In the previous marketing funnel phase, we discovered how to encourage existing customers to make repeat purchases in order to maximise customer lifetime value and foster long-term relationships.
The Buyer Advocacy stage focuses on nurturing satisfied customers into brand advocates who actively promote your brand and refer new business. This stage unlocks the incredible power of word-of-mouth marketing and social proof. These dynamic forces, in turn, drive brand credibility and business expansion.
Optimal engagement with your customers makes all the difference when they relate their experiences to others – both in person and on social media. It’s here that a positive customer experience will really reap rewards. Think of a passionate traveller who shares their positive experiences with a particular airline on social media, influencing their friends and followers to book flights with the same company. The Brand Advocacy stage of the buyer journey has the potential to do the same for your business.
Key benefits of the effective Buyer Advocacy stage
In the Buyer Advocacy stage, objectives and key results (OKRs) enable organisations to harness the power of satisfied customers as brand advocates and promoters. A business could, for example, set objectives focused on increasing advocacy engagement or improving referral generation. In this case, key results, such as achieving a certain level of social media engagement from advocates, would provide a measurable benchmark for success.
Objective
✓ Cultivate a community of brand advocates and drive referral-based growth.
Key results
✓ Recruit at least 50 new brand advocates from existing customer segments via advocacy engagement programmes.
✓ Generate 200 pieces of user-generated content (testimonials, case studies, social media posts) from brand advocates.
✓ Host quarterly advocate appreciation events or webinars to foster community engagement.
The opportunity is in the obstacle
It is vital to address any obstacles that may prevent you from identifying or engaging brand advocates, as they will ultimately drive word-of-mouth referrals and customer acquisition. By remaining aware of possible constraints and continuously nurturing advocacy in this phase, you can strengthen brand loyalty, expand your customer base and achieve sustainable growth.
In our experience, obstacles at this stage of the buyer journey tend to fall into one of the following categories:
Processes:
You may not have standardised processes for identifying and recruiting brand advocates from satisfied customer groups.
Tools & technologies:
There could be inadequate integration between your CRM system and advocacy platform for tracking and managing engagement.
Resources:
You may have insufficient manpower or expertise for executing advocacy campaigns and engagement initiatives.
Hidden [psychological] obstacles:
Customers could be reluctant to participate in advocacy activities due to privacy concerns or fear of social exposure.
External market Issues:
Competitive pressure or negative industry sentiment might impact the effectiveness of advocacy efforts.
INSPIRED uses a systematic advocacy process that amplifies brand reach and credibility, generates valuable word-of-mouth referrals, and subsequently fuels organic growth and market influence. This systematic approach consists of the 7 components listed below:
7 essential components to implement in the Buyer Advocacy stage
1) Advocate Identification and Recruitment:
Identify and recruit satisfied customers who have demonstrated a strong affinity for the brand and are willing to advocate on its behalf.
2) Advocate Community Building:
Establish an advocate community or platform where loyal customers can connect, share experiences and participate in advocacy initiatives.
3) Advocate Engagement Programmes:
Develop engagement programmes to keep advocates informed, motivated and engaged through exclusive content, events and rewards.
4) Referral Incentive Programmes:
Implement incentive programmes to encourage advocates to refer new business by offering rewards or discounts for successful referrals.
5) Advocacy Content Creation:
Collaborate with advocates to co-create user-generated content such as testimonials, case studies and social media posts that highlight their positive experiences.
6) Advocacy Amplification Strategies:
Use amplification strategies to amplify the reach and impact of advocate-generated content through social media, influencer partnerships and other channels.
7) Advocacy Performance Metrics Tracking:
Track key advocacy performance metrics, such as referral conversion rates, advocacy engagement levels and advocate satisfaction scores.
Allocating resources to the Buyer Advocacy stage empowers you to leverage the enthusiasm and loyalty of satisfied customers to generate positive word-of-mouth and attract new customers through trusted recommendations.
