go to the ends of the earth to answer it. Yes, it’s expensive and time-consuming but when you go above and beyond the expectations, you are creating a story that can spread and which your newfound (or existing) fan will gladly share with her network.
- Participate: if a Raving Fan publicly asks a question about you in a forum, answer it. Be authentic (yes, it’s overused, but that’s because it is true). Show that you are a real person on the other end of the line, not a robotic, nameless, faceless organization.
- Offer scarcity: Raving Fans love to be insiders. Can you give these Raving Fans something that will make them feel special, unique, and privileged
- Connect the Raving Fans with each other: One of the underlying attractions of social media is giving us each the ability to find others of like-mind. By definition, the people who are your Raving Fans have found something in your product that excites them. They are like-minded. How can you connect them
At some point, you will feel like you are ready to take it to “the next level.” Better yet, your Raving Fans will start asking you:
“So, how can I help you spread the word?”
Next up: Activating the Raving Fans to Help ‘em Spread the Word