Influencer marketing, where popular social media figures promote your business, is a well-known strategy. But for small businesses, partnering with influencers can be costly. That’s where brand advocates come into play.
Brand advocates aren’t focused on earning money or growing their follower count. They’re regular customers who genuinely love your business and want to tell others about it for a variety of reasons: they think your business is great, they enjoy helping friends discover great finds, or they just like sharing their opinions. These brand advocates are often already your customers, though you can also find potential ones in other ways, which we’ll discuss later.
Why are brand advocates valuable? Customers know that celebrities and influencers are paid for their promotions, which can lead to skepticism about the authenticity of their endorsements. In contrast, when a friend shares about a product or service they love, it doesn’t feel like a promotion—it feels genuine. This authenticity gives brand advocates credibility that paid promotions can’t match.
Finding brand advocates involves several strategies:
1. **Sales records**: Look at who buys from you the most and who your most loyal customers are.
2. **Social media**: Track who engages with your brand on social platforms and use social listening tools to find mentions of your business outside of your own accounts.
3. **Online reviews**: Identify customers leaving glowing reviews—they’re likely to share their positive experiences.
4. **Email marketing**: Analyze your email campaign metrics to see which customers consistently engage with your messages.
5. **Online searches**: Find people who frequently discuss topics related to your business, even if they aren’t customers yet.
6. **Employees**: Encourage genuine use and sharing of your products by employees—they can be great advocates if their promotion feels authentic.
Once you’ve identified potential brand advocates, reach out to them. Engage with them on social media by commenting on or liking their relevant posts. Send them a direct message or email thanking them for their support and inviting them to further engage with your brand.
To integrate brand advocates into your marketing strategy, build a reciprocal relationship with them. Here are some effective methods:
– **Involve them in new product launches**: Invite them to participate in focus groups.
– **Offer loyalty rewards**: Enroll them in your loyalty program and reward their promotional efforts.
– **Provide gifts or discounts**: Give them tangible incentives for promoting your business.
– **Send free samples**: Offer free trials of your products or services for them to review or share.
– **Encourage sharing**: Make it easy for advocates to share your content on social media.
– **Offer discount codes**: Provide special codes they can share with others.
– **Promote content creation**: Encourage them to create and share content related to your products, even simple photos or videos.
– **Use identifiers**: Ask them to use specific hashtags or brand names in their posts.
Leveraging brand advocates helps build your audience and promote your products authentically. By developing closer relationships with your best customers, you can boost your business in a meaningful and lasting way.