Allocating Resources for Growth
Here are a few resources that may be helpful during this phase:
Challenges and Opportunities
Opportunities of this stage include building passionate advocate communities and amplifying advocacy content. However, challenges may arise in identifying and recruiting advocates, and tracking advocacy performance metrics effectively.
Challenge 1: Identifying potential brand advocates
Opportunity: Implement AI-driven advocate identification systems
Recognising which customers have the potential to become powerful brand advocates can be difficult. Implementing AI-driven advocate identification systems that analyse customer behaviour, sentiment, and social influence can pinpoint high-potential advocates. This targeted approach allows for more efficient allocation of resources in nurturing brand advocacy.
Challenge 2: Engaging advocates consistently and meaningfully
Opportunity: Develop personalised advocacy engagement platforms
Keeping brand advocates actively engaged requires consistent, valuable interactions. Developing personalised advocacy engagement platforms that provide exclusive content, early access to products, and opportunities for direct feedback can maintain advocate enthusiasm. This tailored approach ensures that advocates feel valued and motivated to continue supporting the brand.
Challenge 3: Measuring the impact of advocacy efforts
Opportunity: Implement advanced advocacy attribution models
Quantifying the true impact of brand advocacy can be challenging. Implementing advanced advocacy attribution models that track the influence of advocate activities on brand awareness, lead generation, and sales can demonstrate the ROI of advocacy programmes. This data-driven approach helps justify investment in advocacy initiatives and guides strategy refinement.
Challenge 4: Scaling advocacy programmes without losing authenticity
Opportunity: Develop AI-assisted content co-creation tools
As advocacy programmes grow, maintaining authentic, personalised content can become difficult. Developing AI-assisted content co-creation tools that help advocates generate on-brand content while maintaining their unique voice can scale advocacy efforts without sacrificing authenticity. This collaborative approach ensures a steady stream of genuine, impactful advocacy content.
Challenge 5: Navigating legal and ethical considerations in advocacy
Opportunity: Implement automated compliance and disclosure systems
Ensuring that advocacy activities comply with legal requirements and ethical standards can be complex. Implementing automated compliance and disclosure systems that guide advocates on proper disclosure practices and flag potential issues can mitigate risks associated with advocacy programmes. This proactive approach protects both the brand and its advocates.
Challenge 6: Integrating advocacy efforts with overall marketing strategy
Opportunity: Develop unified advocacy and marketing orchestration platforms
Advocacy initiatives often operate in silos, separate from broader marketing efforts. Developing unified advocacy and marketing orchestration platforms that align advocate activities with overall marketing campaigns and objectives ensures a cohesive brand message. This integrated approach maximises the impact of advocacy efforts and creates synergies with other marketing initiatives.
Challenge 7: Sustaining long-term advocate motivation
Opportunity: Implement gamified advocacy progression systems
Maintaining advocate enthusiasm over time can be challenging. Implementing gamified advocacy progression systems that offer tiered rewards, recognition, and exclusive experiences based on advocacy activities can sustain long-term engagement. This motivational approach keeps advocates actively involved and continually striving for higher levels of participation.
* Please note that these challenges are illustrative examples, and your organisation may encounter unique obstacles specific to your industry, market, or operational context.
Transforming satisfied customers into passionate brand advocates is the hallmark of a thriving brand community. INSPIRED’s focus on advocate engagement and co-creation of content empowers you to cultivate a loyal community of brand advocates who will help to drive business growth and success. Here is how we can help you get there:
Marketing Software
INSPIRED offers cutting-edge automation-based software solutions that seamlessly integrate marketing, sales, and CRM processes. Our scalable platforms optimise operations, enhance customer engagement, and provide actionable insights for data-driven decision-making and exponential growth.
Marketing Services
INSPIRED delivers comprehensive, results-driven marketing services that transform strategies into measurable success. Our team expertly designs, implements, and analyses multi-channel campaigns, leveraging advanced technologies to ensure maximum efficiency, effectiveness, and ROI across all marketing initiatives.
Sign up to our newsletter to get update information, news and insights.
