How to Build a Brand Advocacy Program That Keeps Customers Coming Back

Hey there! As a fellow marketing geek, I know you’re interested in harnessing the power of brand advocacy. And with good reason – word-of-mouth marketing is an incredibly effective way to organically grow your business.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into advocacy marketing best practices, with plenty of data and expert insights mixed in. I’ll share techniques that have worked wonders for brands big and small, so you can build an advocacy program that turns happy customers into lifelong brand champions. Let’s get started!

What is Brand Advocacy and Why Does it Matter?

Brand advocacy is when your customers actively promote your brand to others. It goes beyond just being satisfied – advocates are so passionate that they voluntarily tell friends, leave online reviews, and share on social media.

Unlike traditional ads, advocacy comes from a trusted source. According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of marketing. And rightfully so! As consumers, we’ve all had our doubts about flashy ads and buzzwords. When a real person vouches for a product, it feels authentic.

Beyond trust, advocacy provides many benefits including:

Increased sales: Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value over non-referred (Source: Invespcro)
Higher retention: Advocates are more loyal, with 52% less churn than non-advocates (Source: Edelman)
Greater reach: A review influences an average of 108 purchasing decisions (Source: Brightlocal)
Valuable insights: Advocates provide product feedback you can’t get elsewhere
Cost savings: Advocates provide exposure for free rather than costly ads

Clearly brand advocacy is worth investing in. So how do we get customers passionately promoting on our behalf?

Identify Your Best Potential Advocates

The first step is figuring out who is best positioned to become a brand champion. Consider these three key groups:

1. Loyal Customers

Satisfied customers are the biggest missed opportunity. Look at your customer data and identify not just those with high satisfaction, but people who have purchased multiple times or have been clients for years. Surprise your VIPs with special perks and rewards or publicly highlight their positive reviews. By making loyal customers feel valued, they’ll spread the word.

2. Employees

Did you know that employee created content gets 8X more engagement than brand created content? (Source: Social Media Today) Employees are trusted voices who can share company news, offers and more through their own networks. Enable them with toolkits and training.

3. Strategic Influencers

Work with influencers who genuinely love your brand and have audiences aligned with your target market. Prioritize those with highly engaged followers over raw follower counts. Offer creative perks beyond just free products, like exclusive access or co-created content and products.

Foster an Internal Culture of Advocacy

Advocacy starts from within. Some ideas to fire up your team:

Encourage executives to take the lead: When leadership shares content and highlights employee advocates, it sets the tone from the top.
Make it fun: Friendly contests, leaderboards and rewards add a spirit of healthy competition.
Provide assets and training: Create employee kits with shareable content and guide employees new to social media.
Share wins: When an employee’s post drives great engagement, celebrate it publicly. Recognition fuels further participation.
Empower managers: Equip them to identify and empower potential employee advocates within their teams.

Studies show that employees who feel engaged with their company’s culture and goals become brand ambassadors:

	Engaged Employees	Non-Engaged Employees
Refer potential candidates to HR	59%	16%
Recommend the company‘s products to friends and family	71%	45%

(Source: Weber Shandwick)

Rally your team, and they’ll help rally the customers!

Develop Trusted Relationships with Customers

Even delighted customers won’t advocate for brands they lack trust or connection with. Here are some powerful ways to build bonds with customers:

Surprise and delight: Send unexpected upgrades, discounts or gifts to show appreciation. Even a handwritten thank you note can go a long way.
spotlight advocates: With their permission, highlight loyal brand advocates on social media or in marketing materials. People love recognition.
Take feedback seriously: Use surveys and conversations to identify pain points early. Take action on concerns before they spread.
Offer VIP access: Special rewards programs, members-only groups and exclusive offers make people feel valued.
Personalize messaging: Use segmentation and CRM data to tailor communications and offers based on interests and purchase history.

According to a SaaSquatch study, referred customers have 16% higher lifetime value compared to non-referred. By strengthening relationships, you reap the benefits for the long haul.

Consumers rely on social media more than ever when researching brands. A whopping 70% of buyers go to social networks for opinions before making purchasing decisions according to Think With Google.

That’s why it’s crucial to encourage brand love on every channel where you have a presence:

Email: Prompt satisfied customers to leave online reviews with direct review links in your email footers.
Social media: Make it effortless for followers to retweet, like, and share your content. Quick responses to positive brand mentions encourage more.
Website: Publish compelling customer testimonials. Prominently display recent positive reviews.
In person: Ensure store staff has business cards, promotional codes, or product samples to share with delighted customers.
Paid social: Consider sponsoring advocates’ organic social posts to give them added exposure.

Multi-channel advocacy reaches consumers wherever they engage online.

Measure and Optimize Your Efforts

It’s essential to monitor metrics so you can continually fine-tune your strategy:

New advocates acquired: Track the raw number of new brand advocates over time.
Content shared: Monitor mentions, tags and shares of your branded content. Analyze overall tone and sentiment.
Engagement: Add up the reactions, clicks, and comments advocacy posts receive. Higher engagement extends your reach.
Conversions: Survey new customers and leads to see if advocacy impacted their purchase decision.
Program cost vs. revenue: Calculate ROI by comparing program costs to revenue generated.

Here are some free monitoring tools to try:

Mention: Social listening for brand mentions
Hootsuite Impact: Social marketing campaign analytics
Google Analytics: Track website traffic sources
NapoleonCat: Instagram and Facebook analytics

And that wraps up my top tips for building an amazing brand advocacy program that converts happy customers into lifelong brand champions! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m always happy to chat more about advocacy marketing.