Atri Chatterjee, CMO of Act-On Software, reveals four ways companies can transform their customers into brand advocates
When it comes to getting their offerings across to potential customers, today brands face a rather different set of challenges than they did in eras past. For one thing, buyers are no longer content with just a sales pitch, preferring instead to conduct their own research and see for themselves what vendors and their particular solutions are capable of. For another, buyers have all sorts of channels to choose from when engaging with brands, which warrants the question: What sort of chance do businesses really stand of staying compelling and convincing if buyers are looking elsewhere for their information?
This is where brand advocates can prove a huge help, acting as non-partisan influencers who attest to what you offer, speak to your strengths as a business and encourage others to investigate your product. The right pool of advocates can go a long way in extending your online reach and enhancing your credibility as a brand, as word-of-mouth recommendations account for 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions, reports McKinsey and Co. More importantly, a program for advocacy can ultimately result in a much more loyal and active customer base, according to Zuberance, because brand advocates tend to spend twice as much on brands they support than the average customer.
Here are four ways you can make outspoken advocates of your current customers:
1. Help them to reach people and make themselves known
As a general rule (within the B2B space especially), it’s important to remember the buyers you court are often business owners and decision-makers themselves – professionals who shoulder many of the same concerns and priorities you do. To this end, it’s well worth your time to give them chances to promote themselves and the products they sell, if only to return the courtesy they show you daily.
Point them towards opportunities for promotion wherever possible: events or tradeshows relevant to their industry, placements in trade publications or calls with members of the press. You can also give them shout-outs on your social pages by re-tweeting a piece of their content, making a contribution to their ‘Manager’s Choice’ on your LinkedIn group, or featuring them in a weekly spotlight or profile to showcase how they use your product and how they engage their own customers, all while commenting wherever possible on what they circulate (which, ultimately, encourages your followers to do the same).
2. Tailor what you offer to their specific needs and pain points
Engage with your customers as advocates. If your followers are looking to be entertained, keep them amused and intrigued with memes, videos and interactive material (polls, surveys, etc.). If they’d rather educate themselves, provide them with the resources they need to succeed in their respective fields – share datasheets, webinars and whitepapers relevant to the individual industries they serve.
The more room you allow yourself to think critically about your brand’s ambassadors (who they are, where they are, what they do) and the more you tailor your offerings accordingly, the more likely you are to forge bonds that last.
3. Give them a say over the content you publish
As you set about piecing together a sustainable programme for brand advocacy, it’s to your advantage to solicit customer input where and when possible – ask your advocates’ opinion on the content you share and initiatives you promote (much as you would about a new product you’ve developed or service you’ve expanded). Enlist their help via emails, surveys, calls-to-action across social media, let them suggest and sound off on possible topics for your company’s blog, or communicate directly with executives and decision makers within your organisation (in a Twitter chat, or a Google+ hangout), so they feel they have a direct hand in shaping the solutions you provide.
Make them feel heard and useful, and your advocate base will be stronger for it.
4. Thank them often
No matter the strides you make or bumps you hit in your efforts at brand advocacy, always remember that your advocates are performing a crucial service on your brand’s behalf, and be sure to thank them for it where and when possible. These thanks can take any number of forms – an exclusive giveaway (a new phone or computer, gift certificate or voucher), or perhaps access to a special service or product of yours you might ordinarily reserve for a select few. You might even set about creating different rungs of advocacy (a beginners circle, an advanced circle etc.) to further incentivise participation in the programme, and to better recognise your advocates’ individual contributions.
But at the end of the day, never underestimate the effect a simple note of thanks can have. Message your advocates privately if need be, or find a way to call them out in your communications such as the ‘Customer of the Month’ on social or in a prominent section of your email newsletter.
The relationship you have with your brand advocates can be extremely beneficial, and putting these four essentials into play can only work to make those long-term relationships stronger and more reliable –improving not only customer loyalty, but also your business and your overall brand.
