Apps, Marketing, Social Media
October 14th, 2011 by Matt Haff
The Five Stages of the Usage Lifecycle
- Unaware
- Interested
- First-time Use
- Regular Use
- Passionate Use
Passionate Followers
What makes companies like Apple, Chick-fil-a, and Starbucks stand out from the crowd? The answer is simple, passionate followers.
Apple spends 1% on advertising?! Because they are great at producing a passionate fan base. Apple fan boys/girls are the leading factors of Apple’s success. Why are there no windows fanboys? Because it’s not an innovative product that creates a passionate following.
Sharers are great for several reasons:
- Sharers advertise for you
- What sharers say is more powerful than what you say
- Sharers tell you why you’re great
There are two types of sharing, the first is implicit sharing. Implicit sharing happens when an item is shared as a byproduct of participation. On Del.icio.us, for example, your bookmarks are shared by default, so that others can see them even if your original intention was to simply save it for later. The other type is explicit sharing, which is how we usually share: on purpose.
Give them something to share!
If the goal is getting people to share stuff, then there are a few things you must consider. Allow people to share by providing them with a permanent URL, making it embeddable, making it a PDF, and making it printer-friendly. Your next step is to give them something they want to share. It really depends on the person, but in general people like to share:
- Ideas that reinforce what we already believe
- Ideas that surprise us
- Ideas that help explain something we already know
- Things we know another person will find valuable
- Useful tools – anything that makes a tough task easier
- Fun things like pictures & videos
- Things that make us look good.
Last but certainly not least!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this series, keep in mind that this applies to much more than a social web app. You can’t have successful passionate use without the other four steps. Don’t focus on “viral” focus on passionate! Besides, where do you think viral comes from?
Marketing
November 1st, 2010 by Matt Haff
I was wrapping up this book today on my way to San Diego for An Event Apart and a sectiong really stuck out to me…It was chapter 7 “Designing For Sharing” the idea behind this section is that if you can convert your user into a passionate user then it can be game changing!
Consider this…Apple only spends 1% of their budget on advertising. Sure 1% of a billion dollars is a lot, but not compared to what other companies spend on advertising. Why is Apple so successful then? It’s because they are great at producing a passionate fan base. Apple Fan Boys are one of the leading factors to Apple’s success. Why are there no Windows Fan Boys? Honestly Windows isn’t THAT bad… It’s because Windows is not an innovative product that creates a passionate following.
- Posted from my iPad 
An Event Apart, Church Online, Marketing, Ministry 2.0, Social Media, Web Design
June 19th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Catalyst
Many of you have probably heard of Catalyst but have you ever attended? I know it’s not about web or social media, or online video, or anything that I normally discuss on here… It’s about leadership, moving the church forward, igniting a revolution, building great leaders. I believe it is important that we instill leadership values into ourselves and our team. It also helps to have a vision as a whole of where the church is going. This is why at 12Stone® Church we get tickets for our entire staff, and I do think that it has an effect on how we work together.
An Event Apart
I haven’t been able to attend one yet but I’m hoping to sign on for the one in San Diego this year. Every year since they started I’ve wanted to go but haven’t had the money. It is one of the most expensive events for web developers, designers, etc. This is one of the more advanced conferences so if you’re just starting off this probably isn’t the one for you. But if you’ve been in the game for a few years and want to push yourself…this is where you want to be. Become a fan of them on Facebook and get an additional $100 off with discount code: AEAFBAEA
An Event Apart is an intensely educational two-day learning session for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference you’ve been waiting for. Your conference pass includes admission to all fourteen sessions at the two-day conference; breakfast, hot lunch, and snacks on both days; access to the opening night party; and a bag of swag.
M2Live
I had the opportunity to attend M2Live last year and it was a very affordable conference with great speakers such as John Saddington, Tony Steward, Jason Reynolds and more! The event is based around web, communications, social media, etc.
If you are a church leader or volunteer interested in learning how to develop an effective social media strategy, create a more appealing and usable church website, or would like to grow your ministry using web technology, M2LIVE Orlando is the event for you!
