Brand advocates can help B2B marketers harness the passion of their most loyal fans to drive business value.
When customers are unhappy with your products, services, or experience, they have a lot more power to disrupt your brand than they did in the past. This is even more important in the B2B industry, which is seeing new consumer behavior these days.
Forrester research has shown that 75% of B2B buyers conduct online research for their purchasing decisions , and more than half prefer online research to their sales team’s approach. But that doesn’t mean they’re not talking to anyone – they’re sharing their thoughts and experiences with peers on sites like LinkedIn.
Therefore, your Advocate Marketing strategy must apply strategy, budget and resources to encourage customers to act on behalf of your company, without necessarily expecting a specific benefit – amplifying the reach of your digital marketing efforts.
Empowered customers will be great agents – especially if your company reaches out first: wonderful things will happen as a result, but you have to be willing to take that risk.
When creating an Advocate Marketing plan, think about the qatar mobile database customer lifecycle , not the sales funnel . Follow the steps your customers take as they navigate their journey with your brand.
There are several important elements to a customer advocacy plan, including education and validation. Certain types of customers enjoy helping others, want to share, and want to be seen as an expert. These “advisors” will be active in your community and on social forums. Consider asking them to review and offer tips and feedback on your solutions.
Another important point is that people want to be seen as doing the right thing by their peers. Again, potential agents who are concerned about personal validation are prime candidates to offer brand referrals, online product reviews, and case studies.
Obviously, to be successful in creating Advocate Marketing agents, you need to have satisfied customers. So consider this: if everything goes wrong, don’t think that the Advocate Marketing agent will solve everything for your brand alone. The secret here is to think of the customer first.
In conclusion:
Consumers – whether B2B or B2C – are always looking for authentic brands. The best way to appear authentic is to get real customers to give real opinions about your brand.