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If you’re blessed with natural, amazing word of mouth, you may find yourself afraid to step in and “mess it up.” But done right, you can help these conversations grow. Three ways to do it:
1> Help them come together
2> Adopt existing groups
3> Embrace the “weird” fans
1> Help them come together
Most die-hard fans are simply looking for people who share in their interests. Help them come together with events, online groups, email lists — anything that makes it easy for them to meet one another. Once you’ve made the meet-up possible (online or off), you can get out of the way and let them do the talking.
2> Adopt existing groups
Support your natural word of mouth by adopting existing communities. Find these fans by looking for groups that have developed in online forums or as Facebook groups. Try approaching and building relationships with community leaders by asking if there’s any way you can support them in what they’re already doing so well.
3> Embrace the “weird” fans
Look for opportunities to involve all of your fans — even the crazy, “weird,” or fanatical ones. Brands sometimes get caught off guard when a group of fans develop outside of their traditional target market or get really attached to their marketing or mascots. Great marketers find opportunities to channel this enthusiasm into ongoing fan feedback, new fan groups, or to launch products focusing on their demographic.
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