‘And still you sink into the floor’
“Meet fans where they are.” It's a phrase you’ve heard. Maybe even said it yourself.
I’ve been pondering it since Andrea Rice made a great comment to the June 5th edition of The Superfan Formula. It's yet another phrase that sounds good, spoken from a conference lectern or in a Town Hall? Empathetic. Practical. Artist-friendly. Except… it’s all too often used as a get-out-of-jail-free card for lazy thinking. So, let’s unpack it.
“WHAT DO FANS REALLY WANT - RECOGNITION? ACCESS? COMMUNITY? BELONGING?”
What It Should Mean
At its best, “meet them where they are” is a rallying cry. Tactically, it’s about showing up where fans actually spend time (TikTok, YouTube, Discord…Five Guys). But that’s just the shallow end of the pool. To really mean something, you’ve got to dive deeper, to the level of emotional needs.
What do fans really want?
Recognition? Access? Community? Belonging?
A connection to something bigger than themselves?
Uncovering that takes observation, empathy, adaptability, and yes, insight. Not “insight” from a dashboard. Not behavioural data dressed up as strategy, but real attitudinal insight drawn from people’s heads and hearts. No digital data stream, no CRM tagging, no vanity metric will tell you that. The only way to map the emotional headspace of your fanbase is from carrying out attitudinal insight. That’s the fuel for experiences that align with how fans feel, not just how they click.
“...align with how fans feel, not just how they click."
What It Too Often Becomes…
Here’s where things fall apart. In too many corners of the industry, “meet fans where they are” gets twisted into:
“Segment the fans by how much they can pay and milk accordingly.”
Which too often means:
Priority access for those that can afford it
Repackage, re-release, repeat, with barely any added value
More tiers than a wedding cake
Suddenly, you’ve created a class system. One that subtly punishes the ‘normal’ fan for not being affluent, lean-in, or algorithmically useful. That's not fan-centricity. Thats revenue-centricity in disguise.
“…THE GOAL ISN’T TO EXTRACT MORE MONEY, IT’S TO UNLOCK MORE MEANING.”
The Shift: Stop Thinking in Tiers. Start Thinking in Journeys.
Yes, meet fans where they are. But don’t just leave them there:
Invite them into something bigger.
Design pathways, not packages.
Create movement, not silos.
Because the goal isn’t to extract more money, it’s to unlock more meaning. And when you unlock meaning, you unlock growth; in experience, reach, trust, connection… and yes… revenue baby.
“...invite then in to something bigger"
When fans feel seen, included, and rewarded, they stick around. They buy in. They tell others. They become your most powerful engine for growth. So much more sustainable, credible, and profitable than the alternative.
Superfan Strategy 101
Here’s what we believe at Sound Effects:
Reward before you charge
Belonging over exclusion
Emotional connection over cynical segmentation
When fans feel genuinely seen and valued, and not manipulated or milked, they stick around. They become part of the story. And they bring others with them.
The Superfan Engine
And the most effective, efficient way to do this? The Superfan Engine, our insight-to-activation system, built specifically to scale emotional connection and unlock fan-driven growth. It’s how we turn passion into participation, and participation into revenue.
When you invest in the most passionate 20%, you grow the wider audience. Not just in size but in depth, diversity, and resilience. Stop squeezing. Start scaling. That’s how you build a fan ecosystem that actually lasts.
Want to build something fans want to be part of, not just pay into?
That’s what we do.
Let’s talk.