Businesses are often conscious about their perception among customers, and they should be as the better your customers feel about your brand, the better are your growth prospects. Many businesses are now recognizing the need for customer advocacy since many market leaders enjoy their leading positions due to advocacy.
How do you feel when your customers advocate or act as brand ambassadors for you? Customer advocacy turns your loyal customers into your brand advocates. They have a huge impact on the market and brand reputation; moreover, they bring more loyal customers. But how do you know what factors determine customer advocacy and how it benefits your business? We have created a comprehensive guide to help you answer these questions.
Parameters that determine customer advocacy
Some of the best business practices that you need to create customer advocacy programs are:
- Great packaging
- Loyal customers
- Surprising customers
- Listening to customers
- Personal touch
- Great content
- How well your customers feel
- Making extra efforts to appreciate your customers
These parameters drive customer advocacy. However, why do you need it, why does it matter, how can it help you? All these questions are answered by following the best things that customer advocacy can bring to your business:
Spread brand message effectively: According to the survey, only 2 out of 10 customers trust online advertisements, and 9 out of 10 trust their family and friends’ recommendations. It’s not difficult to understand; customers will only trust your brand only when they hear positive feedback or recommendation. Customer advocacy marketing is one of the best solutions to get more customers. eBay has successfully implemented customer advocacy. How? Customers trust sellers with the highest ratings and feedback. The more rating your platform has, the more credibility and trust you can build among customers. Customer advocacy marketing helps your brand spread positive messages through trusted channels.
Creates decentralized sales team: It acts as a decentralized salesman who creates customer referrals that help sell products or services. How about your customers answering questions or queries of other customers? If your audience gets positive feedback from someone who used your product, they are likely to become your loyal customers. For instance, a company allows its customers to answer queries from other visitors. This sharing of content with the network helps your company increase the reach of products and services as your existing customers become your advertisers or advocates.
Recognize most dedicated customers: Businesses want their customers to act as their brand advocates, but why will they? Depending on your brand, you might have a wide range of customers, including those who leverage your products and make the most out of them and those who don’t. For customers who engage deeply with your brand, it’s essential to show gratitude and appreciate them. The more they feel appreciated, the more they will recommend your brand. Make special features or programs, for instance, early access, exclusive content, etc. Your customer advocacy program can increase engagement for those customers who are not taking full advantage of your products. When these customers see how much you appreciate your loyal customers, they are more likely to engage.
Improve products and services: the voice of the customer programs helps you recognize the most engaged customers; they are the ones that give you honest feedback on your products and services. Consider reaching out to your loyal and customer advocates for early access to new features or services and ask if they would like to see or add a new feature or are they satisfied with your offering and solicit feedback about your overall customer experience. Using such feedback, you can continuously improvise your products and services to meet your customers’ needs. This kind of approach allows you to stay close to customers and understand what they want and what changes they expect. The more you improve your products, the more customers you will attract and ultimately differentiate from your competitors.
Grow your business: Customer advocacy programs provide you with several opportunities to grow your business. For instance, appreciating customers interested in most of your products will help you grow long-lasting relationships and long-term customer retention. Offer members of your advocacy programs additional offers for referring to new customers such as discounted products, gift cards, and more. According to a study, receiving referrals from your existing customers can be highly beneficial for your business, and consumers acquired through customer referrals have high retention rates. Moreover, your advocacy program can help you understand how much you need to invest in your customer experience and overall success. However, to make the most out of your program, make sure you highlight them in customer marketing.
Abstract: Now that you have understood the impact and need for customer advocacy, Optimize your business right away to stay ahead of your competitors and be a leader in the market.