Lose Followers to Gain Fanatics

I read the following quote today in Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

“We design [products] to be simple because we believe most software is too complex: too many features, too many buttons, too much confusion.  So we build software that’s the opposite of that.  If what we make isn’t right for everyone, that’s OK.  We’re willing to lose some customers if it means that others love our products intensely.”

Let me tell you a story about Gary Vaynerchuk to help you understand why this quote from Rework is so valuable.  I’ve been following Gary and his work a lot lately.  I hadn’t heard about him until maybe a few months ago when a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video.  If you haven’t heard of him or followed his work, start with this video immediately (also below) after reading this post and watch the whole hour long video.  Be warned, he cusses a bit, but I think it’s worth it.  (Let me be more honest, he cusses a lot and drops the F-bomb unapologetically.) Since watching and reading his stuff I’ve been hooked.  I think Gary is at the forefront of all things social media and he sees it for the absolute business and communication value that each platform has, he can see past the college dude mentality that wants to use things like snapchat for sending nudie photos and he sees the true business opportunities available.

Something I gleaned from a video of his recently was the following idea: It’s no longer about the number of people you acquire, it’s about the numbers you can keep.  In other words, the whole business model that we have been following for decades, trying to acquire the largest range of clients or followers, is no longer relevant.  The acquisition of fans/followers/likes or whatever has actually become a commodity.  You can buy those now.  For a fee you can buy followers or likes on twitter, instagram, facebook, or whatever platform you want.  So the acquisition of people is no longer a relevant model – depth of retention is what matters.  It’s about being okay with losing followers to gain fanatics.

I’ve been thinking about this idea on multiple levels for a few years now.  It first percolated when we saw Hulu and Netflix take off, especially once Hulu started putting out niche shows that were made by and only viewable on Hulu.  I imagined seeing the days of the 500 channels cable box, where none of them interest you, were now over.  Before that moment, T.V. networks were basing their success on the breadth of their reach for a single episode.  That’s no longer totally relevant.  Now is the day of niche markets, seeking out fanatic followers who will watch every episode, buy every product, listen to every podcast, read every blog post, watch every YouTube video, read every email, follow every tweet, like every Facebook post, and share every one of your brands posts.  Developing deep and long lasting relationships are now being prioritized for their true value instead of believing the number of viewers, fans, followers, or likes equates to value.

Let’s get back to the quote from Rework from the beginning of the post.  So, the way to get to the fanatic follower (I’m imagining fans that are more like religious zealots) is to be like the quote, “…[be] willing to lose some customers if it means that others love our products intensely.”  As a brand representative in any market, the goal now is depth over breadth and that’s a hard idea to sell to people who have been in this business for a long time.  Intentionally marginalizing a huge portion of your potential market is the opposite of what has been the standard for decades.  However, this is where it’s all going and the sooner we realize that, the more we’re going to see amazing tailored content and the more successful businesses can be.

Finally, if Seth Godin’s opinion is worth half of what people think it is, consider his review of the book Rework, “Ignore this book at your own peril.”