Advocate Marketing: Strategies for Building Buzz, Leveraging Customer Satisfaction, and Creating Relationships

Advocate Marketing: Strategies for Building Buzz, Leveraging Customer Satisfaction, and Creating Relationships

by Barbara Thomas
Released March 2016
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780134496832

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Book description

Today, engaging customer advocates is one of the most powerful marketing strategies available to you. Advocates provide third-party validation and positive relevance; build and protect brands, and create exceptionally effective content to influence buyer decisions. Sales teams enjoy the benefits of advocates, too, through case studies, referrals/introductions, and assistance in securing renewals.

Advocate Marketing: Strategies for Building Buzz, Leveraging Customer Satisfaction and Creating Relationships shows CMOs, business development leaders, and customer success professionals, and sales executives exactly how to leverage this powerful approach. Barbara Thomas helps you make the business case, outlines the strategic requirements, and presents powerful best practices and case studies. You'll learn from the experience of recognized leaders in advocacy marketing, from Intel and Citrix to Sirius Decisions, Influitive, Reputation Advocates, Boulder Logic, and RO/Innovations.

Most important, Thomas introduces a systematic, five-step strategy for leveraging this powerful opportunity. You'll discover how to:

  • Build a complete strategic plan for advocate marketing

  • Define best-practice program processes and policies

  • Establish internal resources, team, organizations, and budgets

  • Choose and integrate the right technology and tools

  • Establish and apply the right KPI metrics and analytics

    • What others say about you carries far more weight than anything you can say about yourself. Advocate Marketing will help you transform that simple reality into a powerful competitive advantage.

