How to Turn Casual Followers into Dedicated Super Fans

Authors 12 min read

Have you ever preordered a book without reading the synopsis first? Or a vinyl, merch, maybe even concert tickets for an album you haven’t heard yet? What about buying a book, or an album, or a jersey that you already own because a limited, exclusive, or special edition was released?

Yes? Congratulations! You’re someone’s super fan.

It’s the ultimate sign of success for any creator—having fans who have so much faith in your brand that they’ll commit to your products without even vetting them first. Even better, it’s a reliable way to grow and scale your business; you know you can count on dedicated fans for steady revenue.

So… you want super fans, right? How do you get them?

Here are five strategies to help you convert casual followers and one-time buyers into true, dedicated super fans.

Connect Directly With Your Fans
Diversify Your Products
Provide Value (Not Just Products)
Make Your Fans Brand Heroes
Map Out the Journey from Fan to Super fan

Or, if you’d rather listen and learn, tune into this episode of the Publish & Prosper podcast!

Connect Directly With Your Fans

It’s impossible to talk about turning fans into super fans without acknowledging Kevin Kelly’s 2008 essay 1,000 True Fans. In it, Kelly makes a compelling argument: if you can foster a dedicated fanbase of 1,000 true fans who spend an average of $100 a year (per person) on your products or services, you can sustain your business.

The numbers are variable depending on your business needs, but the premise remains the same. More importantly, so does the strategy for how you make the profit you need from each of your fans:

“You must have a direct relationship with your fans. That is, they must pay you directly.”

Sell Direct to Your Consumers

When you sell direct from your website, you’re setting yourself up for success in a few different ways.

To start, and to Kelly’s point, you’ll keep 100% of your profits from every sale. Even a small percentage of revenue split with a third-party distributor can add up. It’ll be that much easier to reach your own annual revenue goals per fan if you’re keeping every cent you make.

But beyond profits, selling direct-to-consumer also means that you can track and collect your customers’ data, which means you can continue to foster your relationship with your customers after they check out. Even if you are the most proactive and engaging author, you’re going to have a hard time forging a connection with a customer who bought your book once on Amazon… and shared none of their information with you.

One of the ideas that’ll be repeated throughout this post is that of a personal customer experience. You want your customers to feel like more than just customers—you want them to feel like they’re a part of your community. When you use a direct-to-consumer ecommerce solution like Lulu Direct, you get to curate the entire customer journey, from the moment they click on your site to long after they leave.

Focus on Connecting Your Fans with Your Brand

One of the greatest selling points for your book isn’t your book. UNESCO estimates that an average of 2.2 million books are published each year—chances are at least one of the millions published in the last few years is similar to yours.

So, what makes your book unique? You. You bring something to the book that nobody else can, and your unique perspective is one of your best marketing and sales assets. It’s one of the many reasons having an author brand is so important; because it gives you the opportunity to promote yourself—your unique story and perspective and what only you can bring to the table—and not just your product.

Fostering a relationship with your customers based on one single product—AKA one single book—is a short-term strategy at best. Books are generally one-time purchases, and like it or not, they do tend to have a shelf life.

But if you can build a relationship with customers that focuses on you and your brand, rather than an individual product, you’re that much more likely to find yourself with a repeat customer.

Diversify Your Products As Much As Possible

Books are great products. They are a fantastic way to monetize your content, connect with your fans, and reach a whole new audience. But they’re also inherently one-time purchases.

So how can you encourage repeat buyers and maximize your profits while still providing value for your fans? By diversifying your product offerings as much as possible.

Offer Multiple Product Variants

Readers are a very particular bunch. Some are so dedicated to their ereaders that they’ll carry it around with them everywhere they go. Some are so committed to print books they scoff at the idea of even owning an ereader. Some will only read paperbacks, some prefer to collect hardcover editions.

