Fan clubs were traditionally for supporting celebrities and famous people, but in recent years, enthusiasts have established fan clubs dedicated to a wide range of interests. Fan clubs have the potential to increase a brand’s value and attract customers, but their success is dependent upon building and maintaining relationships with members.

This article explains how to create a fan club, the mechanisms and advantages of running one, and key points that fan club managers should pay attention to.

What’s in this article?

• What is a fan club?
  
• How to create a fan club
  
• Advantages of a fan club
  
• Disadvantages of a fan club
  
• Tips for running a fan club
  
• Fan club frequently asked questions (FAQs)
  
• How to run a successful fan club
  

What is a fan club?

A fan club is an organisation or community that allows fans to gather to support a specific individual or group, such as a musician or sports team.

Fan club members can receive various benefits by joining. Members typically register via an official website or app.

How a fan club works

Generally, prospective members must first go through a registration process to join a fan club. After that, they can receive members-only benefits by paying a membership fee.

Benefits can include advance information and ticket reservations for live shows and events, exclusive members-only merchandise, and digital content, such as photos and videos.

Fan clubs are generally one-way services provided by you, the manager, to fans. If you want to be able to interact with fans on a closer level, it could be valuable to consider setting up an online salon.

Paid memberships

There are both paid and free fan clubs, but most options that offer member benefits are paid. To become a member of a paid fan club, users pay a sign-up fee and either an annual fee or a monthly fee, such as a subscription.

An annual membership fee is suitable for fans who want to support an organisation or individual over a longer period, as they pay a set amount once a year. There are often benefits to annual memberships, such as preferential treatment for ticketed events, making this type of membership good for people who want to attend live events frequently.

Monthly memberships are usually centred around digital content, and are more suitable for people who want to watch videos or participate in short-term events.

Responsibilities of fan club managers

To create and run a successful fan club, you need to come up with attractive plans that will keep your members happy. You also have to manage the membership process – including joining and renewal procedures – and maintain fan sites and payment systems.

Managing a fan club involves a wide range of tasks which can require a specialized skillset. Key tasks for managers include:

• Membership management, such as joining and renewal procedures
  
• Planning out the designs and distribution of original goods, commemorative items, and other products
  
• Organising priority ticket sales for live events and other activities
  
• Creating fan club-only content
  
• Distributing and hosting digital content, such as videos and live streams
  
• Customer support
  
• Promoting interaction between fans
  
• Marketing and promoting to raise the profile of the fan club
  
• Running membership management systems and payment systems
  
• Implementing and maintaining security measures
  
• Accounting
  
• Establishing terms of use
  
• Trademark management
  

Fan club genres

When we think of fan clubs, we tend to think of them as being for celebrities, but modern fan clubs now cover a wide range of interests, from tourist attractions to anime characters.

Below is a list of common types of fan clubs.

• Cultural icons and idols
  
• Musicians
  
• Actors
  
• TV personalities
  
• Voice actors
  
• Authors
  
• Influencers
  
• Creators
  
• Film directors
  
• Sports teams and athletes
  
• Local or community development characters
  
• Tourist attractions
  
• Anime and anime characters
  

How to create a fan club

Online fan clubs, or fan sites, can be valuable business tools, improving brand value and drawing more customers.

Below we’ll discuss how to create an online fan club and establish a strong connection with fans. Online fan clubs can be built using either a cloud-based or package-based system.

Cloud-based systems

You can build a fan club using existing services offered through an application service provider (ASP). ASPs offer applications over the internet. Here are the key steps involved.

• Choose a platform based on your budget and operational content.
  
• Register for the service and select the agreement plan you need.
  
• Set the name of the fan club and the details of membership, including benefits, price, etc.
  
• Create content for members.
  

Package-based systems

Alternatively, you can create a package-based, or packaged, fan club that you can download directly to your computer. Here’s how.

• Download a packaged membership management system.
  
• Install it on your computer.
  
• Customise certain features, designing and building the systems you need.
  

Cloud-based vs. package-based systems

There are different features of cloud-based and packaged systems you need to consider. Use the table below as a reference when creating your fan site.

