This Is Not That (Fans, Customers, Communities, Audiences, And Assets)

Mag’s at Double Down Dispatch is onto something - this is not that, or these are not those, or… let me summarize. 

She’s coming at it from a web3 perspective, but even if you can’t remember what web3 is, you should think through this with me. 

A fan is not a customer. A customer buys something from you. A fan likes something you do. A customer doesn’t have to be a fan (hello phone companies), and a fan doesn’t have to be a customer (hello every band I only ever liked on the radio). 

An audience is not a community. An audience is a group of people you’ve gathered to take in your discourse (hello college lecture). A community is a group of people gathered for dialogue (hello hanging out at college with your friends). The difference is in the mode of interaction - and depending on what you’re building, those modes of interaction can have mutually beneficial or conflicting ideas(!). 

Fans, customers, audiences, and communities can be assets. You can build, shape, develop, nurture, and grow them over time. You can also destroy them. In a flash. 

IF you are building customers, create more value than you cost. 

IF you are building fans, aim higher - try to build super fans who don’t just want one thing, but wish to be invited into an entire interactive ecosystem. Which is to say…

IF you are building an audience, try to make sure they’re fans who are gathering for your discourse on display. And, 

IF you are building a community, give those fans a way to interact with each other in a way that lifts everyone in the community up. 

There are a lot of customer and audience-building schemes out there. 

They’re fine, but that’s a type of transactional relationship that’s hard to do much else with. Again, think of the cell phone service providers. Lots of people use/need them, we all give them our money, but are we excited about anything they do?

Don’t do that. Unless that’s your business. 

For the rest of us, think about how to make sure your customers are fans. Think about when they’re in the audience and what they’ll get out of it. Think about when they’re in the community and what they’ll get out of that. 

Authentic Intelligence, baby. 

h/t 10 Hard Truths About Creator-Fan Relationships in Web3 on Double Down Dispatch