How Dr. Jen Caudle, Hillary Klug and Lipstickfables build fan awareness and create buzz with Stars

Stars is a virtual product that allows fans to immediately send funds to creators who are going live or posting on-demand videos. Creators who enable Stars will see these one-time payments come from dedicated fans and one-off viewers alike who are inspired and excited by their videos—and fans can choose how many Stars to send based on their comfort levels and willingness to contribute.

In addition to sending Stars, fans can participate in fun features such as Stars Party, which is a celebratory moment that automatically takes place when a creator receives a surge of Stars during a Facebook Live. During a Stars Party, fans have five minutes to send a target number of Stars to try to hit a goal, intended to give the creator support.

In December 2021, Meta hosted the first ever Stars Fest for creators, featuring bonuses that allowed participants to double their Stars earnings, competitions with other creators to see who could earn the most Stars that month, as well as limited-time badges, sales and virtual gifts.

We spoke to three creators who had an exceptionally successful month with the help of Stars Fest, earning additional Stars revenue (compared to their earnings from the previous month) and honing their strategy for increasing their Stars earnings long-term.

Hillary Klug, a professional dancing fiddler, earned $973 in December 2021 from Stars during the month of Stars Fest, compared to $323 the previous month. Incorporating some of her newly-honed best practices, she was able to keep her earnings higher after Stars Fest, earning $803 from Stars in January 2022.

Dr. Jennifer Caudle, a practicing physician who busts health myths and helps fans learn how to lead healthier lives, earned over $2,100 in December 2021 from Stars compared to $803 the previous month. She went on to earn $2,500 from Stars in January 2022.

Lipstickfables, a.k.a. Ana Alvarado, a beauty vlogger turned comedian with a focus on the Honduran-American experience, who made $4,500 during Stars Fest, completed 11 Stars Parties, and went on to earn $6,100 from Stars in January 2022.

Here are 5 best practices these creators found to be successful in earning Stars revenue:

Regularly educate your fans about Stars.

Dr. Caudle tells her viewers about Stars in almost every video, reasoning that “people can’t take advantage of what they don’t know about.”

“It’s literally a standard part of my closing for every video on demand that I do,” she said. She has a similar approach to Live as well. “It’s a way to remind people and thank people who are already sending Stars.”

Dr. Caudle and Lipstickfables both pin comments to remind viewers about Stars, in addition to mentioning Stars out loud in videos.

Tell your audience what Stars means to you.

Stars is one way for fans to support their favorite creators, but not every creator wants to feel like they are directly asking their viewers for money in every video. Instead, Klug informs her viewers about another way Stars help her: Through boosting the visibility of her on-demand video posts.

Dr. Caudle also initially struggled to integrate Stars into her social media strategy without directly asking viewers to send her money. “I was initially not sure how people would feel about that,” she said. “But people have embraced it. I think that people are often grateful they have the opportunity to express themselves in this way to say thank you.”

She also tells her fans that Stars represent an opportunity for them to have a conversation with her about her videos. “I say, for those that send Stars, I respond to you personally,” she said. “Sometimes I can’t get to the hundreds of comments [on a video,] but that’s a way to make sure their comment is at the top of the list. I like how there’s a benefit to it if someone chooses to give it, and I let people know they have that choice.”

Post videos consistently and frequently.

Hillary Klug began using Stars right around the time the pandemic hit in 2020, when she sustained a major loss of revenue from in-person gigs. She incorporated Stars and other monetization tools into her regular social media strategy. This motivated her to post videos regularly and enabled her to continue working as a musician through the early stages of the pandemic and even grow her business.

“I was able to focus on my music and keep playing. I was able to produce content that was really uplifting for my audience, and not only was I able to have that income, but my fans supported me,” she said.

Klug, who typically records herself performing dancing and fiddling routines, tries to post a new video every week. She sometimes reposts videos from her evergreen content library to make sure the newest members of her growing community are able to see them.

December’s Stars Fest motivated her to post even more. “It kept me accountable and kept me from dropping the ball on my social media,” she said. “If I hadn’t had that accountability, I may have lost some viewership.”

Dr. Caudle also sees the value in posting regular videos. “I think Stars is always worth your time because it’s potential revenue,” she said. “It’s like the icing on the cake.”

Reward and recognize your community for using Stars.

Klug pays close attention to which fans send Stars so frequently, week after week, that they have so-called “Stars Streaks.” She tags their names in the comments of her videos to show her appreciation.

Dr. Caudle answers health content-related questions from Stars senders in comments and in Q&A-style videos. She believes that incentivizing her Stars senders is part of what keeps them coming back. “I now have people who literally send Stars on every single video.”

Lipstickfables also tells viewers that sending Stars is a way to make them stand out from the virtual crowd when she does her daily live show, and she shouts out the biggest senders, which sometimes sets off a friendly competition. She also uses merchandise giveaways to encourage Stars use in real time, for example, by selecting two people sending Stars during a live video or Stars Party to receive a branded T-shirt or a hat.

“It doesn’t have to be anything big, but people like to be rewarded and be recognized,” she said. Even something as quick as exclaiming during a Live, “Carla sent 500 Stars, let’s give her a round of applause!”

Create a sense of urgency, hype and buzz. Make it fun.

In addition to rewarding individual Stars senders, Klug recommends creating specific Stars goals for her fans to meet with rewards at the end (i.e. producing a bonus behind-the-scenes video or a Q&A video).

Lipstickfables and her team, which includes her husband and a rotating cast of regular collaborators, will devise specific stunts to reveal to fans when they meet the goal of receiving a certain number of Stars over a period of time. A recent one that received an enthusiastic response from her fans had her husband dyeing his untouched, dark hair to platinum blonde, once she received tens of thousands of Stars within the span of a week. (Learn more about Meta’s Stars Goal feature, and how to create a Stars Goal for your next Live video.)

Lipstickfables also recommends making it fun. “People get excited when they know we have a Stars Party: a Fiesta de Estrellas,” she said. “We make a big deal out of it. And every time we make it to a goal, we do a little dance to the intro song we have.”

Dr. Caudle says it’s also possible to make the hype around Stars about something bigger than yourself. When she feels compelled to accept donations during times of tragedy, such as when a devastating tornado strikes a town, she will tell her audience that revenue from the Stars they send will be donated to relief efforts. “It’s a way to be able to include people in changing the world for the better,” she said.