Love, the Holy Grail of User Engagement

Written by: Guillermo González

Contxto – We have heard it from YC’s Eric Ries, and even The Beatle’s “Love is all you need”.

Not likes, not clicks on your ads. Love, just like the one warming people who camp outside a store for a product launch, or the unconditional passion of music fans with full back tattoos dedicated to their favorite bands, is all you need for your brand.

The journey that takes a regular user to become a fan of your product or service is tougher than the one Scott Pilgrim made to get Ramona Flowers, but it’s not only worth it, it’s crucial for your success because you’ll end up with super users that not only engage but reuse, rebuy and even sell for you.

You’re probably ready to stop reading and get busy courting your users. But, before you go to the flower shop, it’s important to know the stages of the Fan Journey so you can identify and correctly flirt at each stage of the Funnel of Love.

Fanbot, the startup I co-founded, specializes in such epic quests: Creating fans in autopilot for retail businesses. Scroll down to learn what we’ve found about the stages to fandom:

The Curious One

You appeal to certain interests of the user but it’s hard to tell if it is genuine or you just happen to be the quickest, easiest option available at that time.

In any case designing a great and honest first impression is the key to reaching the potential fans who walk through your business door everyday.

The Regular Liker

You can spot someone on this stage if you hear something like, “I have always liked the way they get my nails done“.

Regular visits, but no strings attached yet. Keep delivering consistent quality service and pay attention to their behavior because that’s where you will find the best feedback on what’s the core reason your users frequent your place.

The Well-Known Follower

Followers can be passive or active.

Passive followers maybe will write reviews, or give 4 to 5 stars and passively start to preach about your product/service in their social media accounts.

The active followers are the ones you can push to the next level. However, they hide a dangerous side that you should be very careful with, because they could turn that excitement into hate if they feel cheated in any way.

The Die Hard Fans

Intense emotions, loud evangelization and trust.

You have made a transcendent impact in the day to day life of someone. Congrats!

Don’t take their love for granted and nurture this relationship often, make a conversation out of it and learn to take their suggestions.

This is just a general overview that you can take further, depending on your unique market.

You can explore if you’re looking to fit in a categoric kind of fandom rather than a specific one, for example, people who love eating hamburgers versus the ones who visit a specific burger spot each week.

At least now you will be more receptive about the behavior of your users and start building an engine to automate the flow in the funnel.

If you read this and went: “Oh boy, I want to know more! I need something to retain my users and create this loyalty”, then Fanbot is your go-to tool for getting to know your retail customer’s data, and take action accordingly!