The solution here is obvious—offer your book in as many different variants as possible. By providing your fans with options, you’re eliminating a potential reason for them to decide not to buy your book. You’re also increasing the possibility of a repeat purchase from the same customer. It’s extremely unlikely that one person—especially a casual fan—will purchase the same ebook twice. It’s more likely that a casual fan will purchase an ebook from you and then later buy a print edition.

It’s also worth considering a special edition of your most popular book. Book nerds love special editions. Limited run hardcovers, alternate cover art, print details that elevate the design, exclusive bonus content—whatever you can think of to make your book a little extra special. Casual fans might even find themselves crossing the line into true superfandom when they realize they need that beautiful hardcover copy of the book they already own in paperback.

Offer Different Types of Products

Because books are not repeat-purchases, you may need to offer additional products as a reason to bring shoppers back to your site in between book releases.

There are so many different types of products you could offer, ranging from a simple sticker or bookmark to POD t-shirts to a guided journal or workbook that ties into your book.

Plus, when you’re selling direct using a platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix, there are plenty of ecommerce plugins that can work simultaneously on your store. It’s easier than ever to sell copies of your book right next to art prints and stickers, and to streamline one easy checkout experience for your customers.

Be Where Your Buyers Are

We love to talk about the value of selling direct, but we also fully recognize the value of going wide—making your books available wherever your potential buyers are.

Let’s say you’re a serial fiction author with a few ebooks that are doing well on Kindle Unlimited. Your readers have expressed interest in print editions, and as any good author trying to turn readers into super fans, you’re going to deliver.

You can (and should!) sell your print editions directly from your own website and from Amazon. That way, you can promote your site as your primary store, encouraging both existing fans and any new marketing efforts to buy from you directly, while still capturing new readers who found you through Kindle Unlimited.

Provide Value, Not Just Products

Even the best, most prolific authors have a finite number of books they can publish in a year. Nobody is asking you, or encouraging you, to publish ten books a year as a way to steamroll your readers into being super fans.

But you also can’t just disappear for months at a time and expect casual fans to eagerly await your return. Dedicated fans might, but we have to get them to that level first, right?

Entice New Fans with an Immediate Value Add

There are usually two reasons that someone will choose to follow you on social media, subscribe to your podcast or YouTube channel, or sign up for your email newsletter:

They really like your content
They want something from you

Hopefully, you’re already on top of the content part. So now consider what you can offer new readers that would entice them to take the next step and follow or subscribe.

I followed my favorite author on Instagram for over a year before I subscribed to her mailing list. What sealed the deal for me? She made a post announcing that her next newsletter would include an exclusive bonus epilogue from her most recent book, and that anyone who signed up for her newsletter in the next few days would get that epilogue.

30 seconds later, I was on her mailing list. And two minutes later, I had an email in my inbox with a link to last year’s bonus epilogue—surprise content that I didn’t even know existed, but immediately sat down to read. I’ve been an avid reader of her newsletter ever since.

Commit to Consistency

One of the keys to developing any kind of relationship is consistent communication. Which is not to say frequent communication—just consistent.

Consistency can mean committing to deliver on a certain schedule. Ann Handley’s Total Annarchy newsletter is delivered every two weeks on the dot. It’s the very first thing she commits to on her sign-up page, and it’s a promise she keeps. With that promise, Ann successfully set my expectations for her content—I know exactly what I can consistently expect from her.

Consistency can also mean committing to a certain type of content. The author newsletter I mentioned above is less consistent with frequency, but the content itself is reliable. While her newsletters will include a variety of different things, they always include two specific details:

An update on any current projects
A few book recommendations

The project updates are nice, but what I really stick around for is the book recommendations. This author writes in a niche genre and generally recommends other books in that same niche genre—I’ve discovered some fantastic books through her recommendations that I wouldn’t have otherwise come across. That consistency and reliability is valuable enough for me to open her emails again and again.

Lean In to Your Unique Value

We talked about the importance of focusing your fans’ devotion on you and your brand, rather than an individual product. Consider what you and only you can offer to followers, fans, and customers.

