The Importance of Product Advocates

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For most companies, they constantly think of new ways to get new customers — they improve their conversion process for new web visitors to easily become customers. Loyal and existing customers are shoved on the side because companies are too focused on finding new customers. However, according to Harvard Business Review, bringing in new customers is 5 to 25 times more expensive than keeping current customers.

People Standing

So, in this blog post, I will introduce the importance of product advocates and why having advocates is actually good for business. Before turning loyal customers to product advocates, let us clearly define who these people are.

Who Are They?

  • Product advocates (or brand advocates) are your customers who strongly recommend your products to other people.
  • They do not promote because they are paid; they do it because they sincerely believe on the effectiveness on the product. You are assured of their 100% support.
  • They either talk about it online like sharing on social media or posting a positive review. It can also be by personally telling their family, friends, and colleagues about the product.
  • The promotion is all for free. They simply want to everyone to know about the product’s existence.

Why Customer Support Is Important?

If you think it’s the marketing team who does the promotion, then, you’re wrong. In this digital age, tables have turn because it’s not just the marketing team’s responsibility. Your customers are now part of the promotion. One negative review could go viral, and could greatly affect your online sales. Their satisfaction is important. You have to make sure that your customers’ shopping experience should be pleasant. Once they feel positive about, they won’t hesitate to shop again soon. Thus, they became product advocates of what you are selling. Advocates help entice more people to check out your products.

  • Credible reviews.

    • Nothing beats honesty. When online shoppers look for social proof, reviews from product advocates will stand out. Of course, when potential buyers research on a product, they will choose the item that has the most authentic reviews.
    • People can tell basing from how they formulate their reviews. They will include important features and give emphasis on the details. If you ask Google, brand advocates often share 19% more reviews than paid marketers.

  • More real, less fake.

    • When someone loves something, they will talk endlessly about it. They can’t simply contain themselves, making their reviews more authentic and believable. When customers go crazy about your products on Facebook, you acquired one effective endorser. You didn’t even spend a single dollar for it! Shoppers online would surely trust word-of-mouth ads than the paid ads you see on Facebook.

  • Increase brand awareness.

    • With the rise of digital influencers, there’s a number of people that are famous online. They have their set of followers, and these influencers are definitely the product advocates you need. With their thousands of followers, they can easily increase awareness about your different products.
    • The public can now recall your products. They trust a post on Instagram over a brand that’s totally unknown to them.
    • Plus, video reviews on Youtube really help too because customers will always listen to fellow customers. When they see a trending video review, then, the product must be wonderful.