Followers and supporters are a huge part of a social media presence. We often use the terms interchangeably, but they’re very different. Understanding the differences and how to attract them can really boost your social media skills and make creating your content easier. And, if you’ve read the first two articles, you’ve learned how to turn followers (people who enjoy your content) into supporters (people who love your content – and are willing to pay for or subscribe to it).

Now we want to take it one step further! Once you’ve turned a follower into a supporter and they’re willing to pay for your content, you want to offer them something extra. This has to be more than just your regular content: they can already watch that for free! In this article, we’ll give you some ideas of what you can offer potential subscribers and supporters.

What to Offer ✅

There’s a wide variety of things you can offer as a perk. The most comment is paid content, which we just talked about above.

Paid Content 💲

Paid content can include a large number of exclusive videos. This could be behind the scenes content, special vlogs, extended cuts of your videos, educational content, really anything that you think your followers would enjoy watching. Once you start offering paid content or subscriptions, you’ll want to start transitioning that content onto whatever platform you’re using.

You can also host supporter exclusive Livestreams and Radios to add an extra layer of engagement.

Merch 💲

A lot of creators will develop merch with either a famous quote of theirs or something else they’re known for. These can range from t-shirts to ball caps to even lunchboxes! Some content creators will offer merch to all their followers as a way to monetize more easily. Other creators will offer a special discount code or exclusive kinds of merch for their paid supporters.

Promotion 💲

Offer some kind of promotion for people who support your content! For some creators on Clapper, this looks like making a shoutout video for each new supporter: for other creators, this is literally offering promotion as part of your exclusive content. This can be a specific tier people pay for just once, or something you offer as an extra perk!

Early Access 💲

Another very popular perk for creators is to offer early access to paid subscribers. You can upload them on a specific platform or area and share the link to your subscribers in a letter or group chat message.

Let Them Vote 💲

Another fun perk is to let your followers vote on video ideas or merch designs they’d like to see. This lets your supporters feel more involved, and it keeps them invested in your content.

What Do Your Supporters Want? 💲

When you start developing perks for your subscribers, try asking them what they’d want. Since they’re the people you’re targeting, get their feedback on what they’d be interested in paying for. This can either be open ended, or as a poll they vote on.

And, again, this strengthens the trust that they have in you. It shows that you literally do care about what they want and like.

Promote Yourself 🎥

Just like businesses, you’re going to have to promote your exclusive, paid content. But unlike a business, you don’t have to consider other influencers or commercials. You can mention your paid content (and how people can access it) at the end of your videos. Use a nice call to action, like “if you like this content, head to my Clapper Fam Tiers for more!” Or you can post a video talking about your exclusive content and how to access it. You can even pin this to the top of your profile, so it’s the first thing people see!

Talking about paid content like this is the only real way it’s going to get out. Don’t be afraid to mention it, plug it, and answer questions about it. It’s an exciting opportunity for your supporters and an extension of your work! Be proud of it!

What Do I Charge? 💰

This is a highly personal question and will depend on what you’re offering. If you’re offering access to digital groups or early releases, you may consider something on the cheaper-side, like $5 a month. If you’re sending out merch each month or offering to promote them, the price should go up! You want to think about the money and time you spend on this content and make sure you’re getting compensated.

While we can’t give you definite advice, we encourage you to do some research and see what others are offering! Don’t feel like you have to copy them exactly, but knowing what your competition is doing can be helpful.

One Last Note ☝️

There is no fool-proof, step by step guide to getting supporters. No one creator has cracked the code for everyone else yet. Because, like all other kinds of entertainment, what we individually like and want to engage with his highly subjective. So while we can’t offer you a step by step, universal guide to gaining supporters and getting people to pay money for your content, we can give you several jumping off points that do work.

But you’ll have to find the magic trick for you and your audience. You may try a few tactics you noticed from your favorite content creators and they may not work: you may try some recommended by experts with less than ideal results. The point is that you have to try a variety of things to see what actually delivers the result you want. Don’t be afraid to fail and try again, to develop a few of your own strategies.

And don’t be discouraged if it takes longer than you anticipated. For most of us, social media success doesn’t just happen overnight. Be patient, stick with it, and stay true to what you want. Because if the trick to being a content creator was drinking some kombucha, we’d all be doing it.

One Last LAST Note 😅

In our previous installment, we said we’d be making our duology a trilogy. But as we’ve been working on this series and diving into the content, there’s been more we want to cover! So now this trilogy is becoming a saga. In the next article, we’ll be covering how to influence your followers and supporters.