Patreon’s Secrets to Building Loyal Superfans w/ Paige Fitzgerald

0:00We are always looking with creators to push the boundaries on how they can accomplish their goals, whether they be building sustainable businesses, getting feedback from their communities, maybe pushing to the next chapter in their career.

0:18Hey Paige, welcome to the show. How are you? I'm excellent. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. I'm very excited about this episode today because with Petron, we're one of the OG when it comes to helping creators, making money, and really getting into different revenue streams. Super excited about that today. Before we get started, we actually dive in. I would love to know about you. And we do this thing with the map. Basically, it's divided in three main sections, right? It's just a great way to understand a bit more about you as a person, as a professional. So basically, it's divided in three of them.

0:50The M stands for mission. So basically, what do you aim to achieve with your work? Then achievements, anything that you're really proud of. Not about milestones, either your life or career. And the last one is the purpose. So why you do what you do. Awesome. Well, maybe to frame things. I have always been motivated by three things, solving interesting problems, having an impact, and working with all-star people and teams. And at Patreon in this role, I am really focused on that first piece of solving interesting problems and having an impact, particularly in regards to fulfilling Patreon's mission of building a better, more creator-first internet that can help creators build sustainable businesses and thriving fan communities really anchored in creative freedom.

1:42So I hope to show creators really across a breadth of interests and disciplines that they can build a sustainable business on Patreon. They can own their relationship with their fans directly. They can create community across both free members and paid members, and they can build sustainable incomes. In my role today, I'm also privileged that I can learn from creators directly. And I am really passionate about finding innovative solutions to meet their needs. So for example, we recently launched a partnership with some podcast networks, particularly Wondery and Sony. We are launching practical tools like our Mental Health and Wellness Resources Hub, which is a centralized expert-backed space for resources from everything from emotional well-being and digital safety to financial resilience and parenthood.

2:41And I'm also committed to educating creators about the benefits of Patreon and how we can provide an alternative that provides them more stability, especially in the wake of the potential TikTok ban that has been on again, off again, on again, and other creators who may be feeling disenfranchised by other platforms. So that's the first piece of your map mission. In terms of achievements, I have been really lucky in my career to work with some awesome teams and really at some awesome companies as well. So prior to Patreon, I spent some time at the payments company Block, first in Cash App, which is their consumer-facing app, and then across both Cash App and Afterpay.

3:25I previously to that, I spent time in Airbnb, Waymo, which is Google's self-driving car company, and then also the navigation app Waze. And before that, I got a degree from Harvard, both a business degree and MBA and a master's in public policy at the Kennedy School. And I had an early career in politics and policy, so pursuing impact from the public sector. And I spent time across think tanks, across political campaigns and strategy and operation roles, and then ended up at the U.S. Department of Energy focused on nuclear nonproliferation and clean energy. one of the things I worked on was ensuring that nuclear material didn't get into the hands of terrorists around the globe.

4:14So a little different than what I'm doing now, but still focused on solving interesting problems, having an impact, and really working with mission-driven, high-caliber teams as well. To the last piece, purpose. I mentioned that I'm really motivated by changing the world, having an impact. And at Patreon, this means empowering the 300 ,000 creators on our platform who are pursuing their dreams of building sustainable businesses around their work and producing media that speaks to them, speaks to their communities of fans, and really enriches our society, brings people together in new ways. And I also have the privilege of working with phenomenal people here at Patreon and getting to empower my team to do its best work and find fulfillment in pursuing Patreon's mission is the best part of my job.

5:15Fantastic. Well, first of all, wow. You know, just listening to your achievements and career so far, as you said, like, you know, a lot of different perspectives, right, and industries and so on. So I think that also it's very helpful, right, for you now in this position to understand And also the other side, right? That is creators. And, you know, as I mentioned at the beginning, right? Patreon has been there for a long time already. One of the first, if not the first, really helping creators with different revenue streams there. So how does Patreon like differ right now? Because there are now, you know, some competitors that are like other, you know, solutions out there.

