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.
BE WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE 
Amy, interesting post! In the world today, there are massive amounts of products and technology simply clicks away, but many companies are still operating with the notion of talking “at” the consumers or asking them to “be their friend.” Yet, this old mindset is fading among consumers. With such a heavy cultural shift in the marketing era of purpose, consumers turn to brands that make them feel like they are a part of something greater. Connecting on a shared purpose with consumer creates loyal brand advocates, which, as you mentioned, an invaluable to companies.
So how do you connect on a shared purpose? First, brands need to know their purpose. Knowing their purpose defines the rest of the brand’s subsequent behavior and allows purpose to transcend the product and deliver on the human principles that connect with consumers. For example, Red Bull energizes the world and Amazon allocates for freedom of choice, exploration and discovery. As you can see, these purposes aren’t blatantly stated, rather communicated strategically through marketing and are present in the overall brand atmosphere. If authentic, brands can connect with consumers and gain brand advocates. What do you think? Is purpose the next era of marketing? How else can brands create brand advocates?
Abbie Walker, VP strategy at Momentum Worldwide, as an interesting article on brand purpose you should check out at: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/brands-need-know-their-purpose-and-what-they-aspire-be-155875
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Great post, Amy!
Brand advocates have a passion for the product or service they are sharing with their friends and families, so it’s no wonder that many trust advocates of a brand compared to advertisements. In fact, according to Nielson more than 83% of those surveyed say they completely or somewhat trust the recommendations of friends and family . In an interesting study on Millennials, the McCarthy Group found that 84% of Millennials do not trust traditional advertising . This only further pressures marketers to realize and harness the ability of emerging platforms. As you suggested, emerging media has enabled more people to voice their opinions, and engaging with brand advocates could be the best strategy for many marketers. Advocates offer and provide brands with recognition and feedback and do so willingly. As emerging media continues to evolve we will undoubtedly see more marketing strategies aiming to create brand advocates!
Great insight!
Marianne
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Engaging brand advocates is even more important in today’s digital environment with the ability to connect with millennials. Millennials share personal brand experiences with those in their social circle as well as generally on social media; however, they also look to others prior to making purchases. Brand advocates help generate buzz, value, and relevance in our ever social and connected world.
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Brands such as Five Guys whose entire strategy has been rooted in word of mouth marketing are missing the boat when it comes to redirecting face to face WOM to social media WOM engagement. In the case of Five Guys, the brand is lagging behind with their use of emerging media. Five Guys has plenty of brand advocates but because their utilization of emerging media is lagging, they aren’t able to engage advocates within those platforms. Five Guys wants their food to speak for itself, but the brand isn’t giving it a voice in the digital world.
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