Marketers need to look beyond acquiring fans as a statistic and engage them to build a deeper relationship.

1.
Treat
your
‘Fans’
with
Respect
Pushkar
Sane
Marketers
need
to
look
beyond
acquiring
fans
as
a
statistic
and
engage
them
to
build
a
deeper
relationship.
www.pushkarsane.com
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@PushkarSane
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www.pushkar.co

2. [TREAT
YOUR
‘FANS’
WITH
RESPECT]
These
days,
‘Fan’
has
become
the
most
commonly
used
(and
often
abused)
word
amongst
marketers
and
agencies.
It
comes
up
in
almost
all
meetings
and
discussions
related
to
digital
marketing.
There
is
nothing
wrong
in
expecting
people
to
like
your
brand
and
become
a
‘fan’,
but
we
need
to
look
beyond
just
‘fan’
acquisitions.
Recently,
I
have
seen
marketers
compare
notes
on
the
growth
in
their
‘fan
base’
and
agencies
boasting
about
their
tactics
to
capture
new
fans.
Increase
in
‘fan
base’
is
getting
quantified
and
specific
fan
acquisition
targets
are
appearing
in
briefs
with
other
key
performance
indicators.
Getting
people
to
press
the
‘Like’
button
on
Facebook
or
getting
them
to
follow
you
on
Twitter
is
not
that
difficult.
But
keeping
them
engaged
in
a
dialogue
and
getting
them
to
market
your
brands
to
others
is
not
that
easy.
I
have
been
observing
activities
of
leading
brands
on
various
social
platforms
in
general
–
Facebook
and
Twitter
in
particular.
In
my
humble
view,
most
brands
make
the
mistake
of
using
their
fan
pages
as
an
extension
of
their
broadcasting
infrastructure.
As
soon
as
they
start
a
Facebook
page
or
a
Twitter
handle
they
flood
it
with
their
own
products
(or
services),
offers,
and
even
advertising
campaigns.
It
is
nothing
but
a
monologue
and
most
of
the
content
is
not
specifically
created
for
social
spaces.
For
example,
I
recently
saw
photographs
posted
by
Zara
on
its
Facebook
page
and
it
was
disappointing
to
see
the
photographs
without
any
description
and
tagging.
In
one
of
the
album
posts,
its
latest
magazine
issue
was
simply
scanned
and
uploaded
rather
than
making
that
content
suitable
for
Facebook.
To
me,
it
looked
like
a
missed
opportunity
as
hundreds
of
people
giving
their
thumbs
up
could
have
certainly
benefited
from
more
meaningful
and
customised
content.
I
have
taken
Zara
as
an
example,
but
unfortunately
it’s
not
alone
as
most
brands
are
in
the
same
boat.
‘Fans’
are
passionate
about
brands
and
some
of
them
do
take
the
initiative
to
express
opinions
(positive
and
negative)
on
Facebook
walls
or
Twitter
handles
of
their
favourite
brands.
These
opinions
largely
emerge
out
of
their
personal
brand
experiences
(or
that
of
their
social
networks)
and
fortunately
they
care
enough
to
actually
post
their
opinions.
Needless
to
say,
most
marketers
don’t
like
negative
comments
coming
their
way,
but
engaging
in
a
dialogue
to
solve
problems
is
the
only
option
available
to
them.
Positive
comments
from
fans
are
always
accepted
with
pride
but
seldom
treated
with
gratitude.
I’m
amazed
to
see
there
are
so
many
positive
comments
on
brand
walls
but
almost
no
‘thank
you’
notes
from
the
brands.
Showing
gratitude
towards
people
who
talk
positively
about
your
brand
can
only
enhance
your
relationship
with
them.
In
effect,
there
exists
an
opportunity
to
build
a
www.pushkarsane.com
|
@PushkarSane
|
me@pushkarsane.com
|
www.pushkar.co

3. [TREAT
YOUR
‘FANS’
WITH
RESPECT]
deeper
relationship
with
people
who
are
passionate
about
your
brand
and
wanting
to
have
a
dialogue.
Most
discussions
and
strategies
around
‘Fans’
are
about
bringing
them
to
a
brand
and
locking
them
in
as
long
as
possible.
It
is
like
a
one-­‐way
relationship.
Now
compare
this
with
any
real-­‐life
social
engagement.
Consider
this:
You
get
a
very
non-­‐personalised
party
invite
from
me.
You’re
still
kind
enough
to
accept
the
invitation
and
come
to
my
party.
When
you
arrive,
I
don’t
acknowledge
you
or
introduce
you
to
other
people.
Additionally,
I
keep
boasting
about
my
greatness
and
my
party.
I
avoid
you
when
you
try
to
have
a
counter
opinion
and
don’t
show
my
gratitude
when
you
say
nice
things
about
me.
I
don’t
really
care
about
your
meal
or
drink
preferences
and
serve
you
whatever
is
available.
I
interrupt
when
you
charm
other
people
in
my
party.
I
never
acknowledge
your
kind
gifts.
And
finally,
I
never
ever
come
to
your
party
but
I
expect
you
to
keep
coming
to
mine
every
time
I
organise
it.
The
question
is
“Will
you
come
to
my
next
party?”I
asked
this
question
to
my
friends
from
the
marketing
and
advertising
industry.
Needless
to
say,
all
of
them
came
back
with
a
resounding
NO.
Unfortunately,
our
industry
doesn’t
realise
we
treat
our
‘Fans’
exactly
like
the
above-­‐
mentioned
party
description.
We
expect
them
to
join
our
brand
pages
through
very
generic
invites;
when
they
do
join
our
party
we
don’t
acknowledge
them
enough,
we
don’t
introduce
them
to
other
like-­‐minded
fans,
we
don’t
want
their
negative
comments,
we
gloat
over
their
positive
comments
but
don’t
say
thank
you,
we
give
them
the
same
content,
and
we
don’t
thank
them
enough
for
their
business,
but
we
expect
them
to
keep
buying
our
brand
again
and
again.
Fortunately,
‘Fans’
are
more
forgiving
than
my
friends,
and
they
still
come
to
brand
parties
despite
the
not-­‐so-­‐nice
treatment.
The
least
we
can
do
is
to
start
treating
them
with
respect
and
actually
go
to
a
fan’s
party
with
a
beautiful
gift.
Do
brands
have
the
courage
and
willingness
to
become
‘Fans’
of
different
individuals
who
they
call
consumers?
(Originally
published
in
ClickZ.Asia
on
10
November
2010)
www.pushkarsane.com
|
@PushkarSane
|
me@pushkarsane.com
|
www.pushkar.co