Advocate Marketing

This page intentionally left blank

Advocate Marketing
Strategies for Building Buzz,
Leveraging Customer Satisfaction,
and Creating Relationships

Barbara Thomas, CDM, CeM

Publisher: Paul Boger
Editor-in-Chief: Amy Neidlinger
Executive Editor: Jeanne Levine
Editorial Assistant: Sandy Fugate
Cover Designer: Alan Clements
Managing Editor: Kristy Hart
Senior Project Editor: Betsy Gratner
Copy Editor: Karen Annett
Proofreader: Sarah Kearns
Indexer: WordWise Publishing Services
Senior Compositor: Gloria Schurick
Manufacturing Buyer: Dan Uhrig
© 2016 by Barbara Thomas
Published by Pearson Education, Inc.
Old Tappan, New Jersey 07675
For information about buying this title in bulk quantities, or for special sales
opportunities (which may include electronic versions; custom cover designs; and content
particular to your business, training goals, marketing focus, or branding interests), please
contact our corporate sales department at corpsales@pearsoned.com or (800) 382-3419.
For government sales inquiries, please contact governmentsales@pearsoned.com.
For questions about sales outside the U.S., please contact international@pearsoned.com.
Company and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any
prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information
regarding permissions, request forms, and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson
Education Global Rights & Permissions Department, please visit www.pearsoned.com/
permissions/.
First Printing March 2016
ISBN-10: 0-13-449605-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-449605-4
Pearson Education LTD.
Pearson Education Australia PTY, Limited
Pearson Education Singapore, Pte. Ltd.
Pearson Education Asia, Ltd.
Pearson Education Canada, Ltd.
Pearson Educación de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.
Pearson Education—Japan
Pearson Education Malaysia, Pte. Ltd.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015960644
To Dennis Fahey, my best friend, husband,
and partner.
With all my love and appreciation.
This page intentionally left blank
 Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv

Part I Principles and Benefits of Advocate Marketing . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 What Is Advocate Marketing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 Why Is Advocate Marketing Important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 3 The Net Advocate Score: Building on the Net

Promoter Score® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Part II Case Studies and Best Practices: Words from

the Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 4 Build an Advocate Recognition Engagement (ARE)

Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 5 The Power of One Advocate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 6 Breaking Past the “Press Release” Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chapter 7 Overcoming Skepticism with Open Communications . . . 71

Chapter 8 Innovative Marketing Strategy Propels Intel to

Successful Global Product Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 9 Citrix Moves from Customer Content Factory

Model to Content Showroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 10 The Influential Power of Customer References . . . . . . . 99

Chapter 11 Award Engagement Program Helps Win

Two-Million-Dollar Contract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 12 Enthusiastic Advocates Help Businesses Drive

Measurable Marketing and Revenue Performance . . . . 117

Chapter 13 The Paradox of “Do as I Say, Not as I Do” . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 14 Survey Says: Engage Your Advocates as Partners at

Every Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
viii ADVOCATE MARKETING

Chapter 15 Advocates Turning Rogue: The Importance of

Reputation Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Chapter 16 Best Practices for Creating a Project Management

Plan for an Advocate Recognition Engagement
(ARE) Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 17 Best Practices in the B2B Customer Advocacy and

Reference Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 18 Best Practices for Measurability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Chapter 19 Epilogue: What’s Next? Using What You

Have Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Interviewees’ Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
 Foreword
When I think of advocate marketing, I think of Peter Secor.
During my time as CEO of eBillingHub from 2006 to 2010, Peter
was one of our customers. To be perfectly honest, at the time I meta-
phorically referred to him as a “sneezer” (people who “sneeze” “infect”
lots of others they come into contact with—kind of like going viral
without the virus!). Between our company and him, we created a spe-
cial relationship that played out like this: If we (the company) deliv-
ered the goods, he (the customer) would “sneeze” on others in his
network. And man, did he have a network!
It turns out that we did deliver the goods. And true to his word,
Peter “infected” as many folks as he could.
With Peter providing references for other potential customers,
giving honest product feedback, having discussions with other peers,
speaking at events on our behalf, and much more, we grew from fewer
than 10 customers to over 130 in less than two years. Frankly, we had
struggled for several years beforehand. In short (and using less viru-
lent nomenclature), Peter was what my colleague and friend Barbara
Thomas would call an advocate. He became pivotal to our company’s
burgeoning success—and helped us sell the company at a good profit
a few years down the road.
Barbara Thomas (BT, to those of us who have been lucky enough
to work closely with her) states early on in her book that advocates are
a company’s best sales reps, they proactively influence other people’s
purchase decisions, and they put their reputations on the line for their
favorite brands. In retrospect, that’s exactly what Peter Secor did for
us.
As I immersed myself in BT’s book, I thought not only about my
own business experiences, having been a serial entrepreneur for the
last 30 years at over a dozen companies, but also what I share with
x ADVOCATE MARKETING

