From the course: Entrepreneurship Foundations

Find your superfans

From the course: Entrepreneurship Foundations

Find your superfans

“

- Some might call them early adopters, but I like to call them super fans. And yes, that is a shameless plug because my company's called The Superfan Company. But what an early adopter or super fan really represents is a walking billboard for your business. They love it. They're the ones talking about it, using it, telling their friends about it, and ultimately, repeatedly buying or using your service over and over again. As you get your business up and running, finding these people and grooming them becomes even more important. Engaging these first users is key to not only getting amazing firsthand feedback because you can iterate your product or service along the way, but it keeps them coming back. When Airbnb first started, they had a core group of early adopters who loved their site. Instead of leaning back and high-fiving each other, founders Brian and Joe leaned into these early adopters. They decided to personally visit each adopters' home and take professional photos for them at no cost. After their visit, the founders handed these photos over to the homeowners for them to upload to Airbnb. Because the homes now looked even more marketable, their listings became more popular, thus creating an opportunity for these early adopters to use the platform even more. Brian and Joe saw an opportunity to groom these early customers into super users. Now as a billion-dollar company, their tactics have changed, but even to this day, you'll see super hosts on the platform who have met Airbnb's top standards. This is a brilliant example of giving your customers something to brag about. Remember, people want to share opportunities and things that make them feel like rock stars. Specific examples could be giving early adopters a special discount code for them to share with family and friends that isn't made available to the public. They feel great because they're able to offer something awesome to their loved ones and they also really love the product, so they love to share it. Or perhaps it's creating social media content or moments that people really want to share. I know I love the inspiring messages pushed on all of Arianna Huffington's Thrive channels. They often don't have overt advertising, which as a consumer, I love. I feel like I'm getting to share an interesting tidbit while Arianna's team now gets promotion to me and my followers. As you can see with these examples, the key is having a win-win relationship between you and these early-adopting super fans. The fastest way to grow is by empowering others to help you.

Contents