The Marketing Power of Brand Advocates

Rob FuggettaCEO/Founder, Zuberance

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Meet Your Best Marketers

Your Advocates

• Highly trusted• Influential• Amplified• Willing to recommend

without pay or incentives

Today You Will Learn

• What’s a Brand Advocate? (and why they matter)

• 3 ways to identify Advocates• 4 Ways to energize Advocates• 10 ways to reward Advocates

• Zuberance Founder/CEO• Author, “Brand Advocates:

Turning Enthusiastic Customers into Powerful Marketing Force” (Wiley, 2012)

• Marketing consultant Apple; former CMO, Genuity

About Rob Fuggetta

@robfuggetta

1. UNDERSTANDING BRAND ADVOCATES

People who recommend your

company, brand, or products

without pay or incentives

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What’s a Brand Advocate?

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Good experience with product or service

Help others

Recommend when asked

Let others know I'm knowledgeable

Incentives and rewards

50%

37%

8%

3%

1%

Source: Loyalty Wins for Zuberance, March 2012

Why Advocates Recommend

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CDW Advocate Justin Dorfman

• Generated $400K sales for CDW• CDW has paid Justin: $0• Recommends CDW because of

superb customer service

►81% surveyed CDW customers are Advocates

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Advocates: Unique, Valuable Segment

RecommendersBusiness Value

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Not all Advocates are Alike

How Advocates Differ

• Influence• Reach• Activities (create, share)• Frequency• Brand; product; services

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Motivations

Influencers vs. Advocates

Influencers Advocates

Low/none Very high

Build audience & personal brand

Help others

Incentives In some cases No

Loyalty

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Advocates are the Real Influencers

Justin Dorfman, CDW Advocate

Alexia Tsotsis, TechCrunch Co-Editor

AdvocateInfluencer

Item Alexia Justin# Twitter Followers 55,876 669Trust level 22% 92%Influence on purchases (among Justin’s network)

Low High

Fans vs. Advocates

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Let friends know products I support

Get coupons and discount offers

Stay current on new products

Learn about company/organization

Meet people with similar interests as mine

41%

37%

35%

31%

28%

Why People Join Facebook Fan Pages

% of US Facebook users

Source: Morpace

I want to help people

I've had good experiences with a product

Others could benefit from my perspective

I would want to know before I buy things

I've had bad experiences with a product

I want others to make smart purchase decisions

It feels great to be heard

Feel connected to other people

58%

57%

54%

53%

50%

47%

36%

33%

I give my opinions online regarding products & purchases because..

Why Advocates Recommend Brands

Source: Comscore, Yahoo!

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Why Advocates Matter

1. Highly trusted

2. Drive sales

3. Massive reach

4. Surprisingly large segment

Advocates are Highly Trusted

Word of Mouth Online reviews Your website Online ads0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%92%

70%

53%

33%

Source: Nielsen

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Source: Multiple

WOM50%All other Marketing Tactics

50% Ads, paid search, email marketing, billboards, etc.

80% of Intuit Business ($3.2M) from Advocates Source: Intuit

50% of Business from Advocates

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Power of Advocates in Restaurants

1-star increase on Yelp boosts sales by 5% to 9%

Source: “Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com,” M. Luca, Sept 16, 2011

5% to 9%

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Advocates Drive Sales

Buy This! Okay!

One Energized Advocate Brings in 3 New Customers

Source: Zuberance analysis

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Social Media Amplifies Advocates

1 Advocate’s Trusted Recommendations Family,

Friends, Colleagues,

Peers

Shopping & Review Sites, Blogs, Brand Website, etc.

Social & Business Networks

Reach: 500+

Reach: 10,000+

Reach: 150+

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Advocates are Surprisingly Large Segment

How likely are you to recommend our brand or products to your friends?

“Ultimate Question” for Customer Loyalty:

50%Source: Zuberance customer data

2. THREE WAYS TO IDENTIFY ADVOCATES

3 Ways to ID Brand Advocates

1. Ask

2. Listen

3. Observe

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1. Ask

How likely are you to recommend our brand or products to your friends?

“Ultimate Question” for Customer Loyalty:

Ask Ultimate Question Everywhere

Social Web eMail Support Usage Mobile

How likely are you to recommend our brand or product?

Ask on Social Channels

Ask on Digital Channels

Ask on Mobiles

2. Listen

3. Observe

3. FOUR WAYS TO ENERGIZE ADVOCATES

4 Ways to Energize Advocates

Reviews Stories

Answers Offers

Parallels Software Energizes Advocates

Ratings up 50%

30% Sales Conversions

Thousands of Stories

Advocacy is Delicious for Rubio’sRatings Up on Yelp

10% Sales Conversions

Thousands of Stories

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3 Ways to Leverage Advocates Now!

Super-charge Content

Boost Product Launches

Enhance Reference Programs

4. 10 WAYS TO REWARD ADVOCATES

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1. Sneak peeks

2. Special events

3. Exclusive communities

4. Special content

5. Seek their opinions

6. Access to VIPs

7. Contribute to causes

8. Honor your Advocates

9. Show them you care

10. Say thank you

Top 10 Ways to Reward Advocates

Key Takeaways

1. Advocates are genuine recommenders

2. Advocates are not same as fans, followers, loyal

customers, influencers

3. Advocates are highly trusted, influential, and amplified; you

have many more Advocates than you think

4. Identify Advocates by asking, listening, and observing

5. Energize Advocates to create and share content and offers

plus launch products and more

6. Don’t pay or provide incentives to Advocates

• Zuberance.com• Blog.zuberance.com• BrandAdvocateBook.com

Learn More

Move The Needle

 www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org 

Thank You