5:47What would you be that is the thing that you are, you know, the most proud when it comes to your product? A couple ways that we are different today. The first is that we are the home for core fans on the internet. Core fans are the kinds of fans who go the extra mile for a creator. They have an emotional connection to a creator. They talk about creators in the group chat. They are the first to say, hey, check this out when creators drop a new piece of material. They attend the live shows. They buy the merch. They're willing to pay for the extra episode. And we have found that we released a report in the beginning of this year called The State of Create that conducted research from 3 ,000 fans and creators and aggregated it into a story explaining just the dramatic change that has happened in the creator economy over the last couple of years.

6:43One of the themes that came out of that report was the power of this group of highly engaged core fans to both be the catalyst for broader engagement across a more breadth of fans, as well as being so critical to how creators are able to build sustainable businesses. So some stats from that report, we found that 80 % of core fans are likely to pay creators. 86 % of core fans are likely to join a dedicated community and 87 % of core fans are likely to engage with other fans. And that last piece is key. So, for example, we have a community chats product, and in that chat product, core fans can engage with other fans and create community around a specific creator without the creator having to do additional work.

7:39So that's one place where we are really different from some of the other players in this space is that we are the home for core fans. And we are really focused on enabling creators to develop those core fans, to progress casual fans into core fans, and then to engage those core fans and earn sustainable revenue from those core fans as well. and you know i really like the off-court fan because in the past also other previous episodes we actually covered the big difference between having a passive type of audience right and an active community someone that as you said is there for you is the first one looking at the notification if you're doing on you know in real life type of event they're going to be there to see you and and many times right what we notice is that many people love to be part of a community that is actually active and sometimes not necessarily only for their favorite influencer content creator, but just to be part of a group, right?

8:32And they got the same interest, right? There is this person creating content. And so still on the core fan, right? What is, in your opinion, one of the best ways for people on Patreon to really, and creators, build like a sustainable business, right? While maintaining their tone of voice, their creative aspects, their creative vision. So how can they still, again, be the people that are being followed by this core fan without kind of losing their identity while following the money? Great question. And what we have found is essential to establishing and engaging these loyal fans is producing media that resonates with those core fans and is true to the creator's vision.

9:14Instead of just chasing trends and trying to produce for that next ad-based algorithm hit that will broaden reach on some of the larger ad-based algorithm-based platforms in producing media that really speaks to your audiences. So, for example, there's a creator that I love on our platform, Karen X. Chang, and Yo-Wei Shaw of formerly of Invisibilia. Both of these creators use our platform to engage with their fans and create a feedback loop around early pieces of work and use the input from fans through, for example, our community chat product as an input to the creative process. So actually checking in with fans, figuring out what's resonating, getting feedback as they go through the creative process, and really producing media, producing art that speaks to those fans.

10:09Also, spending the time to engage directly with fans is a critical component of cultivating that core group of engaged fans. It's just more meaningful than passive scrolling. We have seen some creators really be effective at using not just exclusive media, but exclusive experiences. So dropping a new piece of content and engaging with our chats product on the side to really create that direct engagement is essential as well. Is your brand ready to amplify its reach? while the influencer marketing factory is here for you. We are a global influencer marketing agency helping brands ignite their growth.

10:53From influencer identification to campaign strategy, handling legalities and agreements to managing shipping and logistics, we got you all covered. We work with hundreds of brands across different verticals from Fortune 500 companies to direct-to-consumer brands. And we don't just stop there. With detailed ROI analysis, we help brands like yours measure success, transforming impressions into conversions. You can find us at theinfluencermarketingfactory.com or just searching the Influencer Marketing Factory on Google. And you tell me some examples of, again, how to really engage with your core fans.

11:28Like one of the easiest could be, I'm doing a new YouTube video. I have four different thumbnails. Can you help me? Right? Like that is a typical example, right? Just to really understand it because we all know that the thumbnail on YouTube is going to be one of the most important, like, you know, factors for CTR. And so knowing what your core fund wants to see, most probably is going to help you to do a sort of A-B testing even before you actually do the actual A-B test there on the platform. So this is just an example. But can you tell me anything else that you're seeing happening on the platform that is, again, you know, a typical type of engagement to really get their audience very active in terms of community?

