TIPS AND TRICKS

Getting started with fan subscriptions

November 8, 2018

We want to make Facebook the best place for fans to come together and support the creators they love. That means empowering creators like you with new ways to engage your fans and grow your business. We're expanding our fan subscriptions test to more eligible creators —

so your most loyal fans can become your biggest supporters!

Fan subscriptions is a new way to make money that enables fans to fund their favorite creators by paying a monthly fee in exchange for special perks like exclusive content, greater access to the creator, exclusive discounts on merch, and a special badge next to their name highlighting their status. With fan subscriptions, you can set up a predictable revenue stream with flexibility, allowing you to customize the benefits your supporters receive and the pricing (ranging from .99 to 99.99 USD) that best suits you.

Why fan subscriptions?

Fan subscriptions can be a great source of revenue, particularly if you've got a highly engaged fan base. Fan subscription benefits include:


1

Recurring Earnings: A monthly subscription offers a recurring revenue stream that can help you plan ahead.

2

Creative flexibility: Creators with an engaged community can find subscriptions as a meaningful revenue driver without having to adjust their creative style or having to appeal to a wider audience to gain scale.

3

Fostering community: Fans are willing to support their favorite creators like you for many reasons: they believe in your mission, they want more access to connect with you, and they want access to exclusive content. You have the flexibility to tailor the supporter experience in a way that's authentic to your brand and community and can create distinct content for your top fans who want it the most.

I love this feature. It's rapidly created a deeply committed tribe of supporters that think $4.99 is a bargain for the return they get in terms of personal interactions and live content, as well as an uncensored take they wouldn't necessarily get on the main page.

ZDoggMD

How to get started

Fan Subscriptions are available to Pages in Australia, Canada, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and the US. Once a page is eligible for Fan Subscriptions, it will be available in the Fan Subs widget in Creator Studio > Monetization.


To onboard and activate Fan Subscriptions:


1

Go to Creator Studio > Monetization

2

Choose the Page you want to use for subscriptions and click Set Up under the Fan Subscriptions Widget. This will open the list of tasks you must complete

3

Review and sign the Terms of Service

4

Set up your payment details — you'll need to submit bank details, proof of residence and a tax form

5

Set your supporter benefits (see below for tips!)

6

Set your monthly subscription price.

7

If you want Fan Subscriptions to be activated automatically once your application is approved, check the box next to “Activate Fan Subscriptions Automatically”

8

Click Submit for Review

Your submission will be reviewed to ensure your Page complies with Facebook's monetization policies and you'll receive a notification when your application status is ready for review!

Choose your supporter benefits

During the application, you'll need to pick two to three benefits to offer your supporters. Your fans will see the descriptions of each, so you can edit to fit your own voice. In addition to these perks, every fan who subscribes will automatically receive a supporter badge that'll appear next to their name on comments.

1

Exclusive content: This gives you the ability to publish posts, videos, photos, polls, or personal updates exclusively to your supporters.

2

Offer discounts: Provide special discount codes for merch or other products via supporter-only messages or posts.

3

Exclusive Live videos: Connect with your biggest supporters in real time with private access and interactions. Supporter-only Live videos are also a great opportunity to answer questions for and gain feedback from your most engaged community.

Once you've picked the best ones for you, select your custom benefits in the subscriptions sign-up flow.

Things to do while your Page is in review

While your application is in review, you can get started on creating your promotional and thank you videos, and prepare exclusive content ahead of time. These videos are an important part of setting up your page and can help attract more supporters, so give yourself a little head start by recording them now. Adding these videos also unlocks a special opportunity to spread awareness of your subscription after you activate.

Recording your promotional video

Your promotional video is your best opportunity to introduce yourself and highlight the benefits your fans will receive upon joining. Fans will be able to see this promotional video when they click to support you so make them feel excited about funding you with these tips and tricks:

Content Tips:

Be authentic and stay true to your voice.

