The Fan Loop

Hat tip to Geno Church over at Brains on Fire, who has visualized the "Cycle of a fan" (above).   I  really like the fan analogy as I think it's both common sense and accurate.  Mack Collier has used this metaphor as well.  Here's how Geno lays it out:

"Every fan has a story. Are you a fan of a college football team, a baseball team, a car, a restaurant, or a musician? Maybe it’s even an auto mechanic. Some of us show more “fan” behavior than others. I fall in the fan bucket. I want more out of the experience than just satisfaction. And I want more from that business or that team than just allowing me to make a purchase from them."

Point is that before you become an evangelist—you have to become a fan.  In order to become a fan, you have to have had a great experience with a product or service.  I'm not sure that you have to be a participant before becoming a fan (unless using something is also included in participation) but fans are more likely to convert into both evangelists and engage in community.  Read the whole post.  Good food for thought—and nice visual!  :)

Comments

[Sean Scott]

This cycle reminds me a bit of what Seth Godin wrote a while back on the goals of a website.

He said that a website should:
1. turn strangers into friends
2. friends into customers
3. customers into evangelist

[Stewart]

One element of the fan cycle I've noted but not mentioned here is fundamentalism. Ideally it's skipped and the fan is cool and still open to ideas in the same genre but I've seen that creep in regardless of what you're a fan of, be it a particular OS, a football team or one of those dweamy hobbits from Lord of the Rings.

It's a fine line between evangelism and blinkered obsession.

[Geno]

David, it's a little daunting to throw a process graph out to the world. So, thanks for the trackback and the kind words. I'm a big fan of "Logic + Emotion" so I take your post as a huge compliment. My main reason for spending a little time with this cycle graphic was to study sustainability. I still have a ways to go to realistically apply this into our process, but I'm trying.

[DA]

Sean + Stewart, good observations. I imagine a sports fan in the real world becomes a "fanatic" once they start using body paint. ;)

Geno, posting your thoughts to the world in the form of a visual is daunting—but feedback you get in return which helps shape thinking is worth it all.

[Senia.com]

A lot of this resonates with me as an extension of "Made to Stick" by the Heaths. When you're a fan, you can tell a story about why you're a fan.

It's like Jon Haidt (U Virginia) says that everyone has an internal like-o-meter. You always know what you like and what you don't.

I like the thought of people being fans of people - i.e. telling a story about people easily and fluidly.