Quips now drive 50% of Ginny Di’s new memberships. Here’s how she did it.

Until recently, D&D creator Ginny Di mainly used Patreon to share videos, music, costumes, and downloads with her biggest fans. But in the past few months, she’s started complementing those bigger, more formal posts with casual, lightweight, Quips in Patreon’s discovery feed. Quips are short, low-effort posts that can be viewed by anyone on Patreon: whether they’re a member or not.

📝 What are Quips, anyway?

The results have been immediate: Quips already account for 50% of Ginny’s new total memberships.

So what’s the key to all that growth?

Low-pressure can be high-impact

“With Quips, I’m more comfortable making short, simple posts with small updates, knowing they won’t be cluttering up my main feed.” - Ginny Di

Ginny is selective about what kinds of posts go on her main feed, because she knows that many of her members will get email notifications for those posts sent directly to their inboxes. But that approach has kept Ginny from sharing a lot of the casual, behind-the-scenes updates that many of her members joined for!

Because Quips go into Patreon’s discovery feed and not on her main page, Ginny finally has a way to post on Patreon without pressure. Now she can share things like bloopers, random thoughts, and short, simple updates, delivering real value to her fans without having to worry about whether each one is “significant” enough to be a full-blown, email-worthy post.

Don’t sleep on free membership

“I see free members as a tier in the marketing funnel for my Patreon — more committed than followers on other public social media, even if they’re not ready to become paid members yet.” - Ginny Di

Ginny is a D&D expert, so it’s no wonder she plays the long game when it comes to her Patreon. For Ginny, free membership is a way to help bring casual fans deeper into her world – and Quips are a powerful way to drive those free memberships in the first place. In fact, she’s currently gaining 14 new members, on average, every single time she Quips.

Focus on what you can control

“In my experience, people tend to pledge to my Patreon when they’ve been enjoying my free work, they have the space in their budget, and they remember my Patreon exists. This is a set of three circumstances, but I only really have control over one: they remember my Patreon exists.” - Ginny Di

Ginny has formed a clear plan about how Quips fit into her broader membership strategy. Rather than treating them as a way to “sell to” potential fans on her paid membership’s rewards and benefits, she’s just using Quips to stay top of mind for free members and potential fans.

To Ginny, Quips are a way to keep bringing free members back to Patreon over and over to see what new things she’s shared. She’s not reposting what she shares on other social media platforms; she’s treating her Quips like insider posts, even for fans who aren’t paying a dime. The idea is that as long as she keeps providing value for all of her fans on Patreon, the upgrades from free to paid membership will come in time.

Every post has a purpose

“Quips have a good chance of reaching people who are new to your work. If a stranger stumbles on this post, will it make them want to learn more about your world?” - Ginny Di

So what’s the difference between posting a Quip vs. sharing a free public post on your own page? To Ginny, they serve very different purposes. A free post made to her main feed is usually something more weighty: a longer written thought, an announcement, or anything she wants everyone in her existing fanbase to see.

A Quip, on the other hand, is more of a casual, bonus post, something that could be interesting even to people who are completely new to her work. But it also isn’t a huge deal if fans miss any individual Quip she posts.

Don’t overthink it

Ultimately, while Quips are another kind of post on Patreon, you don’t have to reinvent yourself to find success with them. Consider all the same things you think about with the rest of your work. As Ginny put it:

“What will people be entertained or educated or inspired by? What will bring them back to Patreon over and over to see what new things I’ve shared? If you can strike that sweet spot between newcomer-friendly and engaging to your fans, you’ll be most successful at both growing your free memberships, and keeping your existing free and paid members coming back for more.” - Ginny Di

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