6 ways to turn customers and clients into brand advocates

Word of mouth marketing is the original form of marketing. Think back to the days before internet, TV, magazines or billboards – how did people find out which baker made the yummiest bread on the block? They asked their friends, of course. Here are my top tips to turn customers and clients into brand advocates.

 

 

 

How to turn customers and clients into brand advocates

Word of mouth is the original form of marketing. Think back to the days before the Internet, TV, magazines, billboards… How did people find out which baker made the best bread on the block? They asked their friends of course!

Brand advocacy is a similar concept, except, instead of being asked for recommendations, brand advocates will tell everyone around them about the brand – regardless of whether people care. Kind of like when I first started doing F45 two years ago… My friends got very sick of hearing me rave on about how great F45 was!

But, the point is, F45 have built a brand that people love so much, they just want to tell everyone they know about it. They'll annoy their friends to death, they'll post about it on Instagram or Facebook, they'll even write blog post about it.

How can you start turning your customers or clients into brand advocates? Here are my top tips.

Tip #1 for turning customers into brand advocates: Incentivize your past customers or clients to share a post on social media

People can be lazy, so you need to give them a really good incentive to pull out their phone, take a happy snap and share it to 500 of their closest friends. Maybe you'll give them a free gift or a ten dollar voucher or an entry into your monthly prize draw. Get creative here.

Once you've come up with an incentive, don't forget to tell them about it. You could set an automated follow-up email, so that once your product has been delivered, they get an e-mail reminding them to share a post.

Or, if they're a client, you could make it a key step in your client off-boarding process.

If you're shipping a physical product, don't forget to add a little card telling them who to tag. Or you can even send your clients a thank you card and some chocolates. Chances are, they'll take a photo of this and share it.

Tip #2 for turning customers into brand advocates: Go above and beyond and exceed expectations

You can't expect people to talk about you unless you give them something worth talking about. This means providing exceptional customer service and going the extra mile for your customers. Basically, you want to surprise and delight them.

I know you don't want to be giving away too much of your time or your product for free, but sometimes even the smallest little things can mean a lot to your customer or your client.

Tip #3 for turning customers into brand advocates: Set up a referral program

A referral program is basically a way for people to refer their friends and be rewarded for it. So, it gives them even more incentive to share on social media or to tell people about your business. An app like Referral Candy makes creating a referral program really simple and it saves you from having to manually manage it. It creates discount codes automatically and it will reward people for referring friends when they do.

Tip #4 for turning customers into brand advocates: Be active on social media and interact with your followers

Your most loyal customers or clients will often be the most active people on your social media profiles. They'll be the ones who comment or engage with your posts most often. Make sure you thank them when they share anything and make sure you respond to their comments in a timely manner. You could even follow them on social media – you'll probably find that they'll be stoked if you do that.

Make sure you're providing lots of value via social media to not just for your existing customers but for everyone in your audience.

Tip #5 for turning customers into brand advocates: Ask for feedback and implement it

Make your past customers and clients feel like they're part of the journey by asking for feedback. By actioning the things they suggest, they'll feel like you value their opinion.

Tip #6 for turning customers into brand advocates: Nail your branding

The best brands tug on their audience's heartstrings and build an emotional connection. Which is why many people are quick to recommend brands they've never worked with or have never purchased from.

One of my favorite brands is Air New Zealand. They know their audience so well and all their branding across all their channels builds an emotional connection with their followers.

I've previously written about nailing your brand look and feel and how to define your brand tone of voice. Pop over and read those blog posts to maximise your brand's emotive power.

Pin this?