By Matt Chittle, Senior VP of Products and Strategy, Amplifinity
There are three compelling categories of benefits to an advocacy marketing strategy. The first two are somewhat obvious; the third — not so much. At least not at first. Yet, it’s this third piece that’s so crucial to driving sales success (and profits) in today’s social world.
All advocacy programs ask customers, employees or partners — called obviously enough “advocates” — to take action. And they often do, especially when motivated in some important way. But it’s the tracking and measurement of these actions over time that produces the insight companies can use and act on for long-term, strategic benefits — all of which is uniquely powerful for the following reasons:
By Matt Chittle, Senior VP of Products and Strategy, Amplifinity
There are three compelling categories of benefits to an advocacy marketing strategy. The first two are somewhat obvious; the third — not so much. At least not at first. Yet, it’s this third piece that’s so crucial to driving sales success (and profits) in today’s social world.
1. Awareness and Reputation — Advocates can increase brand awareness, create buzz and recruit new customers through referrals.
2. Sales — Advocates and the programs that motivate and empower them are becoming a critical sales channel for many leading brands.
3. Metrics — The data generated by advocacy programs is a powerful measurement of business performance.
All advocacy programs ask customers, employees or partners — called obviously enough “advocates” — to take action. And they often do, especially when motivated in some important way. But it’s the tracking and measurement of these actions over time that produces the insight companies can use and act on for long-term, strategic benefits — all of which is uniquely powerful for the following reasons:
Measuring True Behavior Gives Reliable Information
The fact that there is a gap between what people say they will do and what they actually do is well known. While it is harder to know the size of that gap and how and why it changes, measuring actual behavior eliminates this uncertainty. If, for example, you ask your advocates for referrals, they must invest their time and reputation to fulfill this request. Measuring your advocate’s actual behavior in making this investment produces unique insight that cannot be gained through surveys or focus groups.
Measuring Advocacy Activity Predicts Future Business Performance
Every product or service has some degree of “lock-in” or switching cost that delays or dampens the impact of change. If your brand makes a change (positive or negative), the impact on revenue may be gradual, but the impact on advocacy activity will be instant. Advocates are motivated by several factors, but always critical is their belief in your brand. If your brand fails to live up to an expectation or a competitor launches a more compelling offering, your advocacy activity will quickly plummet. A decrease in advocacy activity is an early warning signal that could allow you to correct a problem before it impacts revenue.
Similarly, an uptick in advocacy activity could provide early confirmation of a positive change. Advocates are the easiest of your customers to reach. Motivated advocates pay the most attention to what you are doing and they are eager to share new feature or product news within their network to help you recruit new customers. Increased activity from advocates is a good signal that the hard-to-reach population will react well to your new offer.
The key is to run advocacy programs at scale and automatically track data throughout the process. While advocacy marketing programs generate new customers, they also generate valuable data that — if properly captured and analyzed — can provide critical business performance insight, drive sales and profits and create happier, more lasting customers.
Matt Chittle is Amplifinity’s Senior VP of Products and Strategy. He has designed and delivered solutions for some of the world’s great companies, including American Express, JPMorgan Chase, TransUnion, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Sprint Nextel and Boeing. He earned his MBA from UCLA, his BSE (cum laude) from the University of Michigan and BA (cum laude) from Albion College.