    Table of contents

    1. About This E-Book
    2. Title Page
    3. Copyright Page
    4. Dedication Page
    5. Contents
    6. Foreword
    7. Acknowledgments
    8. About the Author
    9. Preface
    10. Part I: Principles and Benefits of Advocate Marketing
      1. 1. What Is Advocate Marketing?
        1. What Makes a Successful Advocate Marketing Program?
        2. Who Are Advocates?
        3. What Is the Value of an Advocate?
        4. What Value Do Advocates Get from Being an Advocate?
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. Endnote
      2. 2. Why Is Advocate Marketing Important?
        1. Customer Relationships and the Customer Company Size
        2. Finding the Right Engagement Strategies
        3. What Benefits Does a Successful Advocate Marketing Program Provide?
        4. Advocate Marketing Program Drives Demand and Buzz and Sales
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. Endnotes
      3. 3. The Net Advocate Score: Building on the Net Promoter Score®
        1. Calculating the Net Advocate Score
          1. Part A: Determine the Likelihood of a Recommendation
          2. Part B: Confirm the Commitment
        2. Calculating an Organization’s NAS
          1. NAS Results
          2. NPS Results
        3. One or Two Questions Do Not Constitute an Advocate Marketing Strategy
        4. Highlights and Takeaways
        5. Endnote
    11. Part II: Case Studies and Best Practices: Words from the Experts
      1. 4. Build an Advocate Recognition Engagement (ARE) Program
        1. Step One: Identify Customers with Sales and Support Teams
        2. Step Two: Create an E-mail and Phone Strategy for Identified Customer Accounts
        3. Step Three: Interview and Write Case Study Entries by the User Conference Deadline
        4. Step Four: Create an Award Show to Highlight Winners and Spotlight Their Stories to Other Users for Cross-Selling Opportunities
        5. Step Five: Launch Post-Production Promotion
        6. Step Six: Create Revenue-Generating Alliances
        7. Highlights and Takeaways
        8. About Barbara Thomas
          1. Barbara Is an Advocate
        9. Endnotes
      2. 5. The Power of One Advocate
        1. An Emerging Approach to Marketing
        2. New Technology Expands Opportunities
        3. Highlights and Takeaways
        4. About Greg Coticchia
          1. Greg Is an Advocate
      3. 6. Breaking Past the “Press Release” Goal
        1. Advocates Reach and Teach
        2. Advocacy Transcends an Open Support Ticket
        3. Creating a Top-Down Internal Advocate Culture
        4. Measure What You Manage
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. About Brian Gladstein
          1. Brian Is an Advocate
        7. Endnote
      4. 7. Overcoming Skepticism with Open Communications
        1. Open Communication, Not Bigger Walls
        2. Customer-Centric Approach Builds Customer Loyalty
        3. Advocates Ensure Successful Product Launch
        4. Advocacy Options for Sensitive B2B Industries
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. About Evan Jacobs
          1. Evan Is an Advocate
      5. 8. Innovative Marketing Strategy Propels Intel to Successful Global Product Launch
        1. Smart Squad’s Success Goes Beyond Marketing Achievements
        2. Divisions Between Traditionalists and Advocate Marketing Proponents
        3. Smart Lessons Learned
        4. Highlights and Takeaways
        5. About Sandra Lopez
          1. Sandra Is an Advocate
        6. About Scott Jaworski
          1. Scott Is an Advocate
        7. About Sylvia Salazar
          1. Sylvia Is an Advocate
        8. Endnotes
      6. 9. Citrix Moves from Customer Content Factory Model to Content Showroom
        1. Citrix’s Community and Customer Marketing Infrastructure
        2. Implementing and Leveraging Customer Reference Forums
        3. Creating the Content Showroom
        4. Highlights and Takeaways
        5. About Lee Rubin
          1. Lee Is an Advocate
        6. Endnote
      7. 10. The Influential Power of Customer References
        1. Customer Advocate Versus Customer Reference
        2. Get Organized and Proactive
        3. The Golden Circle Philosophy
        4. Does Social Selling Make the Best Advocates?
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. About Neil Hartley
          1. Neil Is an Advocate
      8. 11. Award Engagement Program Helps Win Two-Million-Dollar Contract
        1. Awards Transform Clients’ Attitudes
        2. Customer Referral Meeting Provides Powerful Endorsements
        3. Program Boosts Customer Advocates
        4. Award Program Elevates Sales Performance
        5. Advocacy Strategy Helps Drives Sales Connections
        6. Companies Should Incentivize Promotions
        7. Highlights and Takeaways
        8. About Reid Hawkins
          1. Reid Is an Advocate
        9. Endnote
      9. 12. Enthusiastic Advocates Help Businesses Drive Measurable Marketing and Revenue Performance
        1. Advocates Pay Big Dividends for Savvy Firms
        2. Surprising Benefits from Advocacy Programs
        3. A Growing Interest in Developing Advocate Marketing Programs
        4. Highlights and Takeaways
        5. About Jim Williams
          1. Jim Is an Advocate
      10. 13. The Paradox of “Do as I Say, Not as I Do”
        1. “Because” Is Not an Answer
        2. It’s Just Business
        3. And the Paradox Continues...
        4. You Are Not Paranoid. They Are Watching You.
        5. Highlights and Takeaways
        6. About Larry Dietz
        7. About Douglas W. Gruehl
          1. Doug Is an Advocate
      11. 14. Survey Says: Engage Your Advocates as Partners at Every Opportunity
        1. Research Techniques Communicate a Client’s Brand and Values
        2. Royall Partners with Clients to Promote Achievements
        3. Partnerships Drive High Client Retention Rate
        4. Highlights and Takeaways
        5. About Dr. Pamela Kiecker Royall
          1. Pam Is an Advocate
        6. Endnote
      12. 15. Advocates Turning Rogue: The Importance of Reputation Management
        1. The Importance of User Feedback
        2. Embracing Online Reviews
        3. New Technology Boosts Reviews
        4. Encouraging Positive Online Reviews
        5. Businesses Generate Favorable Reviews
        6. Claiming Your Online Identity
        7. Selecting a Reputation Management Strategy
        8. Highlights and Takeaways
        9. About Steven Wyer
          1. Steven Is an Advocate
        10. Endnotes
      13. 16. Best Practices for Creating a Project Management Plan for an Advocate Recognition Engagement (ARE) Program
        1. Project Management Stages
          1. Internal Audit and Infrastructure Stage
          2. External Audit and Infrastructure Stage
          3. Advocate Outreach and Asset Development Stage
          4. Award Gala Stage
          5. Actionable Analytics Stage
          6. Renewal Stage
        2. Highlights and Takeaways
      14. 17. Best Practices in the B2B Customer Advocacy and Reference Industry
        1. What Can Marketers Learn from the Survey?
        2. Do You Really Know Your Customers’ Experience with Your Company?
        3. Highlights and Takeaways
        4. Endnote
      15. 18. Best Practices for Measurability
        1. Measuring Advocate Marketing Is Vital But Hard
        2. What You Should Measure
          1. Program Goals
          2. Strategic Metrics: ROI and Business Impact
          3. Operational Metrics: User Adoption and Stakeholder Awareness
          4. Tactical Metrics: Asset Growth
        3. How Frequently Should We Measure?
        4. Pitfalls and Advice
        5. Celebrate Your Program Along the Way
        6. Let Metrics Serve as the Guardrails for Future Decisions
        7. Conclusion
        8. Highlights and Takeaways
        9. About Nichole Auston
        10. About Jim Mooney
        11. About Dan Montoya
          1. Nichole, Jim, and Dan Are Advocates
        12. Endnote
      16. 19. Epilogue: What’s Next? Using What You Have Learned
    12. Interviewees’ Contact Information
    13. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Advocate Marketing: Strategies for Building Buzz, Leveraging Customer Satisfaction, and Creating Relationships
    • Author(s): Barbara Thomas
    • Release date: March 2016
    • Publisher(s): Pearson
    • ISBN: 9780134496832