How to Turn Your Customers into Your Own Army of Brand Advocates

What if you could actually program your customers to do things you wanted – like tell their friends about how awesomely, amazing your company is?Talk about a solid growth hack, right?Well, unfortunately, the super powerful brain-manipulation device required for this kind of programming isn’t available (or legal) quite yet.But no fear, where there’s a will, there's a (significantly more ethical) way!Want to turn your customers into super powerful brand advocates? Here’s where to start!Give them the royal treatment.Top-notch customer service should ALWAYS come first, regardless of if you are an established brand or just getting started.Why?Well, because being nice and helpful is just cool. But, beyond that, people talk.They talk about the weather. They talk about never getting a minivan (but eventually do). And they talk about the good and the bad experiences they have with companies.With 83 percent of people claiming to trust the recommendations of friends and family, you don’t want to risk your rap on a customer service convo that went south.Superior customer service leads to happy customers, which fuels FREE word of mouth advertising and breeds lifelong customer advocates. (Hey, there’s a reason your mom is still talking up that helpful gal from the corner store.)And to top it off, all that positive lip smackin’ translates into customer retention, growth, and you guessed it...money!So, when laying out your customer service strategy, think about your customers, their behaviors, and how and where they want to connect with you.(You may want to refer to those handy-dandy audience personas you build as well.)Then, crack open the customer service tools that best serve your audience, whether it’s live chat, email, phone, or social media.What? Social media?Yup, you need to view your social channels as a platform for conversation AND customer service.(Here’s how to make sure it’s part of your social strategy!)The inherent challenge here is, well, everything is visible to the public. That interaction isn’t just “recorded for quality assurance,” but it’s projected for all to see.While it might seem intimidating, use this one-to-many platform to your advantage.Respond quickly, politely, and above all be helpful. Your followers will take notice.Now, this doesn’t mean you need to say yes to everything, but it does mean you need to be a human. Be sympathetic to their situation and do what you can.There will always be criticism (even the best and brightest brands will experience this), but your speed, attention, tone, and customer-first approach will help diffuse a challenging and public situation.Easier said than done, right?Right, but focus (really focus!) on creating a customer-centric company culture and that attitude will transpire throughout your entire organization. This also involves setting up a proper feedback loop within your organization. After all, what good is feedback if it never makes its way to the right people?Your customers want to be heard, so ask for feedback, use social listening tools, survey customers, and most importantly apply what you learn to improve your offering.People like cool, so be cool (or cool-ish).Cultivate brand advocacy by appealing to your audience. Figure out what your audience digs and be their idea of cool.(Even if that means an oversized sombrero, roller skates, and a mechanical bull - but that’s story for another time.)Take Red Bull, the makers of the energy drink that “gives you wings,” for example.They have the highest market share in energy drinks in the world, and it was all built on the back of a successful grassroots movement.They know that a little bit of danger mixed with bold adventure and a splash of not giving a monkey’s arm is just what their caffeinated-flavor-loving fans want.Be authentic and be the cool your target audience is after and they will wear your logo, post about you on social media, talk you up, and advocate for you time and time again.Catch them off guard.Identify the brand advocates that are already posting about your company, using your brand hashtags, and are truly passionate about your offering, niche, or products, and surprise them!Seriously, you’ll stand out from your competitors.Whether it’s an exclusive coupon, VIP tickets, early access to a new service, free gear, or first-to-market information, reward your biggest fans, and they’ll happily tell their friends.One step is far easier than hoop jumpin' (while balancing on one foot). That’s right, just make it easier for your customers to tell people about your awesome company.Typically peeps aren’t going to jump through a gazillion hoops (or really even one) to share a positive experience, review your services, or share your demo video. You have to make it easy-breezy for them.(Speaking of demos, did you know we host a live one every single week?!)The key to a successful digital advocacy program is to minimize the friction points to virality. As you streamline all your digital touch points and identify areas of opportunity for advocacy, consider these tips:

1. Produce share-friendly content

If you’re pumping out amazing content that your audience wants and needs, make sure they can easily pass it along to friends.(For killer content ideas check out our post on how to turn one blog post into 10 fresh pieces of content!)Include email and social share buttons on your blog page, add Twitter Cards for instant visuals, and promote your brand-specific hashtags, so fans know what word or phrase to rally around.Consider the type of content your audience wants. Are your customers more inclined to share videos? Do they love cats on mopeds (we do!)?Experiment with different formats, and distribute and cycle through content on the regular. We recommend finding a social media automation tool that makes this step simple.(Heck, if you find the right tool, it's like hiring your own content manager for a fraction of the price!).

1. Create a community for them (and don’t be a poser).

If your target audience is chock-full of enthusiasts, give them an easy place and excuse to hang out, motivate each other, and swap ideas and knowledge.What better way to prove to your beloved customers and prospects that you are just as dedicated and passionate as they are? What better way to show your authenticity and dedication to your niche?After all, the most hardcore enthusiasts don’t want to back companies that aren’t the real deal.Whether you launch a dedicated online forum, start a private Facebook or LinkedIn group, or host meet-ups on the regular, find ways to incorporate the community into the narrative of your brand and make it easy for passionate people to unite.For an extreme (and awesome!) case, take the e-commerce company, Threadless, whose business is actually the community.Threadless sells apparel and accessories made by their very own talented collective of online artists, who submit designs, score peer creations, enter contests, and converse with fellow art aficionados.You can bet your bottom dollar that there's some reliable WOM (word of mouth) hype happening inside and outside of this Threadless community.

1. Make it easy – just ask.

Sometimes the most challenging part of a movement lead by the people is to spur action from your customers, even the super-duper happy ones.Now if you really wow them with all the great tips we dished (you caught those, right?), they’ll spread your good word like nobody’s business.But, even so, your biggest fans might still need a little nudge.If you received a customer compliment, ask for a share-worthy testimonial (here’s how).If you’re looking for reviews, incentivize participation, point ‘em to the place to leave a review, and ask at the right time.Want likes and shares on an Instagram post? Welp, ask for them by running a contest where entry is dependent on liking the post and @ mentioning a few friends.Above all else, when you ask, make it easy for them to answer.Hone in on the heavy hitters.Identify and partner with influential people that have the power to affect the behavior and opinions of their audience. But make sure they are right for your brand and are actually fans and customers of yours.Keep these tips in mind when evaluating prospects:

• Authenticity matters: Partner with influencers that actually dig your brand. A quality influencer should want this too!
• Engagement over reach: Pay attention to audience engagement, rather than audience size. What good are 500 million followers if they aren’t active and engaged?
• Be transparent: Ask influencers to be upfront with their followers about the arrangement and disclose any exchange of money, product, services, or incentive. If your products or service are a great fit, it won’t matter!
• Trust: Don’t micromanage the influencer. Hey, they know their audience best so let them do their thang.

Your turn! How do YOU inspire your customers to advocate for your company?What are your tips and tricks?What did we miss?Any companies rockin’ their advocate game?Drop some knowledge bombs in the comments below!