Wondering how to get Patreon supporters?
How about how to get more for your existing Patreon campaign?
You can absolutely make money on Patreon (in fact – many are absolutely killing it). However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about getting supporters.
Too many creators launch a crowdfunding campaign that falls short. They leave Patreon, frustrated, not knowing why it works for some creators, but not themselves. It hurts the community as a whole.
With this article, I want to get into some of the easy ways to get more patrons on Patreon so that you can get back to doing the work you love. These supporters enable you to put amazing things into the universe, whether that’s podcast episodes, comics, blog posts, poems, or YouTube videos.
This is a powerful way to transform your fanbase into customers. We all love getting attention, but attention doesn’t pay the bills. You need customers for that. These tips will show you how to turn your passion into a business with real supporters.
1. Focus on The Benefits For Patrons
All too often, we’ll see creators say things like:
“If you’d like to support me, you can join my Patreon campaign here. Thank you so much”
At the end of a YouTube video or podcast episode, they’ll throw in a quick line saying:
“Oh, by the way, go and check out my Patreon campaign and support. It helps the show. Thanks!”
The reason why is usually because the creator HATES seeming salesy. They enjoy creating. They won’t want to promote or spam their campaign to their followers.
They believe deep down that they deserve they should be paid for their creative work and they shouldn’t have to sell it. People should just want it exist and therefore support it.
If you’re either of these two creators, I can’t help you. That is a inner belief that you’re going to have to fix on your own. Sorry.
But – if you’re genuinely interested in learning how to promote your campaign better and are willing to stress the BENEFITS of joining your community on Patreon, then I can help you a lot.
The #1 reason that people buy products or subscribe to crowdfunding campaigns is because of the benefits they will receive from doing so.
Yes – they might like you for the emotions you brought them in the past.
Yes – they may even admire your work.
No – this is rarely enough to make them support YOU each month for years into the future.
They gotta get something out of the deal, and you have to make them aware of that. State the plain benefits of becoming a Patron to your campaign. Don’t just expect to figure it out on their own.
It’s actually incredibly egotistical to think people will support you because you’re you. Put yourself in their shoes. What do THEY want?
2. Create More Reward Tiers on Patreon
Do you know of any majorly successful company that has only ONE product?
I can’t really think of any. Even software companies have multiple subscription tiers that all have different benefits.
By simply offering more reward tiers, you’re going to increase the number of Patrons you have because not every membership level is for everyone.
Some people might want to support you at the $5 tier. Others can be persuaded to “level up” and choose a bigger tier with more benefits.
More products = more opportunities for people to pay you. The fastest way to grow your revenue is to offer more products to the public. Granted, they better be quality products.
Rather than thinking about Patreon as a way for people to “support you,” start to think of it as a business. How can you up-sell people to higher membership tiers? What benefits can you offer at different levels?
I’ve put together a new FREE course that’s packed with Patreon tips, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more Patrons and you want to fast-track the entire process.
3. Multiple Funding Goals Create Momentum
So… you end up hitting your fundraising goal… now what?
Why would anyone join your project if you hit your goal?
You want to have multiple funding goals to maintain momentum for your Patreon campaign. You always want to be growing the vision that you have for the future.
In fact, the website itself talked about this here. This is a very common practice in other forms of crowdfunding. Lots of Kickstarter campaigns have stretch goals and add-ons to maintain momentum.
It should almost feel like you’re always progressing but never completely reaching your goal destination. Otherwise, all of the energy, curiosity, and intrigue is sucked out of your community. It’s not fun anymore.
4. Have Consistent Content and Communication
You get a gym membership.
For whatever reason, in time, you stop going. You’re either busy or no longer interested in getting fit.
Eventually, you’ll quit that membership because it’s a monthly cost adding to your bill. You don’t like the idea of paying every month for something that you don’t use.
The same goes for other subscriptions like Netflix, membership websites, etc. If you aren’t using it regularly, then you usually cut the cord.
You never want your Patrons to feel like they aren’t getting regular value of their subscription. You don’t want them to think “man, I haven’t been on there in so long.” Otherwise, they’re going to stop supporting you.
Be consistent with the content and communication to ensure that you keep your Patrons engaged and subscribed to their monthly or per-creation plan.
5. Host Live Videos and Livestreams
Live video is HOT.
By doing Facebook live videos, you’ll rank better in the overall algorithm. This is an excellent way to get people interested in your Patreon and also give them a sense of your personality.
The same goes for livestreams on YouTube. Why not use your channel to your advantage? Even mid-sized YouTubers can command a big following of live attendees.
Live video is AMAZING because you have the undivided attention of the attendees, can get live comments, and direct people to the link of your choosing throughout the event.
