Patreon doesn’t work without fans who are willing to give money. This is why it’s essential that creators commit themselves to their growing patron community. This cannot be achieved only through your creative output. Interactions with the Patron community are very important. However, other benefits also add value for your subscribers. As a creator, you can scale the benefits according to sponsorship tier so that you give your biggest fans an incentive. It’s also important that you have a thorough understanding of your audience. To achieve this, there are many options. Since August 2018, Patreon has enabled target audience analytics to be used with Google Analytics and also made it possible to send targeted messages to different user groups. Should you decide to use this function, make sure that your site is GDPR compliant.
According to Patreon, these are the five most promising “Rewards”:
- Early access: Sponsors see content before anyone else
- Bonus material or exclusive content
- Surveys only for subscribers
- All forms of appreciation (shout outs, name in credits, secondary character in a work)
- Merchandise (prints by artists, clothing with logo, cups, etc.)
In addition to rewards for a specific donation level, there are also stretch goals. These are a creator’s medium-termgoals.These goals help you to grow your account and you can also use them to measure your progress. This way you can see if Patreon is worth your while. If a stretch goal is reached (for example, revenue of 3,000 euros per month), you can commit to an additional reward for yourself. This can be a better camera for higher image quality or an employee who helps you publish updates more often. Some content is time-consuming but strong in demand. Achieving a stretch goal can be the motivation you need to begin the project.
According to Patreon's own data, around 2 million sponsors support 100,000 creators, who on average double their income on Patreon each year. In order to earn a decent living with Patreon, one must understand how to promote oneself – across many different channels as well. You have to offer the sponsors something that interests them and has long-term appeal. For many creatives, the constant availability required by rewards and social media is very demanding.
Be strategic: Openly communicate what you need to do your job. Don’t offer rewards that cost more time and resources than Patreon brings in. For example, the Patreon blog advises illustrators not to offer large works of art for low sponsorship levels. Too many interested parties would impose a workload on the artists that would not be physically possible.
These benefit strategies have already proven themselves on the platform:
Bonus learning: This strategy is built upon the premise that the donor wishes to learn more. For a certain amount, they can obtain access to tutorials, training videos or an online course designed by you. This model is not only great for freelance instructors, it’s also suitable for artists. For example, they can share their expertise in a video that demonstrates their process when utilizing a specific technique. In short videos you can also offer a preliminary taste of upcoming work. The long version will then only be sent to sponsors who have achieved a specific minimum contribution level. It is also ideal to create a space for exchanges, such as a community chat in which you assign interested parties bonus assignments or answer their questions.
Tangible Works and Direct Service: Patreon projects often involve digital content. This is not exclusively the case, however. For a much larger amount, some creatives produce physically tangible works such as personalized and self-fired ceramic cups. Others offer services, such as a personal consultation on the topic in question or a practice session.
A Nice Community Feeling: Anyone can lead a group, even if they aren’t an expert in a field yet. This is because group members share the same interest, exchange ideas and help each other, such as when you are currently working on another part of your project. Simply joining a community can motivate people to subscribe to your account. Higher level sponsors, for example, are given a voice when you invite them to participate in surveys or organize Q&A sessions. Livestreams with a chat forum are also very popular.
Anything for the Fans: Every public figure attracts fans - and they are not only enthusiastic about the project, but also about the person themselves. Good rewards for sponsors of this category – such as listing their names in the credits of a video – are a token of recognition. Some filmmakers even name characters after their biggest donors. Fans especially enjoy exclusivity. This includes behind-the-scenes insights and more contact with their idol. Some creatives write brief personalized messages, others chat with individual sponsors.
Equal Privileges for All: Anyone who has a lot of low-income fans – teenagers, for example – would do well to establish only one tier that doesn’t require special permissions. In accordance with the “Pay what you want” principle, the sponsors pay as much as is comfortable for them. This in no way disadvantages them in comparison with the other sponsors. Nevertheless, it gives an incentive to donate a small amount. This is because official sponsors are offered something that is denied to other fans. This can be longer videos, access to the exclusive community, or access to teaching material.
Behind the Paywall: With this strategy, the content is paramount. Anyone who wishes to see certain content must pay a contribution. There are three categories of content behind the paywall. There’s the archive, premium content and additional content.
The archive contains all the older posts. The most recent contributions are often freely available. This gives potential sponsors the opportunity to get to know your work. Then they decide if constant access to all your posts is worth a subscription.
Premium content should dive deeper into a subject or provide more quality. For example, non-paying users receiving a short crash course in blind stitching. Paying subscribers receive a pattern and more detailed instructions on how to make a pillow or stuffed animal themselves and on how to end this type of stitch.
Additional content is no different from what you normally offer. It’s just more content. This type of paywall is also suitable for narrative media such as podcasts, as long as it does not interrupt a serial for non-payers. This could frighten off new users. In addition, these fans are likely to ensure your advertising revenue on other channels.