Advantages of a fan club

There are various benefits for business owners running a fan club. Let’s take a closer look at these benefits.

Maintaining relationships with core fans

The most enthusiastic fans usually register for fan clubs. Having a direct connection through a fan club can increase brand loyalty.

Also, when core fans share positive experiences on social media, they spread credible, first-hand information that you can’t necessarily convey with advertisements. Your fans act as your word-of-mouth marketers.

Additional revenue opportunities

In addition to generating stable revenue from annual and monthly membership fees, you can generate revenue from the sale of goods and event tickets to fans. You can raise the unit price of products and services to create added value that is only available to members.

Direct feedback

By actively engaging in dialogue, you can get high-quality feedback from core fans. You can use this feedback to conduct insight analysis and apply it to your products and services.

Disadvantages of a fan club

There are many advantages to running a fan club, but there are also risks.

Complaints and other problems

If there is an operational error or a system problem that is not dealt with appropriately, negative publicity can spread, and it can be difficult to regain trust with fans. You should create a manual for dealing with complaints and common problems, so you can respond appropriately if such situations arise.

Operating costs

Operating a fan club requires a wide-range of skills and sometimes specialist knowledge, which tends to come at a price. You’ll likely need funds available when you first set up your club so you can invest in development and staff training.

Membership fee management

Managing fan club membership fees directly affects the stability of your club’s operations, so it is important to handle it properly. You’ll want to avoid issues such as unpaid fees and difficult renewal processes. You can mitigate these issues by introducing a payment processing service.

Introducing a payment tool such as Stripe Billing allows you to efficiently and easily perform tasks such as charging annual and monthly membership fees for fan clubs, issuing invoices, and managing customer relationships. Stripe Billing offers a number of functions that support subscription-based businesses, making it ideal for fan club management.

Tips for running a fan club

While fan clubs allow you to deepen your relationship with fans and improve your brand image, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. It is important to make members feel that they are getting value from being in the fan club.

Offer exclusive members-only benefits

You need to come up with ways to keep fans happy by offering various membership benefits. You can do things such as provide videos and photos that are not generally available to the public and hold offline events that can only be attended by joining your fan club, thereby creating a sense of exclusivity.

Clarify the division of roles within your team

In order to run a fan club efficiently, you need to clarify the roles within your team. If there is a shortage of staff or if there are no staff members with specialised knowledge, consider outsourcing to maintain the quality of your club’s operations.

Promote fan engagement

Pay attention to your fans’ opinions. Use surveys, forums, social media, etc., to conduct surveys and get feedback. Member satisfaction is likely to increase if members can see their feedback reflected in how you manage the club.

For example, you can deepen your relationship with your fans if you incorporate some of the activities planned by them into your next event.

Fan club frequently asked questions (FAQs)

When do customers pay a fan club membership fee?

• Sign-up fee: This fee is required to join the fan club, and it is paid only once, when a fan first joins.
  
• Annual fee: This fee is paid in a lump sum when a fan joins the club, and it covers their first year of membership. The fee then repeats once each year.
  
• Monthly fee: This fee is paid once when a fan joins a club. After that, it is paid on the same day each month.
  

How do members pay their fan club membership fees?

Payment methods vary depending on the fan club, but the following are common:

• Credit card
  
• Payment at a convenience store
  
• Bank transfer
  
• Direct carrier billing (DCB)
  

How much is a fan club membership fee?

A fan club’s membership fee varies depending on the type of fan club.

Generally, musician fan clubs charge annual membership fees of around ¥5,000-6,000, sports teams charge around ¥3,000-10,000, and premium memberships – regardless of genre – can be even more expensive, ranging from ¥20,000-50,000.

How to run a successful fan club

For a manager, creating a fan club can be a very valuable strategy that increases the number of customers their business has, as well as their business’s profits.

To make a fan club a success, it is important to provide attractive members-only benefits and content, but also to emphasise communication with fans and incorporate their feedback.

Business owners also need to make sure that their systems handle any personal data appropriately. It’s important to use a highly secure, reliable system to ensure that it carries out payments and member management correctly.