By offering a limited quantity tier (or a special price), you can give livestream viewers an exclusive offering that no one else in your community has access to.
Actually, I discovered a ton of tricks that can help you earn recurring income from Patreon using subscription crowdfunding. This is dependable, repeat income to fuel your craft. You can really turn your passion into profit. You can learn more about the Patreon tricks I’ve discovered here.
6. Limited Quantity Reward Tiers
One of the major levers that causes people to support crowdfunding campaigns is the feeling of scarcity when it comes to limited quantity reward tiers.
Patreon offers this functionality where you can have certain rewards or perks that have a limited number of people that can claim them.
Those special reward tiers could be at a super good price or offer amazing benefits that you can’t find in any of the other tiers.
You can use these types of rewards in tandem with live streaming or other outlets to get a lot of Patrons in the door fast. The limited quantity reward tiers are an incentive for people to join the fundraiser.
7. Build an Email List
If you’re gearing up to the launch of a Patreon campaign, than the best thing that you can do is build an email list of people who might be interested in supporting.
These could be friends, family, readers, listeners, or viewers of your channel. Tease that email list and get people on there, because when you launch it will directly translate into patrons.
A lot of social media types struggle to wrap their head around this because social media is so prevalent now a days. Actually, more purchasing decisions and launches happen as a result of an email list rather than just blasting out a campaign link on your Facebook or Twitter
Here’s as video that shows you how to easily set up a landing page and email list so that you can raise funds quickly.
8. Facebook Advertising
Right now, Facebook advertising is a gold rush. It’s an extremely powerful way to rack up pledges on Kickstarter and get Patrons for your Patreon campaign.
I’ve written and spoken about this extensively. For those just getting started, the easiest thing that you can do is to build a custom audience off of your:
- Email list
- Website visitors
- Fan page or FB engagement
These are people who are your fans. They know your work. They know who you are. They’ve been warmed up to the value that you offer to the world.
9. Testimonials and Reviews
You can talk about the value of joining your campaign all you want, but you are biased.
When you share a genuine testimonial, review, or how other people are loving the content you’re releasing behind closed doors, then it drums up excitement.
People love to hear authentic feedback from fellow consumers or viewers. It’s why websites like Amazon, Yelp, Airbnb, and even Uber are so popular. That reviewing community is what makes people more likely to try places or eat at certain restaurants.
Collect testimonials and use them in your favor to persuade people to join your community.
10. Keep Promoting and Promoting
You gotta keep promoting and promoting. It’s not enough just to mention your Patreon once in your content. You have to build it into your business model.
This might be uncomfortable at first, but given enough time, you’ll become more natural. It should be as frequent as your other call to actions like “subscribe to my YouTube channel” or “give us a rating on iTunes.”
Over time, people will begin to trickle into your Patreon campaign and eventually it will become a steady stream. As your content library builds, so will the links to your campaign and thus the traffic to it.
I’ve put together a new FREE course that’s packed with Patreon tips, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more Patrons and you want to fast-track the entire process.
11. Tease The Inside Content
Aside from scarcity, which we talked about earlier, the emotion of curiosity will also make people want to find out what the fuss is all about.
By talking about the content that your viewers, listeners, or readers don’t have access to and hyping it up, you’ll give them an idea of what waits inside when they subscribe to your Patreon.
It also makes people want to satisfy their curiosity and simply find out the type of content that you’re producing in there.
12. Make it “Easy” and “Non-committal”
The reason why online sellers offer money-back guarantees and promises that you can try it before you buy it is because they want to lower the barriers to making a purchasing decision.
You can do the exact same thing. People don’t need to subscribe to your Patreon for a year. They can just try it and see whether or not they like the content.
Make it seem like something that’s easy to get out of (if they want to) and also stress all the benefits that they’re gaining access to by supporting. They can see if it’s for them or not. If they don’t like it, they can easily unsubscribe.
13. Coaches and Experts
There are coaches and experts like myself that will help you supercharge your crowdfunding campaign. We can help you take it to the next level.
If you are struggling to put together a good Patreon or are needing help marketing, promoting, and getting Patrons, then consider bringing on someone who can help you. It’s an investment in your career and your business.
It’s the best thing that you can do that will have the biggest impact on your income over time. Rather than having to spend months and months learning how to drive more traffic and increase your income, you can just hire someone to do it for you.
Actually, I discovered a ton of tricks that can help you earn recurring income from Patreon using subscription crowdfunding. This is dependable, repeat income to fuel your craft. You can really turn your passion into profit. You can learn more about the Patreon tricks I’ve discovered here.
I hope that you’ve found this article to be helpful. You can subscribe down below if you’d like more weekly tips from me!
