5 Ways to Identify and Engage Brand Advocates Effectively

Finding individuals, customers and non-customers alike, to refer your product or service may come quick -- and even easy! However, identifying the cream of the crop, acknowledging them and finding more of those superstars, might not be as simple. We break down the best way to engage with this valuable audience and retain your best brand advocates.

Quality > Quantity

When you launch your advocate marketing program, you most likely cast a wide net to be able to create a critical mass for your research and testing purposes. Reaching such a large pool of possible ambassadors is definitely interesting in terms of data, but take what you’ve learned and identify your most valuable players. These MVPs fit into your target demographic and geographic location and have sizable audiences of their own. Take the time to properly groom campaigns for these specific audiences and tap into the “quality over quantity” mentality.

Always Be Optimizing

The goal of launching your advocate program is to gain referrals to your product. But what about referring ambassadors as well? Some of the highest quality advocates likely have a strong social presence, a healthy knack for marketing, innate sense of leadership -- and probably, in really good company. As part of your overarching customer referral goal, use your advocate to not only refer you to potential new customers, but potential new advocates as well. Use your advocate marketing program to adapt your incentive structure to reflect this new referral goal.

Be Selective with Your Brand Ambassadors

Your product isn’t run of the mill or generic, so your ambassadors shouldn’t be either. Creating the right advocate marketing campaign is very similar to selecting a team for your business. A strong ambassador for your product should be knowledgeable and passionate in marketing, a relevant online presence, professionalism, leadership skills, the passion to connect and grow relationships, the ability to deduct insights. Your product deserves ambassadors that exemplify an extension of your brand. Don’t be afraid to seek out exactly those traits for your superstar ambassadors.

Leveraging Social Proof Through Brand Advocates

Brand advocates can play a crucial role in providing social proof, which is essential for building trust with potential customers. Encourage advocates to share testimonials, reviews, and user-generated content across various platforms. This authentic content can significantly influence the purchasing decisions of others, thereby enhancing your brand’s credibility and reach.

Social media can be a goldmine for ambassador candidates. On top of identifying your potential advocates, you can see their style and voice first hand on their social channels. There’s definitely something special about connecting to potential customers and ambassadors on a personal channel such as social media. A study shows that 53% of marketers say ongoing, personalized communication with existing customers shows an impact in revenue growth.

Engaging Brand Advocates with Incentives

To keep brand advocates motivated and engaged, it’s important to offer meaningful incentives. Whether it’s exclusive access to new products, special discounts, or public recognition, these rewards can foster a deeper connection between your advocates and your brand. By making advocates feel valued, you ensure their continued support and enthusiasm for promoting your brand.

Here at Ambassador we tend to look at the pool of advocates as divided into two groups - external and internal. External advocates will be those referrers you seek out through email campaigns, using your advocate marketing tactics. However, internal advocates are cultivated through really strong company culture. Your employees are absolutely able to be your most valuable advocates!

Your best advocates might not always be exactly where you think they are, so it is important to create an advocate marketing campaign that is multidimensional and as interesting as your product. Keep your standards high and attract passionate, driven ambassadors.

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