5 Steps to Building your Advocate Community

Getting your customers to build your business

Paul Sackmann

Social Marketing & Community - Hootsuite

@paulsackmann

#CvHNY

Hootsuite

10M+Users

worldwide

1600+EnterpriseCustomers

800out of the

Fortune 1000

Community Impact on Business

80%It costs 80% less to

retain a customer than acquire one

95%Increasing retention rate

by 5% can increase profits by 95% over long-term*

*Harvard Business Study** MSI Study

25%Increased engagement on community sites can result

in 25% increase in revenue**

just 20% of brands use advocate and experts programs in their marketing strategy

YET…

Steps Towards Building An Advocate Community

Feedback

Define a set of clear objectives for advocates

Utilise a set of targeting techniques to identify fans/super-fans in order to build/grow an advocate community

Layer in offline initiatives to complement online activities (targeted to specific shared interests/values within the community)Develop a feedback loop/program and utilise advocate knowledge to improve brand/product/service

Implement long-term actions (gamification, exclusivity options, evergreen content etc.) to create a sustainable community

Identification

Action

Offline

Purpose

1 Define the Purpose

The Hootsuite Ambassador Program

AmplificationProduct releases shared with ambassadors to drive 200% more engagement & reviews

LocalisationTranslate into new languages and support initiatives in 22+ languages

SupportEngage and support our 15,000 registered customers in the Support Forum with 80% response rate

EventsDrive localisation efforts by hosting events in 5 target cities each quarter

2Identify your best customers

Focus on customers, not influencers

© 2015 Hootsuite Media Inc

Consume

Curate

Create

90-9-1

TIP

3Integrate rituals in community life

4Merge offline & promote cyclic events, like meetups and

conferences

67%of 2014 Hootups led by Hootsuite Ambassadors

15,7802014 attendees

57 participating countries

250+ 2014 Hootups

Steps to establishing our Hootup presence • Identify existing presence in key markets - #LandAndExpand • Find advocates to lead activities and evangelise for brand• Establish an incentive program for organisers • Confirm activity format and relevant content for attendees• Develop repeatable and scalable activity model (consider frequency, bandwidth,

budgets, and grassroots efforts)

• Start in one region and expand over time

2014 Attendee Types

13% of prospects in 2014 Hootups converted to Hootsuite customers.

5Show Your Listening - #FeedbackLoop

TIP

TIP

Beta test our new mobile app!

The Outcome: Engaged Advocates Who Review Our Product

● Over 200+ blog posts written by our ambassadors in Q3/4

● 10% of app reviews on iTunes contributed by Ambassadors

● Total Twitter reach of #HootAmb: 4.5 million!

02

01 03

Deepen Customer ProfilesProgressive profiling to learn more and more about your customers over time. Collaborate and combine meaningful data from existing business systems to complete customer segment profiles.

Engaging Community Experiences

Distribution of localised and highly target content relevant to your

target audiences Better Insight for Better Business DecisionsIncreased research efficiency + Long-term relationships with customers and insights built over time and fed back into your go-to-market strategy.

Community Insight Drives Smarter Business Decisions

Smarter Business Decisions

Measuring Success

Engagement

Advocacy

Community Health

● Volume of conversations, sentiment, SOV● User-generated content posts and shares● Event attendance in target cities & customer conversion

● Participation in Community Forum● Community self-solve rate● Active follower base to our social channels

● # of Ambassadors in key local markets● Ambassador engagement and participation in challenges● Positive sentiment conversations and content sharing

Key Takeaways• Define a clear purpose and set of objectives for advocates

• Target the super-user/super-fan (not the ‘influencer’) to launch your advocate community

• Focus on long-term, repeatable actions to create a sustainable community

• Layer in offline initiatives aligned with shared interests of the advocate community (education, inspiration, entertainment)

• Develop a feedback loop and adjust strategy on-going

Thank You!Paul SackmannLet’s be friends @paulsackmann