The Importance of Brand Advocacy

The Importance of Brand Advocacy:by James T Noble

There’s one thing that’s way better than social media influencers who ‘like’ you… Brand Advocates.

Not sure what the difference is? Then sit tight and I’ll reveal all…
These days growing your audience through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is standard recognised business practice. But even if you are a runaway social success it’s not necessarily going to help your business development as much as you think.
You see whilst your social fan base may ‘like’ your posts or re-tweet your offers, it often amounts to so much social chatter and only has a short term impact. It’s assuredly a whole lot less powerful than if that fan base were to actively promote your business on your behalf. That’s what brand advocacy is all about, and it is one of the best ways to gain quality leads and sales from your social media campaigns.

Advocates are loyal and truly passionate about your business.

They are the consumers who use in-person and online conversations to regularly share and endorse your products and services. In short – brand advocates are the crucial difference between having average audience interaction and genuine influence.
This small yet extremely valuable group of advocates should be highly prized because their support, endorsement and recommendations can have an enormously significant impact on your social campaigns. They not only increase awareness, but they can provide social proof to considerably boost your Google rankings, and most importantly which engenders trust in your business amongst other consumers and drives them to ACTION.

So how do you gain these indispensable advocates?

The truth is there’s no hard and fast way.
The key is relationship building, and that requires an investment which you must be prepared to make if you’re going to succeed.
Think about the companies you like and respect. What was the ingredient that caused your loyalty?

• Was it a good product?
• Smooth transaction?
• Great customer service?
• Aftercare?
• Personal interaction?

Chances it was a combination – and those are the things you should be focusing on to nurture relationships with your own customers potential advocates.
Give them a worthy reason to get your back. Give them something of value. Build an emotional connection and sustain it to give them an experience they will remember and actively want to share.
Get them engaged and gain rapport with personal interaction. Reply to their comments and share their content if they share yours. Regularly send them personalized emails to make sure they’re keeping you front of mind.

What will motivate them to take that extra step?

Be appealing as possible by demonstrating a well developed personality, creating entertaining content and being helpful by solving their problems or giving them useful tutorials and resources.
Encourage them to promote your business on your behalf – most times people just need a little nudge in the right direction. Give them the freedom to do so and make it known that their feedback is appreciated. Ask for specific comment and let them know how highly you value their insight by letting them know you wish to share it.
Reward your advocates the recognition and respect they deserve. Honour your relationships and allocate sufficient time and resources to their wellbeing and development. Let your advocates know that you are starting a program that actually rewards THEM – the investment required is totally outweighed by the possible benefits.
…And listen to them and trust their judgement because you can learn from them too – they could even be the inspiration for your next great innovation.