Making the invisible visible by turning enthusiastic customers into a powerful workforce using Social CRM. Difference between brand advocates, brand ambassadors and influencers. How to set your objectives, recruit, organic versus paid love, engaging loyal communities, using the feedback, measuring & amplifying user generated content, converting haters into lovers? 40 minutes presentation by Invisible Puppy at SocialMediaDay Ghent 24th April 2014 #SmdayBE

1. How to unleash your brand advocates?

2. “Making the invisible visible.”

3. How to unleash your brand advocates?
“Turning enthusiastic customers into
a powerful workforce.”

4. “Someone who enjoys your product or service so much
that they’re eager to convince others to purchase it.”
A Brand Advocate, defined

5. … not to be mistaken with a Brand Ambassador
Brand Advocate Ambassador
Convinces others to purchase YES
Defends and supports your brand YES
Puts his, or her, own reputation on the line YES
Provides unsolicited praise & suggestions of improvement NO
Convinced & loyal customer = long term loyalty Not certain
Forgives occasional dips in product experience/service NO
Does not want to be bought NO

6. Fact Sheet: Advocates vs Ambassadors
Brand Advocate Advocate Ambassador
Consumer trust 84% 18%
Typical Profile Highly satisfied customer
Opinion leader, blogger,
celebrity, employee
Defined by
How likely are they to
recommend your brand
Size of audience
Motivation Help friends Grow audience / Financial
Advocacy & loyalty Long Term Short Term
(source: Forrester Research & Nielsen)

7. Why are they so important?source:Nielsen

8. Can any brand have advocates?

9. › Yes. Any brand can have brand advocates.
Can any brand have advocates? Yes we can!
› Question “Who knows
a brand that has most
certainly no brand
advocates at all?”

10. How can I unleash my Brand Advocates?

11. 1. Define your objective

12. › Short-term buzz:
› Get a lot of people talking about your product through celebrity endorsements
› A brand ambassador is hired by the company and generally paid
› This will work to get the word out quickly, but will also die back as quickly once
your initial push is over.
› Long-term love:
“Create a sustainable network of advocates”.
› Customers who support your brand and will talk about it to their friends
› Brand advocates operate on a purely voluntary basis.
› Will take more effort to build, but will guarantee long-term commitment from
your fans.
Buzz or Love?
BrandAmbassadorsBrandAdvocate

13. 2. The recruiting process
“Finding advocates is a lot easier than trying
to create them. They should already exist. Just make
sure you find them”

14. › Develop a robust recruiting and screening process.
› Make sure they (and the community they reach) are the right
fit for your brand.
How?
› Start recruiting within your current communities, look at your
owned social network space.
› Examine your existing CRM database.
› Use tools and software to track them
down.
Define who you’ll invite to your advocate network

15. › Car lover begging for a nice car - 1 like=1 km
› Tons of press coverage

16. 3. Organic love is better than paid love.

17. › Paying for an advocate is counter productive. You can’t buy a
brand advocate.
› The best reason to advocate for a brand is simple:
you love a brand and want to tell your friends about it.
› Social media thrives on authenticity.
You can’t find anything more authentic
than your Brand advocates!
Organic vs. Paid

18. Supreme endorsement or embarrassement…?
› Coffee lover was buried in a Costa coffin.

19. Supreme endorsement or embarrassement…?
› Question for the audience:
› “Who knows examples of famous brand advocates?”

20. 4. How to engage your loyal communities?

21. › Empower your audience:
› Provide tools that allow the members of your network to engage with
you, as well as with each other
› Make it easy for your advocates to rate and review your products.
› Create a company online newsroom with images, logos, factsheets,
updated product and services news as well as industry reports
› Create stories and videos about their experiences with you
› Share the content they are creating.
› Listen, reach out and say ‘thank you’!
How to engage your loyal communities?

