We explore why Advocate Marketing is important and how you can use it to grow your business.

1. Why Your Business
Can’t Ignore
Advocate Marketing
A Presentation by

2. Everyone who’s studied business or marketing should know that
keeping customers is more cost efficient than acquiring new ones.

3. What you may not know is how to use advocate marketing to
recruit existing customers into your customer acquisition program.

4. This presentation will explain
why Advocate Marketing is important,
and how you can use it to grow your business.

5. What is
an Advocate?

6. Software provider
defines an advocate this way:

7. “Advocates are not just satisfied customers. They are
enthusiasts who embrace your company’s vision and willingly
advance your interests through their interaction with others.

8. Whether by sharing experiences online, referring new
business, or recommending your products, these supporters
have enormous influence on your brand, demand generation,
and pipeline efforts.”

9. The Importance of
Word-of-Mouth

10. In nearly every industry, consumers and business
professionals alike trust the opinions of their peers more
than they trust brands.

11. Nielsen found that 84 percent of consumers take opinions
of family and friends most seriously when making
purchase decisions.
84%

12. This reliance is even more pronounced in the B2B world.

13. When you convert someone from a customer into an
advocate, you’re placing an agent on the inside.

14. 97%
In 2014, Spiceworks research found that 97 percent of IT
buyers rely on peer recommendations as well as ratings
and reviews when choosing business software.

15. 92%
92 percent of the same audience also relied on IT forums
in their decision-making process.

16. How IT Buyers Consume Their Content
Use during buying cycle
Use specifically for research/awareness
Use specifically for vendor consideration
100
80
60
40
20
0
97%
82% 79%
How IT Buyers Consume Peer Recommendations

17. How IT Buyers Consume Their Content
Use during buying cycle
Use specifically for research/awareness
Use specifically for vendor consideration
100
80
60
40
20
0
97%
80% 79%
How IT Buyers Consume Ratings and Reviews

18. How IT Buyers Consume Their Content
Use during buying cycle
Use specifically for research/awareness
Use specifically for vendor consideration
100
80
60
40
20
0
89%
75%
54%
How IT Buyers Consume Free Product Trials

19. Did You Know?

20. Docusign’s advocate program influenced
over $3 million in revenue.

21. “Influitive...gives DocuSign a powerful way to
gather advocates in one place and tap into our
customers’ passion.”

22. “Influitive...gives DocuSign a powerful way to
gather advocates in one place and tap into our
customers’ passion.”
- Meagen Eisenberg, VP of Demand Generation

23. How to Build
Advocacy with
Customers

24. Your current base of repeat clients is the most logical
place to start growing advocates.

25. Before you start building the program,
you need to identify the type of customer that would
make a good advocate.

26. Consider these three questions:

27. Consider these three questions:
Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?
1 Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?

28. Consider these three questions:
Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?
Is the advocate active in the appropriate
communities? Do they engage in online forums or get
involved in professional groups?
1
2
Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?

29. Consider these three questions:
Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?
Is the advocate active in the appropriate
communities? Do they engage in online forums or get
involved in professional groups?
How can you entice a customer to advocate for your
brand? What do they need in exchange?
1
2
3
Do you have an ideal industry or business type for
your product? Do your advocates work in such an
environment?

30. ?
At its core, advocate marketing is
melding your outreach into a coordinated campaign
- complete with an ask and reward
At its core, advocate marketing melds your
outreach into a coordinated campaign that
includes an ask and a reward.

31. Every attempt for advocacy will involve asking customers
to do something in exchange for a reward.

32. Examples:

33. Examples:
• Ask for an advocate to write a review of your product

34. Examples:
• Ask for an advocate to write a review of your product
• Ask them to refer a new customer

35. Referring a new customer is obviously the higher-value
advocacy action.

36. Try to match the reward
with the amount of effort you’re asking for.

37. How to Build
Advocacy with
Employees

38. Advocacy marketing doesn’t only have to target
customers; employees are excellent brand advocates, too.

39. Employee advocacy asks could be as simple as sharing
company content on social media or as detailed as leaving
a review on an employment job forum.

40. Especially by sharing photos and other content related to
the culture of the company,
your employees can be the driving force behind your brand.

41. They can convince potential customers that your business
is a vibrant, friendly establishment, rather than a cavern
of whitewashed walls and stale coffee.

42. Conclusion

43. Advocate marketing grants marketers the ability to
control their brand narrative from a perspective
outside the office.

44. By recruiting the real professionals who use your product or
service, you’re essentially developing a network of fans who
not only reinforce your brand’s story,

45. but also contribute to real business results by referring new
customers and leaving positive product reviews.

46. About
TechnologyAdvice

47. Working with a third-party resource like TechnologyAdvice
is a great way to build customer advocacy.

48. By listing products and services on our site, you not only
expand your marketing reach by tapping a new audience,

49. but you also gain a valuable opportunity to build positive
rapport through referrals and reviews.

50. Want to
learn more?

51. Have Questions?Our team of experts is ready to help!
877.720.3289
Have Questions?
Our team of experts is ready to help!
Visit http://technologyadvice.com/vendor-information/