Brand advocates are real people who believe in your brand and want to see it succeed, and who genuinely and actively use your products. These people promote your brand by leaving positive reviews, making glowing posts on social media, creating other UGC (user-generated content) centered on your brand, sharing one-on-one with friends, or through other forms of word of mouth.<\/p>\n
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Who can be a brand advocate?<\/h3>\n
Anyone who loves your brand, and who passionately promotes it via word-of-mouth, is one of your brand advocates. So, your advocates are usually your most enthusiastic, loyal customers, but they could also be your employees or partners.<\/p>\n
What motivates brand advocates to share your brand?<\/h3>\n
Brand advocates usually choose to share your brand on their own, without prompting from your brand. Why? Simply because they love your brand and its products and want others to know about it. Their enthusiasm and excitement motivates others to check out the brand or product for themselves, so it will drive sales of your products or services.<\/p>\n
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Source<\/a><\/p>\n Essentially, brand advocacy is the promotion your advocates engage in, to spread the word about your brand. This can include:<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/p>\n Sometimes, people use the terms \u201cbrand ambassador<\/a>\u201d and \u201cbrand advocate\u201d interchangeably. Although brand ambassadors are technically a form of brand advocate (since they love your brand and share about you without prompting), ambassadors are long-term spokespeople that your brand formally recruits to represent you.<\/p>\n However, brand advocates are usually much more informal representatives than ambassadors. Brand advocates aren\u2019t bound by a set of rules and guidelines for promotion like ambassadors are, and don\u2019t formally represent your brand at events. Thus, brand advocate marketing is less structured compared to ambassador marketing campaigns. However, many brands recruit informal brand advocates to eventually become formal ambassadors!<\/p>\n Influencers are slightly different from brand advocates, because influencers are asked to promote your brand in a few blog posts or social media posts. So, they’re advocating for your brand, but they’re paid to do it formally. Sometimes, influencers only start using your brand after you reach out to them; that’s very different from advocates who promote you without prompting, just because they love your brand.<\/p>\n What makes brand advocates so awesome? Let\u2019s go over several major reasons.<\/p>\n Firstly, brand advocacy is\u00a0free or nearly free marketing <\/strong>that helps you grow your brand organically. Brand advocates love you so much that they\u2019ll share you whenever they can, whether it\u2019s on social media, through emails, on their blogs, or in person. They have no shame in sharing frequently \u2013 they\u2019re your biggest cheerleaders! Their word is a powerful form of marketing that will reach scores of potential customers at little to no cost to you. You won\u2019t need to shell out thousands on traditional ads to generate brand awareness and bring in new customers.<\/p>\n Secondly, brand advocates need no extrinsic incentive<\/strong> to share your brand. Most advocates will share you just because they genuinely love your brand or products \u2013 they\u2019re motivated intrinsically. \u00a0Brand advocates aren\u2019t primarily motivated to share by rewards or incentives (although it\u2019s good practice for your brand to reward them with a small thank you for sharing, such as a free product, discount, or social media spotlight.)<\/p>\n Thirdly, brand advocates leave <\/strong>powerful <\/strong>positive reviews<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of you, <\/strong>usually without asking. Reviews are extremely important to your business, as most people seek out the reviews and opinions of people who have already had experience with a product or service before making a purchasing decision. People trust online reviews and consumer opinions, so having the opinions of your advocates on your side pays dividends!<\/p>\n Most importantly, brand advocates are trusted by their friends and followers<\/strong>! Your advocates\u2019 friends will be motivated to try your products or services for themselves, and believe they\u2019ll benefit from your brand, because they trust their peers and know that their peers would never intentionally mislead them. Trust is a powerful marketing tool. People trust their friends far more than they trust ads and other messaging that comes directly from your business, so they’re more likely to purchase from you when a peer recommends your products.<\/p>\n How to turn clients into brand advocates? To create advocates, you\u2019ll need to build solid foundations of customer satisfaction, with exceptional products, a standout customer experience, and a commitment to stellar customer service.<\/p>\n Even though brand advocates are informal promoters, it\u2019s crucial to know how to find them so you can further mobilize them and thank them for promoting your brand. You\u2019ll also want to share their trusted words on your own channels, as user-generated content<\/a>! Here\u2019s how to find your biggest brand advocates:<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/p>\n There are several types of brand advocacy software that can help you mobilize advocates and create stellar brand advocacy programs. Sometimes, software helps create more formal brand advocacy campaigns, where advocates promote your brand under an agreement. But other types create informal advocates who can promote your brand at any time they choose.<\/p>\nWhat is brand advocacy?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nBrand advocate vs. brand ambassador<\/h2>\n
Brand advocacy vs. influencer marketing<\/h2>\n
Benefits of brand advocacy marketing<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nCustomer satisfaction builds brand advocates<\/h2>\n
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Discover brand advocates: Who are your existing advocates?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nBrand advocacy software: What is it? How does it help?<\/h2>\n
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