my students in my role as a business-to-business marketing profes-

sor at the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business. Much
has changed in the last 10+ years of my teaching there; as I plan for
each course, I challenge myself (yet again) to take a bird’s-eye view of
emerging trends. Of course we entrepreneurs/marketers have all seen
a continual evolution in product innovation and development with the
advent of lean and agile methods and processes. But perhaps the most
profound, sustainable changes have come in the realm of marketing
communications. In just a few short years, the marketplace really has
revolutionized the entire art and science of what defines marketing
communications in the B2B (business-to-business) world. And as dif-
ficult as it sometimes seems to keep up, I firmly believe there is a lot
of good news in this change.
But what’s definitely most important of all has not, in fact, changed
at all: great relationships with all of your stakeholders. As any one of
my students will tell you:
Whether they are created in person, on the phone, online, or
through the experience of your products/services themselves—
marketing is ultimately all about beginning, nurturing, and develop-
ing relationships.
Of course we want to build strong, deep, long-lasting relation-
ships with our customers, but how can we achieve that pinnacle in a
predictable, efficient, systematized fashion? And better yet, how can
we do that without our direct oversight, control, and intervention?
And without devoting hours and hours of our increasingly precious
time?
Enter the advocate.
Imagine what would happen to your business if you could turn
a significant number of customers, stakeholders, friends, associates,
colleagues, vendors, and (heck, why not?) even college professors
into advocates? As BT expertly illustrates, advocacy is essentially
the strongest form of any relationship, and as we engage in it, we
 FOREWORD xi

simultaneously create ultimate value for our customers and positively

distinguish ourselves from our competitors.
You tell me—what’s not to like about that?
My definition of marketing is “reducing barriers to transactions.”
My students discover over the semester that transactions are, in fact,
a direct measure of the quantity and quality of our relationships. We
build trust over time with our stakeholders, and seek to do so rap-
idly with our prospects in order to convert them into customers. But
how do we leverage existing relationships so that we can be more
efficient (read: more transactions in less time) in our marketing and
sales activities?
By now, you probably already know the answer: Through pro-
moting and rewarding advocacy, we make our customers and other
stakeholders stomp and evangelize (and occasionally even defend)
our business. As you will see in this book, advocacy not only reduces
the barriers to transactions, it also virtually eliminates them. And I’ll
repeat: It doesn’t chew up your time.
So, you may rightly ask, “Why don’t companies create advocates
all the time?” Well, some do. Mine certainly did, although perhaps
more by accident than purposefully. I think many leaders get caught
up in their company’s day-to-day maëlstrom and don’t think about it
at all. Some, unfortunately, won’t discover the value of advocacy until
it’s too late. Still others may make an otherwise valiant attempt but
simply won’t plan in enough detail to make advocacy a successful and
sustainable endeavor—less “hit” and more “miss.”
Back to the book: For a few dollars and a few hours’ time well
spent, BT’s carefully written manuscript should make an enormous
difference in the future of your business endeavors.
With this book as your guide, you can begin today, right now. You
can start transforming customers into advocates, reducing or elimi-
nating barriers to transactions, and distancing your offerings and your
company from competitors. Advocate Marketing will show you the
xii ADVOCATE MARKETING

way, whether you are a 1-person start-up, a sophisticated 100-person

operation, or a megacorporation. In short, you’ll find much in these
pages that is thoughtful, relevant, useful, practical, and inherently
actionable.
To sum up, in a self-referential or circular kind of way, I guess you
could say that I’m an advocate for advocate marketing. Why? Because
I’ve seen it work firsthand, and I’m beginning to believe that it may
very well be the most effective tool in the marketing communication
arsenal.
That’s why this book, Advocate Marketing: Strategies for Building
Buzz, Leveraging Customer Satisfaction, and Creating Relationships,
is so important and timely.
I know that if I had read this book in 2005 (were it available at the
time), I could have sold my company for a much higher price. I would
have had a lot more Peter Secors and, as a result, a whole lot more
Ben Franklins!
Wishing the best to you, your endeavors, and your advocates-to-be.

