Business-to-Business (B2B) buyers value the reviews of their peers, and the majority look to friends or other consumers for advice on what to purchase. In fact, a 2012 Google Study found 60 percent of B2B buyers seek out peer reviews before they decide to purchase. With this mind, it is important that businesses develop a group of brand advocates who actively promote and endorse your product. Your brand advocates are one of your greatest resources and could potentially be the difference between having a customer choose your product over your competitors. But how does one find and recruit brand advocates?
Derek Singleton, a B2B analyst for Software Advice, decided to sit down with industry expert Craig Rosenberg to find out how companies can turn their satisfied customers into an army of brand advocates. Here is a quick summary of their conversation:
Find Your Customers Already Endorsing Your Brand
Your brand most likely already has supporters, but it is likely you haven’t tried looking for them or you haven’t been tracking their activities. The first step to building a brand advocate marketing strategy is to go out and locate your customers who are already endorsing your products.
Here are three types of satisfied customers Rosenberg suggests you go out and find:
1. Socially active customers
Who are they: These customers share your company news, blog posts, research and social media messaging.
How to locate them: You can locate these customers by monitoring who is posting and commenting on your blog, on industry LinkedIn groups, or utilizing brand hashtags on Twitter. You can monitor these activities by using social media monitoring tools such as Hootsuite. If a customer is regularly mentioning your product, they are likely a good candidate for brand advocate.
2. Problem solvers
Who are they: These customers enjoy supporting other users or potential users on your website or third-party websites. This is especially important for companies and brands that offer a technical product or service.
How to locate them: Search your online communities and offline at offsite user meetups. If your brand sells a product, look at your beta program participations. These customers tend to make great brand advocates since they understand new features and can operate as technical advocates.
3. Customer References
Who are they: These are your satisfied customers you look to when a prospective client wants to talk to a current customer. These are important advocates because they can turn a potential customer into revenue.
How to locate them: Start by asking your sales representatives which existing customers they turn to as references for sales calls. If your company does not have a customer success team you might want to conduct a Net Promoter Survey to gauge levels of customer satisfaction. You can use this report to identify which customers provided positive feedback. These customers can become some of your greatest resources.
Limit the Number of Asks to Increase Participation
Rosenberg suggests starting with a small number of brand advocates, preferably around 25 to 50. He also suggests that you limit the number of asks to avoid overwhelming them – this can cause you to lose precious advocates. Rosenberg suggests starting off with small tasks, like tweeting something or sharing something in a LinkedIn or Facebook group.
On the other hand – some of the best asks include: testimonials, referrals and content contributions. Testimonials because they are third-party validation of your brand or service. Referrals because they can directly increase your revenue.
Give Something Back to Your Advocates
You also need to make sure that you provide recognition for all their hard work. This does not necessarily translate into giving them a gift card; Rosenberg has actually found that offering them a voice can often times times be the best reward.
Here are give examples of rewards that Rosenberg suggests for B2B businesses:
1. Write a personal hand-written thank you letter.
2. Give out badges or other “medals” to recognize their efforts.
3. Offer a first look at your product before the official launch.
4. Invite them to meet with your CEO or product managers.
5. Provide your customer with premium access to your services or products.
Building an army of brand advocates has become a critical component of a successful marketing program. Brand advocates provide third-party validation, credibility and assurance to your potential customers. If executed properly, your satisfied customers can actually become one of your strongest marketing resources and can help you increase your revenue. All you need to do is go out and find them.
