Brand advocacy is a hot topic for many marketers, and with good reason. Brands with high advocate populations get 264% more earned media impressions than average brands, according to the Brand Advocate Study by Wildfire by Google. With stats like that, it’s clear that building advocates can have a huge impact on your brand. In order to build your own brand advocacy on Twitter, let’s look at how people are persuaded to advocate for brands.
Top Reasons For Brand Advocacy On Twitter
A recent GlobalWebIndex survey identified the top reasons for brand advocacy on Twitter. Users identified the top factors that motivate them to promote a brand online. Take a look at the results below.
High-Quality Products
The top motivating factor is a high-quality product. While marketers may not be able to impact the actual quality of a product (though we certainly have some input in many cases), we play a huge role in building the perception of quality around a product.
Product marketing is how potential buyers get their first impression of product quality and leaves a lasting impact on their perception of it. Focusing on raising the perception of product quality can increase the likelihood that customers will advocate for your brand on social.
Rewards
Rewards is the next on the list of reasons people advocate. This isn’t a surprise. Most people will gladly say something nice about you, in return for some sort of compensation.
While rewards “inspire” people to advocate, you may question how sincere the endorsement of those only motivated by personal reward, and others may question it too. For this reason, you’ll want to consider this trade-off, plus the opportunity cost of this method, before going the reward route to advocacy.
Great Customer Service
At 39%, it’s clear that providing great customer support not only leads to things like higher customer retention and greater product satisfaction, but it also compels them to support your brand.
Strive to always provide great customer service and you’ll see payoffs in many areas, including brand advocacy. If you look at companies that consistently see high marks in customer service, you’ll generally find that they’re also companies we see a large number of people willing to advocate for.
Great service is worth the investment.
Love For The Brand
People shouldn’t just love a product, they should love the brand too. Creating that love of brand is a place many marketers miss. They focus on product, but in a world where there are countless product similar product, it’s what the brand does that sets it apart.
Give people a reason to love your brand and they’ll champion it for you.
Relevant To Their Interests
It’s seems obvious, but people will only support brands that are relevant to their interests. Far too many marketers want to get their message out to anyone that will listen. Non-targeted marketing returns marginal results at best. A billboard for running shoes that’s seen by 100,000 people a day will have far less impact than sending 100,000 runners a message about running shoes.
Identify your ideal audience and target your message to them. You’ll see far greater success from your marketing investment, and the audience will be more likely to boost your brand too.
Having Insider Knowledge
You may not be able to give your customers real insider knowledge, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make them feel like they have it.
Provide loyal customers with news about upcoming products, inside looks at recently announced offerings, and other material that will make them feel like they have knowledge that others don’t.
Not only is this insider knowledge another opportunity to market to them, but it’s also a great way to build stronger brand advocates.
Relevant To Friends’ Interests
We have a natural drive and urge to do things that we feel makes us better fit in with our friends. If all of your friends are talking about a new product, chances are you’ll check it out too, and soon you’ll be talking about it just like they are.
Use this “me too” behavior to drive interest and brand advocacy for your company.
Getting their friends to talk about you is a great way to get people interested and advocating for you.
Feeling Of Taking Part/Being Involved
People love to feel like they aren’t just a product user, but part of the brands itself. They enjoy feeling like they have an impact on the success of the company (and they certainly can). They have a stronger connection when they fell a part of that brand.
To make people feel a greater part of your brand, your message shouldn’t be ‘what the product does’ but rather, ‘what does it do for them’. By marketing to your customers in this way, they see the real benefits to them. They also gain a greater sense of connection with the product and your brand.
Feeling a connection and being part of that brand will inspire feeling of pride in the product and create brand advocates.
A Personal/One-On-One Relationship With A Brand
This one is closely connected with making your customer feel like they’re taking part and being involved in your brand. But now, not only are they part of the brand, but they are personally invested. They aren’t just a number or part of a large group of users, they’re a unique person with a unique and personal connection.
Seek opportunities to build personal connections with your users. This can be through direct outreach via email or social media, highlighting their personal story, or numerous other means of creating a personal link.
Those that feel connected on a personal level will become life-long customers and some of your best brand advocates.
Access To Exclusive Content or Services
Like giving people inside knowledge, giving them access to exclusive content or services is simple and increases the potential for them to advocate your brand.
Creating exclusive content is easy and chances are you’re already doing it. Do you ever create emails for a list or content for current customers? Now tweak that a bit, consider what these loyal fans would find valuable and make them feel like they’re getting something that others aren’t privy to.
People are a bit narcissistic. They often like to feel that they have something others don’t. Give them that feeling by creating exclusive content or services for them. They’ll be more likely to support your brand.
Building Better Brand Advocates
Building better brand advocates has great potential to boost your brand, increase sales, and customer satisfaction. By providing the items many identified as motivators, you can grow the number of people looking to boost your brand. Give them what they need to be your biggest brand advocates.
