Secret to Getting Fans: The 60-20-20 Rule

Finding fans is an art.

Wouldn’t it be great if people supported anything you did?

Once you get the motion started, people will flock to you.

No kidding.

The Secret’s Story

I’m going to tell you the man who inspired this.

He sat in a wheelchair and I don’t remember his looks, but I’m never going to forget what he brought. The strength and energy he spoke with, the way he let his words run loose, he was reaching out to us with his heart.

He connected to us through his story and his storytelling, the way he controlled his audience and knew when to do what.

He gained a lot of supporters that day and I’m almost sure that it happens every time he really speaks; his message was Don’t drink and drive, but it was deeper than that.

His drunken driving killed his legs and his friend who was in the car beside him.

But it was the exclusive message afterwards when I learned how he reached out to us.

He told us his secret to getting fans. It works for everyone, whether you’re raising money for a cause or performing live next week.

The 60-20-20 Rule

We were a group striving for social change, and his exclusive talk helped us a lot.

The man taught us the 60-20-20 rule to getting fans and running amazing events, and this is something I still use today.

• 20% of people support you already. In our case, these were the people in the class, our friends, our families, and possibly the teachers.
• Another 20% of people will be against you; usually it’s not personal– they just don’t want to listen. In our case, they didn’t attend our events, they were negative about our initiatives, and were passive to our messages.
• And here’s where it gets interesting: the remaining 60% just don’t know. They don’t know if they should support you or not, and they’re lingering on neutral until either group convinces them. This is the group that we target our campaigns to.

Some people will always stay in the neutral 60% group and that’s why we have publicity campaigns for every event out there.

The man recognized his 60-20-20 in the audience and reached out to his 60% (which I was part of– I didn’t know what to expect), winning over hearts and supporters.

What does this mean?

With any audience, you start off with the approximate ratio 60-20-20 until either of the 20% groups gains more fans.

When you focus on convincing the 60% portion of people to support you or even join the always-supporting 20% of people, you’ll make a lot more progress because your efforts are targeted.

These groups are flexible and some people might go back and forth. However, the 20% of people who start out against you are difficult to change and under most circumstances, it’s best to leave them alone.

You’re probably thinking, ‘But Grace, isn’t it more effective when you target more people because there’s a bigger chance of gaining more supporters?’

Sounds logical, but the opposite is actually true: the more targeted your audience is, the more supporters you’ll gain. Why?

• It’s quicker and easier to focus on the people who might already be interested in you.
• Jumping from (sometimes extreme) dislike to like is a big step and most people aren’t ready to change at all.
• People who are against you (or what you work for) start out with a plethora of preconceptions and it’s both time-consuming and difficult to change them. Why don’t you focus your time and energy on people who deserve it instead?
• When you target a certain audience, the way you connect with them is more focused, and you can create a type of ‘intimacy’ (more on that below), adding to your supporting 20%.

How it Works

Let’s put this into context. I have two examples for you…

Example #1: Projects that Change the World

Going back to the leadership class, one thing separated the most successful event organizers and the students who jumped around helping one cause after another: the leaders were passionate about one (or two) causes and focused all their energies on those.

So when someone started planning a project that was even remotely related to clothing, my name came up, even amongst the teachers. “Oh, you’re doing a project with clothes? Why don’t you talk to Grace? She’s done projects like this…”

People consulted me for their projects, and I actually got invited to participate or lead others’ projects, because of my experience with clothing; sock drives, charity button (the type you pin onto your clothes) making, Hunger Games (charity event), you name it.

• I gained a lot of supporters over the year; people would follow my progress and projects or offer to help.
• I always got the number of volunteers I needed for my projects because I’d established a fanbase of people who were shared my goals and were actually interested in the projects.
• My event turnouts increased as the year progressed, and by the time I graduated, I was almost sad because my initiative wasn’t a club and it most likely would not continue after I leave.
• By narrowing my focus, I actually gained more supporters because I became the go-to person for that type of project. Unknowingly, I targeted a narrower field in the 60% of neutral people.

Example #2: Teaching Piano

•  As a piano teacher, my 20% of supporters are my existing students and parents.
• The 20% of people who aren’t with me don’t necessarily have anything personal against me; they just don’t believe in piano and the arts in general.
• If I wanted more piano students, there is a whole 60% of people out there who might pass by the studio and come in for a quick chat, or hear about the studio from a current student/parent; I might even put an ad in the newspaper or put up posters around town.

As you can see, the 60-20-20 rule is applicable anywhere.

 Takeaways

• Focus on people who are already interested in you; determine who your supporters are and identify the neutral 60%.
• Target your campaigns on the neutral portion (60%) for maximum results; these people can also turn against you, so they’re important.
• Don’t forget about your supporting 20%; these people are special.