So the 1-9-90 Rule… well if you haven’t heard of it… then here’s our Community Rocket take…
Your next best customer is hiding in plain sight…
Your next big product innovation is hiding in plain sight…
Your next 5-star review is hiding in plain sight…
Your next life-changing case study is hiding in plain sight…
Your next top ambassador is hiding in plain sight…
Apologies about the lack of my usual friendly intro this week everyone, but the above is important!
Because if you have any kind of mailing list, user base, social following and beyond then all of the above opportunities are just waiting to be activated…you just need to know how to make it all happen…
I was inspired to write this ‘long-former’ today based on a well-received social post I did recently all about the 1-9-90 method… which in a nutshell is all about the natural way people engage with social accounts, communities and most importantly businesses…
So my message to you today is:
Why just settle for the natural ways things occur, when you could take action to amplify everything you do to get more engagement, more love and more sales from everyone on your radar?
That’s why you’re here, that’s why I’m here… So let’s do this!
So what is the 1-9-90 Rule?
Well think of a pizza (pizza is good, pie too, anything that’s round and can be preferably eaten…)
Think of your customer base or email list as the full 100% of the pizza – it’s sat there, nice and hot (cheese oozing if you really want to get down with this idea…)
And you usually have this kind of breakdown of active users…customers and fans…
1% of the Pizza: Your Biggest Fans
Your top customers, the ones always visiting you or engaging with your business. They generate lots of word-of-mouth marketing and have tons of ideas for your business to help it grow.
9% of the Pizza: Your Regulars
Your regulars are your brand advocates and regular customers. They buy from you often but they’re not in your 1% of super fans.
90% of the Pizza: The Passers By
Most of your audience falls into this category. They’re here to learn, watch, absorb, and enjoy – they’ll buy from you now and then but they’re not in your top 10% of customers…
If you run a business, the above is likely a familiar breakdown (beyond the odd outlier percent) of your current customer base.
But what impact would it have on your business if you could move more of the 90% into the 10% and more of the 10% into the 1% of top customers?
The answer is = 📈 x 🚀 x 💰
We’ll be digging deep into how to transform your growth and revenue using community tactics in our next upcoming 5X Growth Program (it doesn’t matter if you sell coffee, clogs or cutting-edge software – the principles will all work the same) so I welcome anyone ambitious to take their business to the next level to join us for it
We have hundreds of quality ideas ready to go, but until then, here are a few tips on how you can activate a bigger slice of “the pizza” yourself!
Case Studies: You could encourage your top 1% to be featured in case studies, acting as mini testimonials and use cases for your business. This will inspire the 9% to move up and keep your 90% engaged with what you’re up to.
Referrals and Reviews: Get super close to your 9%. They’re your lifeblood, spreading the word of what you do. Make them feel rewarded with discounts and referrals for their friends and family. Give them early access to a new product, a referral code, a free coffee for a Google review – identify these users and bring them into a private group with you (just do it behind closed doors so your generosity doesn’t become unsustainable…)
Create a Feedback Loop: Listen to the 1% and 9% for their insights whether through surveys or individual feedback calls. Remember, your job as a business is to find out what people want, then sell it to them – so do this! Their feedback will guide your innovation and growth strategy and get you to Product Market Fit quicker.
And remember what I said about being ambitious? Well as your pizza gets bigger, your job is to develop more and more community strategies to build your relationships with your top 10% – scaling your operations and helping you win in the long run, with the added bonus of being able to better predict revenue and develop much stronger lifetime value.
So whether you’re a startup or an established brand, embrace the 1-9-90 rule and think about what you could do to level up your customer relationship building.
You have so much potential cash just left on the table, ready to be activated!
See you on the Rocket
Cheers,
Jonny
ps – know other people who’d like to receive weekly community growth tips in their inbox? Please do spread the good vibes