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The acquisition flywheel.<\/strong> Customer advocacy drives an organic growth engine that converts customers and creates new advocates.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Authenticity and trust. <\/strong>People are generally skeptics, and this influences their purchasing decisions. Advocacy inherently delivers authenticity, which increases trust.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Loyalty is great but advocacy is ideal. <\/strong>Customer loyalty can be fleeting and passive. Get aggressive and focus on a strong customer advocacy program to realize lasting influence.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Every leader knows that customers are the lifeblood of a growing company. To increase market share and brand longevity, we invest heavily in customer satisfaction and\u00a0loyalty programs,<\/a> and we seek to understand buying behaviors and drive sales. That\u2019s what everyone does, so we do it too.\u00a0<\/p>\n But often, these programs are limited by their focus on past experience. This leaves us to wonder: Is there a strategy that drives continuous, growth-focused engagement? Are we truly maximizing long-term customer relationships? Is there a better way to differentiate ourselves in today’s competitive landscape?<\/p>\n Indeed, there is. The key strategy lies in customer advocacy<\/a>. Advocacy brings authentic community into context, and it enables your brand to become a living, breathing entity. A well executed customer advocacy program transforms satisfied and loyal customers into brand champions. This is your competitive advantage, particularly those of you battling in fragmented and commodity markets.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how customer advocacy drives market differentiation and, most importantly, how to turn customers into champions.<\/p>\n We strive for satisfied and loyal customers. But neither will sustain growth, and with many markets competitive and fragmented, they\u2019re both losing strategies. Rather, you need a powerful strategy centered around customer advocacy to differentiate your brand. Deeply rooted in personalization<\/a> and genuine connection, advocacy injects authenticity into the purchasing journey, and it significantly increases trust and reliability.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let’s delve into what customer advocacy is, what it isn’t and why the power of customer advocacy is vital to your success.<\/p>\n Growing companies continually seek to grow their customer base. You can primarily achieve this in two general ways. You can enter into new markets, or you can grow or increase your saturation in the markets you\u2019re currently in. Either way, you\u2019re seeking to increase the number of customers you sell to.\u00a0<\/p>\n Customer advocates love your brand. Advocacy extends well beyond purchasing behavior or customer satisfaction<\/a>, since satisfaction tends to be fleeting and is usually measured in one transaction or experience. Unlike customer loyalty<\/a>, which may produce repeat customer purchases, advocacy transforms that customer into an active, vocal participant in your brand’s growth. Think of an advocate as a positive, vocal, unpaid member of your sales and marketing enablement team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Particularly in markets that are fragmented or commodity based, experience and trust matter. Customers desire authenticity. They want a connection with your brand. Customer advocacy is a great way to promote these genuine, positive experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n People are consistently inundated with information. What trusted resources can they rely on when they research a brand or product? Unfiltered testimonials of brand advocates reduce the noise and get to the heart of what matters to many purchasers.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, you cannot be everywhere all the time. But with social media, customer advocacy is a powerful promoter of your brand 24\/7. The power of advocacy through social media brings a positive, non-stop stream of personalization, authenticity and brand advocacy to countless new customers. <\/p>\n This constant stream of positive sentiment builds a foundation of trust that traditional advertising simply cannot replicate. Furthermore, it allows your brand to organically reach audiences you may have never been able to connect with otherwise.<\/p>\n Related Article: Understanding Customer Sentiment Analysis to Drive Business Growth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today\u2019s market is crowded, and switching costs are low. Leading companies require differentiation and sustainable growth. Customer advocacy offers a unique path to achieving both. Here are three key leading edge benefits.<\/p>\n We all want to belong. We want to connect with others that share our passions and interests. Advocates create a powerful, tangible, living community centered around that one thing you care about the most, your brand. <\/p>\n This community is highly persuasive, relatable and enduring, and it\u2019s more lasting and effective than paid advertising. Since the community feels real and has an organic feel to it, it naturally leads to the next benefit.<\/p>\n Growth begets growth, and in a thriving advocate community, sales drives more sales. Advocacy drives organic referrals and brings interested prospects to your brand. Through the power of advocacy, these prospects have a high probability of converting to customers. <\/p>\n And through customer advocacy, those customers have a high probability of being loyal customers and then becoming customer advocates. The flywheel continually turns when your customer advocate community attracts and helps convert new customers to future brand advocates.<\/p>\n Playing offense is a great defense. In fragmented or commodity markets where entrants are plenty and market entry is low, a strong advocacy program (one that goes on the offense) is a great defensive strategy that helps to prevent market erosion. When switching costs are low and there are minimal differentiators across your competition, your strong advocacy program may be the lone and most important differentiator.<\/p>\nTable of Contents<\/h3>\n
Beyond Loyalty: The Advocacy Advantage<\/h2>\n
What Customer Advocacy Is and What It\u2019s Not<\/h3>\n
Why Customer Advocacy Should Matter to You<\/h3>\n
Customer Advocacy\u2019s Power: Social Media’s Always on<\/h3>\n
3 Key Leading Edge Benefits of Customer Advocacy<\/h2>\n
The Power of Community<\/h3>\n
The Acquisition Flywheel<\/h3>\n
Get Strategic: Customer Advocacy Prevents Market Erosion<\/h3>\n