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How to Identify and Engage Your Best Customer Advocates
higherlogic.com
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You don’t need to launch a massive program right away either. Start small—ask for feedback on a product or invite them to participate in your community. Then, build from there. “By addressing these early, you’ll keep your advocates consistently involved and steadily grow your program over time.”
“It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again.” But over time, you risk burning them out. And once that happens, it’s hard to recover. Worse still, you may overlook fresh voices and new perspectives. The truth is, some of your best advocates are probably hiding in places you’re not even looking. Whether they’re quietly delivering results or haven’t yet had the chance to speak up, it’s time to dig a little deeper and find those untapped champions.
Clarify your customer advocate roles “Before you start searching for customer advocates, you need to define exactly what you want them to do.” Need some ideas to get started? Our webinar with Dana Alvarenga, vice president of CX at SlapFive, and Heather Wendt, community strategist at Higher Logic Vanilla and community manager at Gain Grow Retain, covers how to create a customer advocacy program from the ground up. They walk through the different types of micro-programs—like cohort meetups, speaker opportunities, and product feedback sessions—you can use to build out your program.
One of the easiest ways to find potential advocates is by looking at customer satisfaction. No surprise there. But what might be unexpected is where some of your best advocates can come from. “This group should be your first target because they’re already doing many of the things you’d want from an advocate.” On the flip side, steer clear of “unsatisfied” customers. They’ve had a negative experience, and while your customer success team should work to fix that, these aren’t the people you want in an advocacy program…yet.
Start with your “satisfied” customers—those who have already expressed positive feelings about your brand or products. They’re engaged, happy, and have likely shown their support publicly. This group should be your first target because they’re already doing many of the things you’d want from an advocate. Why not formalize that relationship and make it more strategic? “They’ve had a negative experience, and while your customer success team should work to fix that, these aren’t the people you want in an advocacy program…yet.” Then there’s the “neutral” group, which makes up most of your customer base. This bunch holds a lot of untapped potential. You’ll find customers here who are likely satisfied but haven’t gone out of their way to share it. Your job is to find the most satisfied customers within this group and see if they’re open to becoming advocates.
Look in your community: Some of your best advocates may not be the most active in the community, but they’ve created valuable content like articles or blogs that touch on your product or brand. Before reaching out, make sure to read their work. “These are the people who are more likely to say “yes” to joining your advocacy program.” Uncover your neutral customers
Why every advocate doesn’t need to be your ideal customer “A larger pool means more perspectives, which is exactly what you want when it comes to references.” Dana adds that it doesn’t always have to be about the big-name logos either. Sure, they’re impressive to leadership, but educating your execs on the value of smaller or mid-sized customers can shift the focus. These companies often have more flexibility and fewer legal hurdles, allowing them to contribute faster and with less red tape. Big logos are great for optics, but they’re not everything.
Clarify your customer advocate roles “Before you start searching for customer advocates, you need to define exactly what you want them to do.” Need some ideas to get started? Our webinar with Dana Alvarenga, vice president of CX at SlapFive, and Heather Wendt, community strategist at Higher Logic Vanilla and community manager at Gain Grow Retain, covers how to create a customer advocacy program from the ground up. They walk through the different types of micro-programs—like cohort meetups, speaker opportunities, and product feedback sessions—you can use to build out your program.
“It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again.” But over time, you risk burning them out. And once that happens, it’s hard to recover. Worse still, you may overlook fresh voices and new perspectives. The truth is, some of your best advocates are probably hiding in places you’re not even looking. Whether they’re quietly delivering results or haven’t yet had the chance to speak up, it’s time to dig a little deeper and find those untapped champions.
It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job. “But over time, you risk burning them out.” Clarify your customer advocate roles
It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job. “And once that happens, it’s hard to recover.” Clarify your customer advocate roles
It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job. “Worse still, you may overlook fresh voices and new perspectives.” Clarify your customer advocate roles
It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job. “The truth is, some of your best advocates are probably hiding in places you’re not even looking.” Clarify your customer advocate roles
It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job. “Whether they’re quietly delivering results or haven’t yet had the chance to speak up, it’s time to dig a little deeper and find those untapped champions.” Clarify your customer advocate roles
The answer: don’t wait. “Dana encourages asking when customers are happiest—right after they’ve solved that big pain point.” Heather echoed that sentiment, adding: “There’s no set timeline. Especially in an online community, you need advocates early on to drive engagement. I can post all day, but when advocates speak up, it’s so much more powerful. The sooner they get involved, the better.”
The answer: don’t wait. “Dana encourages asking when customers are happiest—right after they’ve solved that big pain point.” Heather echoed that sentiment, adding: “There’s no set timeline. Especially in an online community, you need advocates early on to drive engagement. I can post all day, but when advocates speak up, it’s so much more powerful. The sooner they get involved, the better.”