Why Brand Advocacy is Important

There is inherent value in almost any form of marketing, but what you really need to be able to harness is brand advocacy. This is the most powerful form of marketing and/or advertising that exists. If you aren't leveraging brand advocacy, you need to start as soon as possible. Why? Because brand advocacy uses the most powerful information about your product available: the end user. Your customers and clients. They are the ones that can best relate information about your products or services to potential new clients and customers. Those are the kinds of recommendations that really matter. What is brand advocacy and how can you harness its potential? Let's dive in and take a closer look.

What Is Brand Advocacy?

Brand advocacy sounds like there's some sort of court case involved, but there's nothing of the sort. Like so many terms, "brand advocacy" is just a new phrase that's been invented to describe something that you already have a term for. Basically, it's "word of mouth." In other words, the people that actually use your products or services tell other people about it. Those people hear about how your products or services are awesome from another person instead of a corporate video, advertorial, landing page copy on your website or advertising. Since it's another person, a real person - maybe even someone they know - they are that much more likely to look you up when or if they need the kind of product or service you sell. However, it becomes "brand advocacy" when it's done on social media. Granted, that makes a certain amount of sense; it's not like you have a digital mouth since it's just text on Facebook or Twitter. Unless, of course, we live in a simulated universe and are really just plugged into The Matrix, but that obviously isn't the case. (Or IS it?!) In a more technical sense, brand advocacy is when a brand leverages customer feedback to show real people's experiences and opinions of your company instead of - or to complement - traditional social media marketing. Shout outs, guest postings, whatever it might be that captures the actual perspective of an actual customer. Those people that speak highly of your products or services are, therefore, brand advocates and they are worth their weight in gold. Some studies suggest that upward of 90 percent of online consumers trust recommendations from people in their social circles.

Why This Is Different Than A Brand Ambassador

A brand ambassador is vastly different than a brand advocate, which is why brand ambassadors aren't necessarily quite as trusted as a brand advocate. A brand advocate is a paid representative of a brand and shares stories or information about that brand, be it about the company, the product or service or what have you, through various channels. A brand advocate is a person that is paid to spread the word about your company and what you do. This can be an employee, it can be someone from a public relations firm hired to represent your brand, a paid spokesperson, even a celebrity hired to be the public face and voice of your brand. It's not that brand ambassadors aren't effective; they are. They definitely are. However, there's a certain authenticity that comes from a person's perspective when you know they aren't on the payroll of the person trying to sell you something. Some people view a brand ambassador as little more than a paid stooge; a brand advocate, on the other hand, is someone that used your product or service and had a real experience.

How Can I Start Using Brand Advocacy For My Business?

The first place to start with brand advocacy is social media. That is the ideal platform to harness the power of brand advocacy and of your satisfied customers. They are already on social media platforms (who isn't these days) and can, therefore, get their message out about your brand, products, and services, to friends, family, and also your followers. For instance, start with the mentions. Set up mention alerts for whenever anyone mentions your company on social media. If someone has something beneficial to say, broadcast it! Give them a shout-out and share, retweet or otherwise broadcast their message to everyone that's currently following your social media accounts. Sounds pretty easy, right? Take it a step further by setting up brand advocate reward programs. If a customer shares their experience, offer them some sort of incentive. A coupon, discount or some sort of reward can entice others to share their experiences. Spending a few dollars on a trinket or two or giving someone 25 percent off their next purchase will easily be made back in the benefits of increased sales due to effective brand advocacy. In fact, some studies show that referrals originating with brand advocacy convert at a rate up to 150 percent greater than other sources. That sort of conversion rate optimization just can't be beaten. Employees also happen to make fantastic brand advocates as well. Who else knows how a company does business than the people that actually do it? The people who actually engage with your customers, service their needs and get them the products and services they need - as well as innovate behind the scenes to ensure that they do so in perpetuity - are uniquely positioned to tell prospective clients and customers the kind of service that they can expect from your brand. That's also a powerful message, as people who experience a positive experience tend to not only become customers but also repeat customers. You also can create a closer community this way with your customers, social media followers and so on; this helps build report and humanizes your brand to current and prospective clients and customers. After all, people like to buy from people, not faceless corporate megaliths. These are just some of the ways to get started with brand advocacy. It is one of the most powerful marketing and advertising tools that you and your brand can use and certainly is not one to be neglected. You will find yourself wondering how you ever functioned without it.