Fans or Customers?

A useful way to look at your buyers is to determine the percentage of fans versus the percentage of customers. A customer may like the product; they may be a repeat customer; but they are not the same as a fan. A fan (which, remember, is short for "fanatic") eagerly awaits the next product; is eager for any and all products connected to the object of their adoration; loves to get the latest information; and delights in spreading the word to other people and persuading them to be equally devoted. Certainly some types of products don't attract many fans; toilet paper, plumbing supplies, and similar goods may have an occasional fan, but mostly just customers.

Fans are the majority for buyers of fiction, television shows, sports teams, celebrities, and many (but not all) types of games. Marketing to fans is obviously different than marketing to customers. Twitter is an example of a great tool for marketing to fans, but not really useful for marketing to customers. Who wants to get tweets about toilet paper?

Now, it may be that your game currently has mostly customers that could become fans if you engaged more with them. Use a Facebook page for your game; start discussion groups on your web site; tweet and blog and use every tool you can to communicate every little bit you want people to know about. If you can develop a large audience that is eager for every new product you create, you've got a nice steady business.

If you're a fan of something, check out how they market to you... you'll find ideas you like and methods you despise, so feel free to let that inform your marketing planning. (I like to call that "research".)