Product operation and promotion: 4 steps to teach you how to find super fans of your product!

Finding the right early users is critical to success, and it’s not easy. Many entrepreneurs stumble at this step. They are told, "Get out of the office and meet with people." So they do it.

But when you cast a wide net, the feedback you get is mixed. Your friends, family, and investors support you, care about you, and give you enthusiastic advice, but that advice can also be terribly misleading.

1. Focus on your early markets

If you’re innovating, you have to find and light up a smaller early market before you target a larger one. You can start by testing your idea with a smaller group of people who need your product and who are willing to bear the cost, tolerate the absurdities, and discomfort of the product while meeting their needs. As you do this, your chances of success increase.

In his brilliant 1961 theory of the diffusion of innovations, Everett Rogers categorized users into five distinct groups of people who would develop relationships with new innovations over time.

• Innovators: They are eager to experiment and are always focused on bold and adventurous new ideas.
• Early adopters: have a burning problem to solve and are driven to action by that problem; they are willing to take risks and tolerate disruptive or unsuccessful solutions in order to achieve their core values.
• Early majority: are very interested in the solution and will use it when they see a product gaining widespread acceptance in their social circles. For them, if the pain point becomes intense, conversion will occur.
• Late majority: Resistant to risk, limited resources, waiting for social pressure before using.
• Laggards: They always look backward, reject new things, and have no need to use new things.

Many years later, Geoffrey Moore popularized and expanded Rogers' model in his book Crossing the Chasm. Moore sells the reader a fascinating story: how he turned the Apple II, a hobbyist computer, into a mainstream consumer hit, that is, how he achieved the transition from crossing the "chasm" to mainstream success by making the transition from "early adopters" to the "early majority."

To sum it up in concise terms: To proactively connect with a small initial market, that is, early users, you must be focused, energetic, and humble. Why bother? Because the rewards for doing so are huge.

Your early users can:

1. Try out early versions of your product without any hands-on instruction.
2. Provide accurate feedback on early versions of systems and features;
3. In alpha testing and subsequent version testing, help you implement the core social system of the product;
4. Spread the word of mouth about your beta version when you are ready to launch it on a large scale.

2. Who are considered super fans?

When you build something new, you want to get feedback from a certain type of user base. These users have four key characteristics:

1. They have a problem, and that problem is what you want to solve.
2. They know they have a problem, and that’s the first thing to consider.
3. They are trying to solve the problem with the options available to them.
4. They are not satisfied with the “options” in the third point and they hope there will be better options.

I call these people “super fans.” This is an abbreviation that actually refers to those high-demand, high-value early users. They are “high demand” because, for some reason you don’t understand, they have a very urgent need or even desire for what you are building. They are “high value” because they can express themselves clearly, are good at observation, and have the motivation and energy to help you realize your product. In other words, they would make excellent alpha testers.

Super fans are early adopters who are “before the chasm”. When they try new things, they don’t need to gain word-of-mouth about it in their social circles first because their needs and desires are very strong. These are exactly the people you’re looking for: those who are suffering because they can’t get what you have to offer.

3. 5 channels for recruiting super fans

There are many channels for recruiting users. The channel through which you recruit your early users depends on your current relationship with potential users.

One rule of thumb is to recruit super fans by going where super fans are likely to go. Here are some channels to consider, along with some guidance on when to use them. You should try multiple channels at the same time in case one channel doesn’t work or works slowly

1. Send email directly

If you have an existing list of users or followers, you can email them directly and invite them to participate in your filter program. If you have a large list and usage data, you should try to reach the first few most relevant and active users on the list.

2. “Friends of Friends” Social Media Spread

Social media sharing is another great way to find research subjects. You can share recruitment information yourself, but it may be more effective to use "friends of friends" and ask your friends and colleagues to share recruitment information. This can help you broaden your network and find research subjects you don’t know yourself, who may be less willing to try to please you and therefore more open.

3. Interest Group

Are you part of a LinkedIn, Facebook, or other online community interest group?