Greg Coticchia
Pittsburgh
 Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank Tony Cornish for giving me the idea to write this
book.
I greatly appreciate the assistance and reviews from Alvin Hayes
and his support to get this project accomplished.
I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Susan Wilson, Ph.D., who
edited and brainstormed with me in the pre-production versions of
this book.

About the Author

Barbara Thomas is president of Creative Tactics and is rec-
ognized for helping large and small organizations with high-impact,
award-winning programs. Known as BT to her associates, she offers
the benefit of more than 25 years of experience with corporate and
governmental institutions to engage their customers and turn them
into advocates. Clients appreciate her clear, direct communica-
tion and insight into their business. As a Certified Direct Marketing
and Certified eMarketing professional, BT is the recent winner of
the 2016 Killer Content award and has served on boards of national
marketing organizations, speaks at marketing events, volunteers her
time to mentoring, and provides pro bono marketing services to small
independent business owners.
She and her husband live in North Potomac with their two dogs,
one cat, and thousands of honeybees. BT is an award-winning bee-
keeper in the state of Maryland.
 Preface
It is in the spirit of learning and teaching that I brought forth this
work. As I drive to another meeting to serve as a mentor to protégés
from local universities, I think back to those who have influenced me
in my career over the years. I have learned so much from my influenc-
ers, which include family, friends, coworkers, peers, employers, and
world leaders. I’m grateful and appreciative to all their advice, guid-
ance, and inspiration.
Thanks to all the wonderful contributors who shared their knowl-
edge and experience within these pages in our interviews together.
You have taught me so much. And I have enjoyed meeting and learn-
ing from each one of you.
Now I would like to learn from you, my valued readers. Please
share what advocate marketing strategies worked for you and what
did not. I hope you will find value in these pages and will be open to
trying or applying what you’ve learned to whatever you do.

Barbara Thomas, CDM, CeM

bt@creativetactics.com
www.creativetactics.com
North Potomac, MD
 Part I

Principles and Benefits of

Advocate Marketing

How to drive referrals, references, reviews, word-of-mouth rec-

ommendations, case studies, testimonials, videos, and more from cus-
tomers is the essence of this book. The following chapters provide a
primer of what advocate marketing is, how to identify your real advo-
cates, why it is important, and what the value might be to you, your
company, and your advocates.
As you consider how to apply advocate marketing principles and
techniques to help you discover, mobilize, and recognize your best
customers (advocates), remember that it is not just about how you
can capitalize on those efforts: Help and reward your advocates for
being advocates.
This page intentionally left blank
 1
What Is Advocate Marketing?

You are an advocate. Everyone is an advocate for at least one prod-

uct or service in this universe. Advocate marketing, in simple terms,
is the act of asking for action. It is the strategy used by organizations
to encourage and engage clients and other stakeholders to publicly
express favorable comments about a product or service. There are
millions of brands and products available in the marketplace. Some
of them make our lives more productive or more enjoyable. Because
so many brands impact our lives in every conceivable way, consumers
develop a special bond that links them to a product or service they
love and rely on. The benefits from that product or service prompt
consumers to enthusiastically tell friends, peers, colleagues, and
neighbors about how life is better thanks to that favorite brand.
A person can feel very positively about a product, even to the
point of believing he cannot live without the product, but that doesn’t
make that person an advocate. That happens only when that positive
experience is shared with others. Therefore, advocate marketing can
be defined as activities that identify, access, engage, manage, and ana-
lyze results of those customer-sharing moments.
Advocate marketing is not just a buzzword. It has been known in a
variety of ways over the years, such as customer marketing, customer
success marketing, influencer marketing, advocacy marketing, cus-
tomer reference marketing, and ambassador marketing. These other
names are beginning to converge under the umbrella of a single indus-
try term. For some companies, the function of advocate marketing

3
4 ADVOCATE MARKETING

falls under customer success management, while other companies

have placed it under the corporate content marketing team.
No matter where advocate marketing may live within the orga-
nization, its recognition by top thought leaders as a critical tool that
helps the company meet and sustain its mission marks a growing mar-
keting discipline. Advocate marketing ranks in importance with other
customer value strategies such as customer relationship management
(CRM), which enables companies to calculate the lifetime value of
a customer and leverage the immediacy of the Internet to provide
access to consumers across global markets. Advocate marketing’s
beginnings can likely be traced back to the first word-of-mouth rec-
ommendation. More recently, the evolution of social media, includ-
ing AOL, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other communities, has
enabled the prevalence and impact of advocate marketing to explode.
The challenge for today’s marketers is to identify advocates from
their stakeholders and develop strategies to get them engaged in any
public endorsement channel possible. Savvy marketers are discover-
ing that they can leverage those relationships to drive their competi-
tive advantages.

