From Fan to Fanatics By Bastian Schmitz

 The 30 Minute University of Planning Working Paper Series

No. 5

From Fan to Fanatics

By Bastian Schmitz

Brands need allies among their target groups 

This typology is intended to help you identifying these allies and to win them over. It creates thereby a new understanding of how to act in social media.  

Social media brand communication is a gigantic and complex system. There is more content than anything else on our planet. Brands are screaming their messages in every direction. On the other side, people are getting more and more extreme. Extreme does not mean that they went completely mental. Extreme describes the degree of interaction people have with brands (from extremely passive to extremely active). Extreme also reflects people’s attitude towards brands and their content (from extremely interested to extremely critical or indifferent). 

In order to develop this typology, I`ve divided the people I`ve mentioned into seven different types: followers, fans, faces, fanatics, haters, activists and enemies.

A Typology from passivists to extremists

 

Followers have little interest in your brand. Their intention can be positive, negative, or neutral. They follow your brand to get occasionally some information or because there was some reason to follow your brand in the past. 

Followers tend to be passive and rarely interact with your brand. A hit of the like button is the maximum you can expect from them. 

Their motivation is extrinsic, their motive is social affiliation.

 

Fans are a bit more involved. They have a genuine interest in your brand. Their intention is rather positive. They became a fan because they identify with your values and products. They like to show that they use your brand as well, or at least they don't mind that other people recognize. Fans are more active, they hit the like button more often. All in all, they engage more with your content and comment more often.

Their motivation is intrinsic, their motive is identification.

 

Faces stand behind your brand. They not only present your brand, your product, or your content, they also like to stage themselves with your product. Otherwise, these hundred, nay thousand Thermomix videos are hard to explain. Faces are very important for you and your brand. They have their own leverage, their own group of followers. Therefore, they can generate a multiplier effect for your brand. 

Their motivation is extrinsic, their motive is attention.

Fanatics are your brand lovers. Anyone who has shouted “Only the HSV” to a full-blooded St. Pauli fan knows what I'm talking about (This also applies also to Arsenal and Chelsea Fans or to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Fans – you get the picture). 

Fanatics act out of conviction. Your brand is part of them, and they consider themselves as part of your brand. Fanatics consume everything from and about your brand. They join the conversation, or they proactively start them. One could say it is a collaborative brand management of some sorts. 

Their motivation is intrinsic, their motive is conviction.

Haters gonna hate. Haters generally are against your brand. They reject everything you do. They don’t agree with your products or values, mostly because they had a bad experience with them. Haters are the antagonists of your fans. They always react negatively to content, not at least because everyone in their social environment thinks the same way. But haters aren’t lost. You most certainly can win them back and convince them that your products aren’t as bad as they think. But it does not happen overnight. 

Hater’s motivation can be intrinsic (they do not like your brand out of conviction) as well as extrinsic (everyone in their environment / circle of friends thinks the same way). Their motive is belief and/or social belonging.

Activists are the next-level haters. Their hatred encourages them to take immediate action against your brand. They comment, share, and shred your content to pieces during that process. Activists like to put themselves in the spotlight, especially within their negative campaigns against your brand. They love to be mentioned within conversations. Their motivation is extrinsic, their motive is attention.

Enemies show you, that you made yourself some opponents somewhere on your journey. People who got so irritated by your brand that they will forever despise it. 

If someone comments on a KIA posting: “Good car, too bad it’s a KIA”. You’ve got yourself a KIA brand enemy in front of you. They act out of conviction. Enemies have a negative impact on your brand and influence others on their way. 

Their motivation is intrinsic, their motive is clearly conviction.

How brands can make allies – transforming fans to faces and fanatics

You should focus on the positive people-brand relationships. Positive mindsets are a great entryway to foster and increase the level of interaction with your brand. You must develop a strategy to transform followers into faces and fans into fanatics. Followers and fans already have a positive mindset towards your brand, but the act quite passive. Your aim must be to transform them into faces and fanatics. These are your MVPs (Most Valuable Players) among your consumers. They interact with your brand, and they push your products in terms of reach and credibility. I've developed 4 rules to encourage this transformation.

#1 Think about your brand as an influencer

Influencers are role models and people identify themselves with them. Your brand must become an influencer too. How you do that? Influencers pay close attention to the needs and voices of their followers. They create content that is precisely tailored to their target group. And they create content fast. Your brand must do the same and follow this principle. You need to create content fit to the mindset of your target group in very fast manner. This way you can increase the interaction level of your fans and followers. This brings us to rule number 2.

#2 Deliver great quality content with reasonable effort on a regular basis 

You must be careful to find the right balance for your content. The quality must be right, the effort according to your possibilities. The frequency needs to be regular so that your followers and fans can rely on it. Imagine a person at a party: If this person talks a lot, but only provides bad content, you’ll will find this person disturbing. 

Worst case scenario, your followers and fans feel the same way about your brand. Don't let it come to that.

#3 Kill your Darlings

The transformation process from fan to face and follower to fanatic should increase the performance and reach of your brand in social media. To start this process, you must be consistent and brave. You must take a new direction and part with your brands old ways and habits. If your postings reach an average of 30 likes and one comment, you most likely need to change something. Your content is perhaps not particularly relevant to your target audience. You probably don’t think about your brand as an influencer yet. You need to take a close look at how people interact with your brand and think about what your brand can bring to the party. Even if that means to completely overturn your content plan. A we've-always-done-it-this-way-mentality doesn't get you and your brand any further on social media.

#4 Collaborate with your faces and fanatics

Your brand most certainly already has a bunch of faces and fanatics. Identify them, value their effort, and include them. This way you can send out your content collaboratively and ensure more visibility and attention.

 

These 4 rules are the first step towards a new understanding on how to act in social media. They can help you and your brand to communicate more successfully.

 

Source: Own diagram 

Typology model. Divided in interaction level (degree of interaction with your brand) and mindset (attitude towards your brand).