12:03you. Absolutely. So not just dropping maybe exclusive pieces of media on Patreon, but leveraging on and off platform events is another way to that we found creators really effectively engage with fans. One of my favorite examples of this is a creator, Reto Amandi. She has a podcast, The Cutting Room Floor. We worked with her at the end of last year to host an in real life fan event, which was just completely galvanized her community, not just for the people who, in some cases, flew across the country to New York to attend the event. But then talking about that event afterwards, sharing content from that event on Patreon afterwards really helped galvanize that community.

12:49It was her first ever live Q &A. And so offering that as a perk, something new, something that she hadn't done before exclusively to her Patreon fans makes those fans feel like they are a part of something unique and have unique access. And it makes them feel even closer to the creator. And, you know, because we already covered, right, doing all this content exclusive and meeting in person, right, we all know that creators have to constantly creating, They have to engage. They have to be sure that either they are in the loop of the little strengths or they understand their identity and they have constantly, right, been there active.

13:31Because we all know that these days on social media, if you're not active and you stay away for even just one week, someone else most probably is going to, you know, replace you. And because of that, right, a lot of creators are starting to experience burnout. And if I'm correct, it's one of the, you know, topics, right, that was featured as a panel on South by Southwest recently. First of all, why do you think they're experiencing burnout? And secondly, is there any way for them not to or somehow fix the situation when they feel that it's not possible anymore? We, in the State of Create report that I referenced, we found that 78 % of creators experience burnout.

14:04So it is absolutely a problem. As you mentioned, I recently spoke at South by Southwest with Joshua Field Milburns, Burns, who is a phenomenal podcaster of The Minimalists, and he had some great answers to that question. And the themes of his discussion to South by Southwest was to really focus on creating the type of media that you want to create and that will speak again to your fans and tuning out some of the noise around trends. I mentioned that we had also put together a mental health hub for creators, and we are encouraging our creators to put their mental health first, not just by making what is authentic to them, what their followers want to see, but really finding another way to earn revenue besides the uncertainty around chasing trends chasing that next algorithm hit.

15:08That is, again, some of these other platforms, they do not prioritize direct connections between creators and their fans. And so instead, they will feature content that optimizes for eyeballs, optimizes for watch time. And at Patreon, we are helping creators solve the problem of audience growth. So figuring out how they can broaden their audience, how new fans can discover creators while not sacrificing their relationship with their core fans as well. And, you know, what is also the best way to, let's say, you know, you sign up for Patreon, you go there, it's the first day, right? For a creator there.

15:47What is the best way for them? Like going through resources, talking with other creators on the platform? Like what would be the journey, right? To say, okay, this is like my new place. I actually want to grow here. What would be the best way? Is it resources, is it like video tutorial? It is just, again, talking with other people that have been there, done that, double situation. Yeah, actually, I have the privilege of running our creator-facing teams here at Patreon. And so I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can set creators up to succeed and share best practices from the 300 ,000 creators on Patreon to enable creators to really have a playbook for what to do out of the gate and how to continue to grow.

16:28And that includes Things like how can you leverage memberships? What sort of media should you put behind the paywall at what cadence? To how do you then advertise your Patreon through other channels? How do you take advantage of some of the newer payments tools that we have created, such as one-time payments, where creators can take either one-off new pieces of content or backlog, back collection media that is only available by the way. behind the paywall and make that available to free members for a price, but using our one-time payment product and not requiring the additional commitment of a membership.

17:11And then lastly, it's really take the time to engage with your community, use our community chat tools, figure out how to potentially drop new pieces of content on our platform, and then also chat with folks on the side of that. And then I mentioned in the beginning that part of my job is learning from creators as well and figuring out creative ways to continue to innovate and solve their problems. And so we are always looking with creators to push the boundaries on how they can accomplish their goals, whether they be building sustainable businesses, getting feedback from their communities, maybe pushing to the next chapter in their career.