Focus on the benefits supporters will receive as part of their monthly subscription and don't shy from sharing your gratitude for their support.

Share how their contributions will help you. Will it allow you to create content full-time, expand your team or buy better equipment? Let them know!

Recording Tips:

The bottom half of the video will be overlaid with your subscription benefits and perks so for a perfect shot, make sure your face uses only the top half of the screen.

The video will be displayed in full screen portrait mode so record vertically at a minimum resolution of 720px using the back facing camera.

Don't use music you don't have the rights to.

Keep it 60-90 seconds.

Here's a sample promotional video outline to get you started, customize it for your voice and brand:

1

Who am I? Introduce yourself! Use phrases that invoke the connection between you and your community.

2

What am I doing? Explain the offer at a high level (“I'm launching a new subscriptions feature with exclusive content…”).

3

Why am I doing this? Explain why and how this will benefit your community (“Here’s what you can expect…”).

4

How will this be different from being a fan? Explain what will change and what will remain the same (“I’m live on Facebook every day, but on Sundays only for my supporters!”).

5

Thank your fans for being part of your community!

You have the option of posting your promotional video as a post or creating a new 'promotional post' to make your followers aware of your subscriptions. Promotional posts are a publishing tool with a few special characteristics like a button that allows people to click and see supporter benefits and become a supporter. It also sends notifications to your most engaged fans telling them that you published a new video, and has special distribution privileges by appearing to relevant people in video feeds on Facebook!

Recording Your Thank You Video

Your Thank You video is your chance to thank your supporters for signing up and welcome them to your team. New supporters will see this video immediately after subscribing. They've just committed to supporting you financially! Every month! Woo hoo! Keep them engaged by keeping these videos under 30 seconds. Just like the promotional video make sure your face is framed in the top half of the screen, as the bottom half will be overlaid with a thank you note.

Here's a sample outline for your thank you video:

1

“Thank you for joining!”

2

Highlight any content that's already available (“Check out the exclusive content you have access to... I will be adding to this [daily/weekly]...”)

3

Ask for feedback! (“Please let me know what you like and don't like and we'll build this together...”)

Prepare Exclusive Content

Supporters get immediate access to subscription perks when they sign up, so prepare 1-2 exclusive posts in advance of going live. Consider what your most enthusiastic fans would be delighted to see as soon as they join your subscription program. This is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to your most loyal audience and drive value right off the bat!

As a thanks for your help with the test, you'll keep 100% of your earnings, minus relevant fees, until the test period ends. Meta will share a portion of the earnings in the future, and you'll be notified before this happens.

Now that you've got the steps to submit and prepare for launch, get started on your exciting new program today! You'll get a notification when your approval status is ready for review. When you're approved, check out Unlocking Fan Subscription Success to get the tips and tricks on how to make your subscription a success!

Glossary

Fan Subscriptions: a form of monetization available for Page admins that enables fans to help fund them with recurring monthly payments. People with paid subscriptions become supporters and get access to special supporter benefits.

Supporters: people who purchase a monthly subscription to a Page.

Supporter Benefits: special perks that the Page admin can choose to offer to supporters. A supporter badge is automatically included as a supporter benefit for every fan subscription. Other supporter benefits include exclusive content, live videos, merchandise discounts, and more.

Supporter Badge: a badge that all supporters receive. It appears next to their name when they comment on the Page admin's posts or live videos. Supporters can remove this badge at any time.

Promotional Video: a video that promotes a Page's fan subscriptions. This video is usually used to explain the reason why the Page admin is offering fan subscription, the supporter benefits, and what supporter contributions will allow them to accomplish. People will often see this video when they click to become a supporter.

Thank You Video: a video that is shown after someone becomes a supporter. This video is usually used to thank new supporters and welcome them to the supporter community.

Note: We are slowly expanding fan subscriptions to more creators and countries. To stay up to date, please sign up here.

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