Maybe it’s unique insights into your specific niche or genre. Maybe it’s access to exclusive places or content, like author events or early reviews of highly anticipated books. Maybe it’s the aforementioned tie-in content to your own books, like bonus scenes, guided activities, or sneak peeks at your next project.

Consider some of your favorite content from your favorite creators and ask yourself what makes them your favorite. What makes you stop scrolling every time you see one particular creator’s videos, or consistently open their email newsletter? Then, ask yourself how you can recreate that in a way that feels authentic to your own brand.

The goal is to become someone your casual fans think of when they’re looking for that specific niche you fill. Whether your fans are looking for an entertaining novel or trying to solve a problem, your goal is for them to think of you and your books.

Center Your Fans As the Heroes of Your Brand’s Story

Part of building your fan community is building your brand’s story. And while humanizing yourself and your brand—and creating connections based on those foundations—is important, it’s not the only story you have to tell.

Your fans are fans for a reason—probably more than one, if you’ve implemented some of these strategies already. At least one of those reasons is because they found success with your books.

Obviously, success looks different for different authors.

For fiction authors, success looks like a well-satisfied reader who loved your book, who found a special connection with it, was maybe even inspired by it.
For nonfiction authors, success can take so many different forms, depending entirely on what problem your book is designed to help these readers solve.

Regardless of what that success looks like, a success story is worth sharing. Even better, a success story from someone who has a history of supporting you—now you have the opportunity to show them that same support and appreciation, to thank them for that loyalty.

Plus, sharing your fans’ success makes for great social content and opportunities. You get to share a genuine testimonial that makes your brand or product look great to potential customers. And your fans are likely to re-share whatever content you post about them, which means getting your brand and your content in front of a new audience.

Map Out a Journey to Guide Fans Into Becoming Super Fans

Fans do not turn into super fans overnight. They also don’t turn into super fans without you putting in the work to develop that relationship.

Even the biggest stars with the most dedicated super fans had to put in the work to nurture those connections, though that work may look different for different creators. Taylor Swift isn’t personally reaching out to individual Swifties to convert them into diehard fans—except, actually, she is. She’s done everything from interacting with fans on social media spaces to inviting fans to her home for secret listening sessions ahead of major album releases. And you better believe these efforts worked (and continue to work) on her fanbase.

This might sound discouraging for a lot of creators—as independent authors, small business owners, content creators, free time doesn’t come easily. You’re probably looking for set-it-and-forget-it strategies to streamline your efforts while still growing your business, and “put in the work to personalize a customer journey to turn followers into fans” sounds like… well, work.

To streamline your efforts as much as possible, commit to a plan to help guide your customers’ journey to superfandom. Start by asking yourself questions like:

What do I want my fans to do? (subscribe to my email newsletter, review my products, share my content, use my branded hashtags to tag me in UGC, etc.)
How can I motivate them to do that?
How can I reward them for doing that (short-term)?
How can I reward them for doing that (long-term)?

Answer those questions and boom: you have a road map. For example:

What do I want my fans to do? Subscribe to my email newsletter
How can I motivate them to do that? By offering free exclusive content to anyone who signs up for my newsletter
How can I reward them for doing that (short-term)? By immediately sending them the promised content
How can I reward them for doing that (long-term)? By continuing to send them valuable content

Does the example strategy still require work? Yes—you’ll have to keep rewarding your subscribers by continuing to create high-quality content for them. But weren’t you going to do that anyway?

If your goal as an author, content entrepreneur, or content creator is to be a one-hit wonder, then maybe this isn’t for you. Maybe you’ll even profit off the thrilling mystery behind your one-time publishing success before you disappear into the ether.

But if your goal is to build a brand that enjoys long-term success and sustains you both monetarily and creatively, you can’t do it alone. You’ll need long-term supporters, loyal followers, and dedicated repeat buyers. You’ll need super fans.