It is every brand’s dream to have customers who vouch for them – customers who love your brand so much that they promote it for you. We call them “brand advocates” – they want you to succeed and they will work with you to make that happen. They not only create significantly higher levels of awareness of your brand but also encourage people to spend money with your brand.
It is important however to understand that advocates are not one homogenous group. According to this article, your brand advocates can be categorized into three different types – active, passive and conditional.
- Active advocates – they are passionate and loud. They are constantly verbal and always recommending the next best thing. Brands will lavish attention on them, which in turn they will discuss publicly, which will earn them more attention.
- Passive advocates – they love your brand, but they won’t shout from the rooftops about it. If asked, they’ll offer a measured and fair recommendation.
- Conditional advocates – they are often experts in their fields and those who others turn to for recommendations. And while they might recommend the brand, they do so conditionally. If a competitor came along and offered more or better, this advocate would be quick to jump ship and sing their praises.
With this realization that the brand advocates that talk about you publicly are only a portion of your total potential advocates, you want to find your silent advocates and encourage them to come out and start sharing about their wonderful experiences with your brand. How do you identify these passive advocates that have been quietly supporting your brand?
After a customer visits your store location, ask him or her to complete a customer satisfaction survey. From the survey results, you will then be able to identify those with intent to recommend and then prompt them to share their positive experiences via Facebook, Twitter or email.
Read more about GoRecommend program to learn how you can maximize on your best customers and brings awareness to your brand by spreading the good words to their own social networks.