17:49And one example of this is the end of last year, we partnered with Tricia Paytas to really reignite her musical career. And as part of that, we engaged her core fans to vote on the style of the music, the theme of the video. And they ultimately voted on pop and the overall feel and an empowerment anthem. And then we partnered with Tricia to produce that video and then to market it as well. So just one example of how we were able to creatively partner with a creator to accomplish their goals, but also to creatively engage her community as well. So she launched her new single mother on Patreon, and it was just an awesome, awesome moment for her, but also for her community as well.

18:41Especially these days where people love to see the building in public, right? That type of situation where you are very vulnerable, you are very authentic in the real sense of the word, meaning like it's yourself. Follow me during my day-to-day. This is what I want to create. Help me out. And I'm pretty sure also that the community and core fans love that because they are like, actually, there is a little part of me in that product, right? And I love that idea. You already mentioned like this example. I lost a few others in the beginning. Is there any other top creators on Patreon that you really like, that you want to say like a spotlight be?

19:14That is a perfect example of what other creators should do. Quentin Tarantino's podcast, Video Archives, which he co-hosts with Roger Avery, is also on Patreon. And this is another example of how a creator has been able to successfully transcend the digital and in real life world to create community. So the podcast, they pull from thousands of VHS tapes that they used to recommend in their store, and they have a discussion about those old movies on their podcast. And so we partnered with them recently, earlier this month, to host the first ever live show, live taping of their podcast at the Vista Theater in L.A.

19:58And we were able to bring some elements of their video archive store to life. And they led a discussion of No Way Out. And some of my colleagues were in L.A. And the community was so excited. People were lining up from early in the morning all day to get into this event. There were over 300 fans in attendance. The episode is going to be exclusively released on Patreon. So just a great example of a podcaster leveraging an in-real-life event to create community and just starting a snowball of excitement among not just their core fans, but other fans as well. That's fantastic. And, you know, this is the present, right?

20:38What is the future of the platform? What creators can expect in the near future? Yeah, so I'd say since we're on the theme of podcasters, you should expect best in class tools and resources. Patreon is the home for podcasting, and we are doubling down on that this year and beyond. Podcasters earn more than$472 million on Patreon. It's our highest earning category. We have over 40 ,000 podcasters. I mentioned that we recently introduced our first ever podcast network partnership with both Sony Music and Wondery, and we're working with the podcasters on those networks to release exclusive media, unlock new revenue streams, offer fan perks at scale.

21:25And additionally, we've launched and are continuing to launch podcast-specific tools that help creators earn from and manage their entire catalog all in one place. So these include, for example, an improved backend experience for creators who host multiple shows, making it easier for them to manage it. Our updated collections product allows podcasters to sell individual seasons or episode bundles outside of a paid membership. So you can expect more there. We also recently launched live video and just rolled it out to a select number of creators, and we will be expanding it this summer. So really excited about developments there.

22:13We certainly have a host of video creators on Patreon today. It's a really strong category for us. So we expect there to be a ton of creators who are really going to find that to be really exciting. It includes built-in chat, third-party integrations for more advanced streaming setup, and we're really excited for podcasters recording live episodes, musicians hosting listening parties, visual artists streaming their behind-the-scenes process to use that product as well. I'd say that we remain focused on our mission to build for creators. We are a creator-first company. Solving creators' needs underpins everything we do, every decision we make, every line of code we write here.

23:03And so just expect us to continue to innovate with that North Star. Our mission is to enable creators to build sustainable businesses, engage their communities, and achieve creative freedom. Love to hear this. I can see that we're busy building a lot of very exciting things. Also super glad to hear about podcasters since there is also a podcast, so to know that there is much more potential there. I love to hear that. And we're also going to put a link in the description of this episode for the report so that also everyone else that is listening today can jump in. And in addition to all the great numbers and statistics that you shared with us today, they can, of course, go more in detail there.

23:41Paige, this was fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me today, sharing all this knowledge about the industry with us. Alessandro, thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. This was the Influence Factor by the Influencer Marketing Factory. And I'll see you in the next episode.