22. Case: Obama – “Hope.Act.Change” became …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk

23. Case: Obama – “Hope.Act.Change” became …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY
Results
• > 25 million views YouTube views
• > 16.000 poems, images & contributions & BBQ’s
• 1 elected president

24. Never forget to say ‘thank you’!

25. 1. Threat them always as individuals
2. Give them Sneak Peeks at new products and services
3. Provide exclusive offers that they can share with their friends
4. Ask for their Opinions
5. Let them know that they matter
6. Hold Special Events
7. Access to company leaders
8. Give them VIP Levels of Service
9. Honor your advocates
TOP 10 ways to Reward Brand Advocates

26. 5. Use the feedback

27. › Ensure that comments, complaints and suggestions become
actually feedback into the company’s products and services.
› Will make customers feel more involved and appreciated
› Will drive better product development
› Example:
MyStarbucksIdea
a hub for all Starbucks
customers to share all
their ideas, suggestions
and even their frustration.
How to use the feedback. Listen.

28. 6. Amplify

29. › Include endorsements and messages from your advocates
into your online & offline communication, websites, forums,
social media channels, …
› Spread the word of what your company is doing through your
customers’ eyes
Amplification : extend the impact of the program

30. Amplification Case: Toyota Swagger Wagon
CONCEPT:
› To drive sales of their Sienna minivan, Toyota had to make their minivan
cool in a category known for being uncool.
› A multimedia campaign featuring the Sienna family went live, and the
term “swagger wagon,” mentioned in one of the YouTube videos, was
being bandied about on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
› Suddenly, over 40 “Swagger Wagon” fan pages appeared with the writers
loving the term and all that it implied.
› Toyota listened and reacted by creating a hit
music video Swagger Wagon, which went viral
igniting even more social chatter and driving sales.

31. Results:
› >12 million views of Sienna YouTube channel
› 8.3 million views of music video, with only 3% coming from paid advertising
› 40% increase in Sienna sales in six months
› 18% increase in consideration for Sienna and 15% increase for Toyota brand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-N3F1FhW4
Amplification Case: Toyota Swagger Wagon

32. 7. Measure

33. › Who shares the content?
› Who creates original content?
› Who are the most influential members?
› What content is being shared the most?
› Why some products are shared more than others?
› What’s being said when the content is shared?
› Where is it being shared?
› Social networks,
› Forums,
› Blogs
› …
Measure the impact

34. How NOT to deal with your advocates?

35. How NOT to deal with your advocates?

36. How to lose an advocate in 1 day?

37. › First contact your advocates before suing them
› Work with your advocates and
think together on how your
relationship should go
› See if there is a way you can
join in your advocates initiatives.
› Be timely or don’t comment
› Improve internal communication
How do you deal with such a situation?
“You’ve made a mistake: redeem yourself.”

38. › Convert your negative advocates to positive…
Why?
› Because the loudest enemy can become an even louder ally
› Because Haters expose vulnerability
› Because Haters can be converted
› Because Haters bring attention
› Because Haters publicize frequently asked questions
› Because Haters validate social media efforts
The Devil’s Advocates

39. › Listen to your disatisfied customer (if possible real time)
› Take a genuine interest in what the customer says
› Respond ASAP
› Offer help, even if it wasn’t your fault
› Follow up
Social CRM is the tool to locate, convert & follow up!

40. So what should you take home?
1. Brand advocates are out there
2. Social CRM can help you to identify them
3. Start a 1 on 1 relationship
4. Find out what motivates them
5. Make it easy to share your content
6. Give them freedom
Channels advocates use to recommend
• 57% Email
• 35% Facebook
• 5% E-Commerce and Third Party Websites
• 1% LinkedIn
• 1% Blog
• 1% Twitter

41. “Making the invisible visible.”
Don’t hesitate to contact us @
Invisible Puppy bvba
Dok Noord 6A/101
9000 Gent
Belgium
+32 (0) 9 233 31 52
www.invisiblepuppy.com
info@invisiblepuppy.com

42. Thank you