Instructed by Rob Fuggetta.

1. The Marketing Power
of Brand Advocates
Rob Fuggetta
CEO/Founder, Zuberance

2. 2
Meet Your Best Marketers
Your Advocates
• Highly trusted
• Influential
• Amplified
• Willing to recommend
without pay or
incentives

3. Today You Will Learn
• What’s a Brand Advocate? (and
why they matter)
• 3 ways to identify Advocates
• 4 Ways to energize Advocates
• 10 ways to reward Advocates

4. • Zuberance Founder/CEO
• Author, “Brand Advocates:
Turning Enthusiastic
Customers into Powerful
Marketing Force” (Wiley, 2012)
• Marketing consultant Apple;
former CMO, Genuity
About Rob Fuggetta
@robfuggetta

5. 1. UNDERSTANDING BRAND
ADVOCATES

6. People who recommend your
company, brand, or products
without pay or incentives
6
What’s a Brand Advocate?

7. 7
50%
37%
8%
3%
1%
Good experience with product or service
Help others
Recommend when asked
Let others know I'm knowledgeable
Incentives and rewards
Source: Loyalty Wins for Zuberance, March 2012
Why Advocates Recommend

8. 8
CDW Advocate Justin Dorfman
• Generated $400K sales for CDW
• CDW has paid Justin: $0
• Recommends CDW because of
superb customer service
►81% surveyed CDW customers are Advocates

9. 9
Advocates: Unique, Valuable Segment
Recommenders
BusinessValue

10. 10
Not all Advocates are Alike
How Advocates Differ
• Influence
• Reach
• Activities (create, share)
• Frequency
• Brand; product; services

11. 11
Motivations
Influencers vs. Advocates
Influencers Advocates
Low/none Very high
Build audience &
personal brand
Help others
Incentives In some cases No
Loyalty

12. 12
Advocates are the Real Influencers
Justin Dorfman,
CDW Advocate
Alexia Tsotsis,
TechCrunch Co-Editor
AdvocateInfluencer
Item Alexia Justin
# Twitter Followers 55,876 669
Trust level 22% 92%
Influence on purchases
(among Justin’s network)
Low High

13. Fans vs. Advocates
13
41%
37%
35%
31%
28%
Let friends know products I
support
Get coupons and discount
offers
Stay current on new
products
Learn about
company/organization
Meet people with similar
interests as mine
Why People Join
Facebook Fan Pages
% of US Facebook users
Source: Morpace
58%
57%
54%
53%
50%
47%
36%
33%
I want to help people
I've had good experiences with a
product
Others could benefit from my
perspective
I would want to know before I buy
things
I've had bad experiences with a product
I want others to make smart purchase
decisions
It feels great to be heard
Feel connected to other people
I give my opinions online regarding
products & purchases because..
Why Advocates
Recommend Brands
Source: Comscore, Yahoo!

14. 14
Why Advocates Matter
1. Highly trusted
2. Drive sales
3. Massive reach
4. Surprisingly large segment

15. Advocates are Highly Trusted
92%
70%
53%
33%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Word of Mouth Online reviews Your website Online ads
Source: Nielsen

16. 16
Source: Multiple
WOM
50%
All other
Marketing
Tactics
50% Ads, paid
search, email
marketing,
billboards, etc.
80% of Intuit Business ($3.2M) from AdvocatesSource: Intuit
50% of Business from Advocates

17. 17
Power of Advocates in Restaurants
1-star increase on Yelp boosts sales by 5% to 9%
Source: “Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com,” M. Luca, Sept 16, 2011
5% to 9%

18. 18
Advocates Drive Sales
Buy This! Okay!
One Energized Advocate Brings in 3 New Customers
Source: Zuberance analysis

19. 19
Social Media Amplifies Advocates
1 Advocate’s Trusted
Recommendations Family,
Friends,
Colleagues,
Peers
Shopping &
Review Sites,
Blogs, Brand
Website, etc.
Social
& Business
Networks
Reach: 500+
Reach: 10,000+
Reach: 150+

20. 20
Advocates are Surprisingly Large Segment
How likely are you to recommend our
brand or products to your friends?
“Ultimate Question” for Customer Loyalty:
50%
Source: Zuberance customer data

21. 2. THREE WAYS TO IDENTIFY
ADVOCATES

22. 3 Ways to ID Brand Advocates
1. Ask
2. Listen
3. Observe

23. 23
1. Ask
How likely are you to recommend our
brand or products to your friends?
“Ultimate Question” for Customer Loyalty:

24. Ask Ultimate Question Everywhere
Social Web eMail Support Usage Mobile
How likely are you to recommend our brand or product?

25. Ask on Social Channels

26. Ask on Digital Channels

27. Ask on Mobiles

28. 2. Listen

29. 3. Observe

30. 3. FOUR WAYS TO ENERGIZE
ADVOCATES

31. 4 Ways to Energize Advocates
Reviews Stories
Answers Offers

32. Parallels Software Energizes Advocates
Ratings up 50%
30% Sales
Conversions
Thousands of Stories

33. Advocacy is Delicious for Rubio’s
Ratings Up on Yelp
10% Sales
Conversions
Thousands of Stories

34. 34
3 Ways to Leverage Advocates Now!
Super-charge Content
Boost Product Launches
Enhance Reference Programs

35. 4. 10 WAYS TO REWARD
ADVOCATES

36. 36
1. Sneak peeks
2. Special events
3. Exclusive communities
4. Special content
5. Seek their opinions
6. Access to VIPs
7. Contribute to causes
8. Honor your Advocates
9. Show them you care
10. Say thank you
Top 10 Ways to Reward Advocates

37. Key Takeaways
1. Advocates are genuine recommenders
2. Advocates are not same as fans, followers, loyal
customers, influencers
3. Advocates are highly trusted, influential, and amplified;
you have many more Advocates than you think
4. Identify Advocates by asking, listening, and observing
5. Energize Advocates to create and share content and
offers plus launch products and more
6. Don’t pay or provide incentives to Advocates

38. • Zuberance.com
• Blog.zuberance.com
• BrandAdvocateBook.com
Learn More

39. Move The Needle

40. www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org
Thank You