These communities are a great place to find super fans, and before posting your recruiting information, make sure to prove your value to the community and check with the community leaders to ensure your message will be welcomed. If you don't belong to one of these interest groups yet, you can join one and establish yourself in it, or ask a friend who belongs to a related interest group to post information on your behalf.

4. Meetups and seminars

Recruiting users online is convenient and scalable, but face-to-face recruitment can also achieve good results. If there is a meetup in your area, introduce yourself and end it by inviting others to participate in your research.

5. Paid research services

If you’re short on time or don’t have the resources to recruit users yourself, you can turn to paid research services. You can describe in detail what kind of person you are looking for, and these paid agencies will find people who match your description. Although it can be expensive, it is sometimes the best way to find the right person.

4. Use questions to screen early users

Now, write down your short screening questions to identify early adopters. Try starting with six questions (three multiple-choice, three open-ended), then tweak the survey slightly to suit your needs.

Here are three tips for creating an effective super fan filter:

1. Multiple-choice question exposure model

Carefully understanding the early market requires your attention and focus. You have to say “no” to some opportunities and “yes” to others. If your user assumptions survey includes questions that target specific goals, it is a great opportunity to collect input and feedback.

2. Open-ended questions reveal purpose

You may filter out some respondents with multiple-choice questions. For example: these people may be too young, too old, unfamiliar with the product area, lack suitable smartphones, or not use certain tools very often.

For those who didn’t filter out in the demographic questions, their responses to the open-ended questions contain information that you can use as clues to identify enthusiastic early adopters while also identifying those respondents who don’t quite fit your needs. Make your open-ended questions more relevant to your goals so they can reveal the clues you need.

3. Complete your survey within a certain time limit

Next, choose a survey platform and collect some data. Google Forms and Survey Monkey are two great options, but any platform will work as long as you feel comfortable with it.

In fact, most responses will be entered into the platform within 24 hours after the questionnaire is posted. To get the best responses, give survey participants a deadline, such as 24 or 48 hours from the time you post the survey, and tell them to complete it right away. This ensures that when you publish the survey, most respondents will be able to answer it.

5. Accurately analyze and identify super fans

Once you have 50-100 responses, you will need to filter them and determine which respondents make the cut. I recommend the traffic light method, which is filtering survey answers through a three-color traffic light.

Here's how to use this method effectively:

1. Red = No. They should not be within your focus area (in terms of age, gender, or location), or their answers to open-ended questions should be minimal.
2. Yellow = maybe. They can be used as backup. Perhaps they gave brief, minimal responses or received mixed opinions from team members.
3. Green = Yes. They give relevant, thought-provoking responses, and you’re eager to learn more from them.

Most people like to use green, yellow and red colors on the columns of the returned questionnaire forms. If you're in a hurry, highlight the best dozen or so respondents in green at the beginning and work on the rest later.

1. Record key answer patterns

Once you’ve color-coded your returned surveys, sit down with your team and look for patterns in the data that need urgent action. These samples represent ideas, habits, needs, or pain points that are related to your area of ​​interest, and then come up with several samples, not just one or two.

When analyzing data, it can be difficult to figure out what the data means, especially when the data is something you didn't expect.

2. Green light list: 10~15 early users

Once you’ve filtered your survey results, you’ll need to narrow down to 10 to 15 respondents for your green light list. These people have the qualities you are looking for. Your green light list will contain some of the early core users you have filtered out. You can filter this list and collect high-value feedback to inform your product design.

Related reading:

1. Product Operation Analysis | How do social e-commerce platforms like Pinduoduo operate?

2. Six “pyramid models” you must know when operating Internet finance products!

3. 4 strategic methods and ideas for product operation!

4. Product Operation: How to build a product model diagram?

5. Product Operation: How to develop a growth strategy for a product?

6.How to build a product operation strategy? Just 3 steps!

By Amy Jo King

Source: CITIC Press, "Product Gamification"