What Is Brand Advocacy & How Can It Help Your Business?

Customers today are spoilt for choice – thanks to the power of the internet.

Just a simple Google search will reveal 20 different stores selling the same products for about the same price. 

So how do you make sure that your brand stands out from the crowd? 

Why should people pick you over a sea of choices out there? 

Customer experience is key 

One of the ways to easily stand out among your competitors is by providing a seamless customer experience for people who do business with you. 

Excellent customer service will leave customers feeling satisfied.

When they are satisfied, they will keep coming back to you, make repeated purchases and tell everyone about you. 

Now, the last bit of that is what we’re going to talk about today. 

What is brand advocacy? 

According to EveryoneSocial, brand advocacy means that customers who love your brand will continue to support your company and promote your products and services, which will result in bringing you new customers. 

A customer who does this for you is known as a brand advocate. 

A brand advocate is someone who elevates your brand through word of mouth marketing

Sprout Social 

Of course you can build your brand through marketing and advertising efforts. So why invest in a brand strategy to cultivate brand advocates? 

The answer is simple – because it’s cheaper. In some cases, it’s free. 

Also, word of mouth advertising carries more weight than a billboard on the freeway or a full page magazine spread. 

How does brand advocacy work? 

Brand advocacy works pretty much like a viral post on the internet.

The post was not sponsored and no one did any form of marketing for it. There’s no budget involved.

Someone saw the post and shared it. Someone else liked it and shared. Basically, that cycle repeats until the post becomes viral. 

In the same way, brand advocates talking about your brand and constantly posting about it on social media will help your brand gain visibility and become exposed to a large group of potential customers.

Which means you can cut down on your advertising and marketing budget and channel the money into improving your products and services.

Before you know it, customers will come flocking to you! 

Marketing and advertising is still important to get your brand out there. Brand advocacy will make sure it stays relevant.

Free and paid brand advocacy – which one is for you?

Some big brands and companies spend thousands on social media influencers.

These are people with a massive following who are paid to recommend products and services to their followers in a more subtle way. These are paid brand advocates.

Brand advocates are also referred to as brand ambassadors.

Many big brands leverage on brand ambassadors to boost their brand equity and boost their sales. 

For example, Nike has Cristiano Ronaldo.

Swarovski has Victoria’s Secret supermodel Karlie Kloss.

Tag Heuer has Chris Hemsworth, Mats Hummels, Shah Rukh Khan and more. 

When we see these celebrities advocating these products, we want to have these products too!

That’s the power of a brand advocate. 

But that doesn’t mean that you need to invest millions of dollars and hire the likes of David Beckham or Ed Sheeran to be your brand ambassadors. 

Many studies have been conducted to show that consumers are more likely to trust personal recommendations from their friends and family.

Their social circle has a major influence on their purchasing decisions. 

Your loyal customers are your brand advocates.

All you have to do is invest in showing them some appreciation through personalised messages, exclusive promotions, birthday rewards, loyalty points, and so on. 

Some brands are also investing in micro-influencers. These are personalities with a decent following, usually around 1,000 and above.

Some statistics show that influencers with 1,000 followers actually generated 85% higher engagement – compared to influencers with 100,000 followers. 

It is proven that personalities with a smaller following can connect on a deeper level with their audience and generate more engagement. 

Kickstart your loyalty program today and convert your loyal customers into strong brand advocates.