BRAND ADVOCATES: Are they really that important?

As the media landscape continues to change, and consumers shift how they engage with and respond to brands, it is increasingly important brands create a strong brand advocacy movement.

What is a Brand Advocate and Why Does This Matter to Emerging Media?

A brand advocate in a consumer who talks favorably about a product or service, regularly, and takes great pride in promoting their experience and feelings about the brand. Brand advocates are not new as word-of-mouth has been such an important part of advertising since it’s inception. However, now that emerging media is in place, and consumers are able to be more vocal through social media, ratings and reviews, blogs, etc., engaging these brand advocates is now more important than ever.

Take a look at the infographic below that communicates the difference between influencers (those paid to promote a service) and brand advocates. It’s striking that 92 percent of consumers trust brand advocates. In addition, a few additional statistics prove the value of brand advocates:

• Brand advocates spend at least two times as much as average customers
• Brand advocates spend three times as much as average customers over their lifetime of their relationship with a company or brand
• Brand advocates reach 150 people in social media every time they advocate for a product or service

So what is the Brand Advocacy Value?

As important as it is for brands to consider and adopt their placement on emerging media sites – blogs, social media, etc. – it’s equally important they are considering how to engage these advocates within these sites. This communication is key to their ongoing success as consumer’s consider these voices so important.

EMERGING MEDIA: Shifting from one-sided to multi-sided communication

In the days of traditional, one-sided marketing, brands were able to push content out via TV commercials, print and radio ads, public relations, etc. In today’s world with emerging media in place, consumer behavior has shifted due to the world of knowledge at their fingertips. Consumers no longer listen to the one-sided brand messaging being pushed out to them. In fact, emerging media has created multi-sided levels of communications among consumers, allowing them to have multiple conversations prior to identifying and establishing brand relationships and loyalty.

With modern technology smart enough to track a user’s location, purchasing habits, search trends, etc., brands have great opportunities to reach their consumers quickly and within the appropriate context. Additionally, this new multi-communication model requires brands to respond quicker to consumers online as this is one of the places they go to review the brand. In fact, according to Brickfish (2016), 71% of consumers who receive quick and effective responses from brands on social media are more likely to recommend the brand to others.