April 18th, 2012



Doin It Well: Rap Genius and the Importance of Superfans

Rap Genius can now count itself among only a small handful of startups where a member of the community (as in, someone who isn’t a founder or employee) has ink related to the startup.

Now, even if Monster Mike’s new tattoo is a fake, I would argue that this is still kickass for RG. The site isn’t just crushing their original goal of bringing the nuances of rap lyrics to the masses, but that their community is getting stronger and stronger with every song that gets decoded.

Superfans are so, so important to any community endeavor – those few people who will put your stickers on bathroom walls and tell their friends to get an account. The ones who will spend hours on your site, making it better for every new visitor that arrives. As a founder (like Tom Lehman) or an employee there’s only so many people you can reach every day – superfans help to spread the word in a way that you as a founder maybe can’t. While 1 guy getting a tatt isn’t the same as other “metrics” like month-on-month traffic growth, I would argue that it is maybe more significant.

This is just the beginning for this burgeoning empire of swag that is Rap Genius. Once you get the community dynamics just right, even on the most micro scale, the community will build on itself, weaning its way into the zeitgeist and never looking back.

Share This Post:

         
  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    BEST MARKETING IS BE AWESOME. BEST MARKETER IS USER YOU AWESOME FOR.

  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    WHERE REPLY FROM AMANDA? ME, GRIMLOCK, PROMISE NOT EAT YOU.

    PROBABLY.

  • http://amandapeyton.com amanda peyton

    ok excellent. that makes me feel MUCH better. 

    anyway, it's true that best marketing is be awesome. but how does awesome translate at the feature level? you tell me, grimlock.

  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    IT SIMPLE. BUILD THING THAT PERFECTLY DO WHAT USERS NOT KNOW THEM WANT TO YET.

    KNOW WHAT THAT IS = HARD PART.

  • http://engag.io/ William Mougayar

    And this community can express itself in the online commenting discussions & that helps to strengthen the brand that they support.

  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    ALL FUTURE OF ONLINE IS SOCIAL.

    US JUST NOT INVENT ALL OF THAT FUTURE YET.

  • http://engag.io/ William Mougayar

    When everybody starts to take Social like duck to water, then real big change will happen. Right now, we still have to “force” people into the social web.

    IT NOT NATURAL BEHAVIOR YET FOR MOST.

  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    THIS STATEMENT ONLY TRUE ABOVE AGE 30.

    HUMAN SPAWN GROWING UP NOW NOT KNOW HOW TO NOT BE SOCIAL.

  • http://engag.io/ William Mougayar

    No arguments there. But social conversations cannot be confined to those under 30 only.

  • FAKE GRIMLOCK

    THIS STATEMENT ONLY TRUE ABOVE AGE 30.

    HUMAN SPAWN GROWING UP NOW NOT KNOW HOW TO NOT BE SOCIAL.

  • http://www.startupmanagement.org/ William Mougayar

    No arguments there. But social conversations cannot be confined to those under 30 only.