Bob Peterson, a Senior Researcher at SiriusDecisions presented on the trends in customer advocates at a MassTLC event in October 2013.

1. Sales and Marketing Roundtable:
Mobilizing Your
Company’s Advocates
OCTOBER 10, 2013
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@MASSTLC #ADVOCATES
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2. Trends in Customer Advocacy

3. Who Participated in the Study?
• 100+ marketers in the U.S., Canada, EMEA, Asia-Pacific
• Data collected up to late February 2013
• Company size:
– Half under $500 million
– 10 percent $500 million to $1 billion
– 40 percent more than $1 billion
• Industry mix:
– 70 percent software
– 10 percent hardware
– 8 percent professional/information services
– 4 percent healthcare and financial services
– 9 percent other industries
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4. Executive Summary
• Key issues
– There’s nothing more valuable than a loyal customer who is willing to
advocate on a company’s behalf
– It remains challenging for b-to-b companies to find and engage advocates in
a range of traditional and social outlets
– Mindful planning and investment will help make customer advocacy and
reference work play a more vital role
• What you will walk away with
– An understanding of the role of customer advocacy in b-to-b
– A view into how companies are organizing this function and what’s different
about best-in-class programs
– Effective practices for finding and rewarding advocates
– A view into where companies are planning to invest next
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5. The Critical Role of Advocacy

6. It’s All About People Connecting
SiriusPerspective: Approximately 75 percent of CXOs’ research is
done via personal interactions and viral communication networks.
Search on the
Internet, 25%
Access a Social
Media Community,
12%
Call an Industry
Analyst, 20%
Call an Industry
Peer, 22%
As my Team or
AskMy Team or
Colleagues For
Colleagues for
Options, 22%
Options 22%
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7. Advocacy Support at Different Buying Stages
SiriusPerspective: Referrals (as content assets) tend to be more
influential at the beginning and end of the buying process.
Most often
selected
70%
White papers
60%
Peer referrals
50%
Webinars
40%
Email
30%
User Events
20%
Analyst reports
10%
Case Studies
0%
Early
Middle
Late
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8. Reference and Advocacy Resourcing

9. How Does Advocacy Investment Compare?
0.5% to 5%:
Marketing Investment
as % of Total Revenue
Approx. 40% to 50%
Field Marketing’s
Share of Program and
Personnel Spend
Less than 10%
Average Share of
Program Dollars for
Advocacy and
References
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10. What’s the Biggest Challenge This Year?
• The Bad News
– 20% say “Lengthy
approval process for
customer reference
content”
– 14% say “Buy-in and
cooperation from sales”
• The Good News
– Just 3% say “Gaining
executive support”
– Just 3% say “Difficulty
establishing the value
of our program”
– 13% say “Lack of
sufficient budget”
2013 Opportunity: Turning Executive Support
Into Adequate Budget and Sales Cooperation
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11. Where Do References Come From Today?
Three Areas That Should Be Tapped Into Immediately
1
2
3
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12. How Much Does Sales Help Find Advocates?
A critical need shouldn’t be
resourced with volunteer support
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13. Advocacy Content

14. What Forms Does Advocacy Content Take Now?
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15. Advocacy Investment Plans

16. Reference Technology Investment Going up in 2013
13% getting 30% more $
18% getting 10-30% more $
17% getting up to 10% more $
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