What Makes a Successful Advocate

Marketing Program?
Organizations need to build and operationalize a portfolio of best
practices to create a successful advocate marketing program. Begin
by including value drivers, such as recognition, personal causes, and
rewards, for your advocates to motivate them and ensuring that your
advocate marketing program delivers on those value points. Based on
proven value drivers, develop your program with these components:
 CHAPTER 1 • WHAT IS ADVOCATE MARKETING? 5

• Strategic plan—Specify the program’s objectives and goals,

processes, and resources, including employees and budget,
technology, and metrics.
• Program process and policies—Define recruitment and
engagement strategies for the organization, recognition, and
rewards for your advocates.
• Internal team organization—Identify an executive sponsor
and two or more marketing team members who are account-
able for specific activities.
• Technology and tools—Procure and install software to help
grow and manage the program efficiently and communicate
with advocates.
• Key performance metrics—Identify, capture, and track
the data points that will help you measure what you manage
to determine the business impact of your program. Track the
number of advocates who are engaged; how they are engaged;
and how their engagement impacts company revenue, influ-
ences search engine optimization (SEO), or expands visibility
in the media.

An advocate marketing program should include information from

advocate-focused activities that result in customers sharing their feel-
ings publicly. Sharing can be done confidentially, such as in a one-on-
one reference call, or publicly on a stage at a televised event.1 There
are a number of ways to promote advocate sharing, including sur-
veys, polls, user groups, customer advisor boards, online communi-
ties, product testing programs, guest blogging, recognition programs,
references and deal acceleration programs, videos, case studies, tes-
timonials, content amplifiers on social media, press releases, media
interviews, analyst interviews, presentations, and other speaking
engagement opportunities. An effective advocate marketing program
6 ADVOCATE MARKETING

helps advocates find their best channel of engagement, determine

compatibility, enable engagement, and strengthen relationships over
time.

Who Are Advocates?

Advocates are an organization’s or company’s customers who
then become the company’s best sales representatives. Advocates
are effective because of their independent third-party validation of
your company and credibility. They support and defend their favorite
brands—even if those brands are not perfect—because they are rela-
tionship- and affinity-driven. Who do you trust more: your friend who
recommends a car brand or the car dealership salesperson who needs
to make a sales quota?
Advocates proactively influence other people’s purchase deci-
sions. How many times have you voluntarily defended Apple versus
Microsoft or vanilla versus chocolate? Advocates can be like mother
bears—they protect, support, and defend their favorite brands.
Advocates are willing to put their reputations on the line for
their favorite brands while forgiving the brand for an occasional sub-
par performance. How many times have you gone to Starbucks for
your favorite drink even though on your last visit, that drink just did
not taste exactly right? Did you drop Starbucks altogether and never
go back? If you are a loyal brand customer and forgive that slip, the
answer is most likely “no.”
Most important, true advocates cannot be bought. They can be
encouraged and rewarded in many ways, but a true advocate cannot
be bought except through excellent products and services that ensure
their loyalty. Certainly some companies deploy gamification programs
through which customers earn points and, thus, products and value
in their opinions. LinkedIn provides a good example: Members earn
 CHAPTER 1 • WHAT IS ADVOCATE MARKETING? 7

influence and prestige through their written contributions, thought

leadership, and many connections.
Advocates can be divided into three categories that describe their
motivation for brand engagement: earned advocates, owned advo-
cates, and paid advocates. Each category offers unique benefits that
can support your advocate marketing goals:

• Earned advocates—The most valuable—and scalable—

source of advocacy is from actual customers, who are regarded
as earned advocates. They are loyal, highly trusted customers
you have earned organically by your products and/or services
and who will defend and recommend you publicly. The process
of earning the devotion and support of advocates is the result of
the hard work of providing great products and services that are
well supported along with a brand narrative that tells a compel-
ling story. This combination is the foundation for the very best
source of marketing—the authentic and voluntary expression of
countless pleased and engaged customers.
• Owned advocates—These are company employees who are
voluntarily involved in advocate programs. Business partners
and suppliers can also be owned advocates because they have a
stake—and a powerful insider’s perspective—in the success of
your company. Owned advocacy is particularly important in the
middle of the sales funnel, as customers try to ascertain specific
product and service details as they get ready to fully engage.
• Paid advocates—Paid advocates are influencers, not advo-
cates who are paid for their efforts. They include celebrity
endorsers, sponsored athletes, and other influencers who are
paid to represent the company’s point of view. Influencers are
particularly effective at aspirational amplification and starting
the customer engagement process, even if their motives may be
at odds with the company’s. What is interesting to see is the rise
of astroturfing in today’s marketing. According to Wikipedia,
8 ADVOCATE MARKETING

astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a mes-

sage or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious, or
public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from
and is supported by grassroots participant(s). On the Internet,
astroturfers use software to mask their identity. Sometimes one
individual operates over many personas to give the impression
of widespread support for their client’s agenda. Politicians and
celebrities have been known to hire fake supporters, fake fans,
or fake paparazzi for events. But this should not be surprising
to us. The Bible refers to professional mourners. Even today
in some African countries, China, and Middle Eastern coun-
tries, it is tradition to hire professional mourners. You can rent
mourners for your loved one’s funeral.

What Is the Value of an Advocate?

Advocates can provide a wide range of benefits and value. Their
value can be measured in several different ways, but revenue is most
valued by companies. Citrix’s senior manager of Global Reference
Programs Lee Rubin reported at a recent event, “In 2014, our ref-
erence engagement value programs influenced $500,000,000 in the
sales pipeline.”
Advocates deliver powerful public endorsements and can strongly
influence peers and acquaintances. Through their evidence, other
consumers gain independent, firsthand information about how a
product or service delivers value by helping clients address critical
business challenges. Endorsements can be found in a wide range of
forums and in many forms, including product reviews, references
and referrals, content syndicators, user group content, market intel-
ligence, speaking engagement presentations, marketing, or customer
support content and surveys.
 CHAPTER 1 • WHAT IS ADVOCATE MARKETING? 9

In the April 2014 issue of Infographic Journal, writer Irma Wal-

lace described the Statistical Argument for Customer Advocacy.
Those metrics underscore the value of advocate marketing as follows:

• 92 percent of customers trust recommendations from people

they know.
• Advocates tell twice as many people about their purchases.
• Word-of-mouth recommendations drive 20 to 50 percent of all
purchasing decisions.
• Advocates are five times more valuable than average custom-
ers because they spend more on products and increase product
purchases.
• Customers referred by other customers have a 37 percent
higher retention rate.
• Advocates are two to three times more effective than nonadvo-
cates when it comes to persuading others to make purchases.
• A 12 percent increase in advocacy generates a 200 percent
increase in revenue growth rate.

What Value Do Advocates Get from Being

an Advocate?
Advocates benefit from their advocacy. Even minor acts of kind-
ness provide a feeling of satisfaction. It feeds the soul or makes them
feel better about themselves. They know inside that they are helping
someone in a way that would improve the life of that stranger, friend,
or colleague.
According to Bob Nelson in his book 1001 Ways to Reward
Employees, people are motivated by three drivers to engage: money,
recognition, and reward. Because we know advocates cannot be paid,
we can conclude that the motivators for an advocate to share their
10 ADVOCATE MARKETING

feelings about a product or service will be recognition, reward, or

both.
So, what is the benefit to the advocates? Increased visibility within
your organization. They gain power and some control. Their impor-
tance to you provides them access to your executives. They are seen
as thought leaders in the industry because your company is providing
their third-party validation. Your organization, in return, becomes an
advocate for them. If you are scoring your advocates or identifying
advocates, your advocate marketing program allows you to identify
which new members would be great new additions to your customer
advisory board or other special groups. You can identify those people
based on their participation in client-focused activities by their com-
ments about you. As you track clients’ activities, you can set up an
assessment process that helps you distinguish advocates from other
clients. We’ll discuss this further in Chapter 3, “The Net Advocate
Score: Building on the Net Promoter Score®.” Many advocates vol-
unteer to host regional user group meetings, which minimizes your
costs. They benefit because they become the big fish in the little pond
for the event, gaining some level of control over other participants,
who are then psychologically at a disadvantage. Home field advantage
can sometimes help their end game as an advocate.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Advocate marketing is a proven strategy that leverages cus-

tomer delight to influence customer buying decisions.
• Engaged advocates are the most effective supporters of a brand
or product.
 CHAPTER 1 • WHAT IS ADVOCATE MARKETING? 11

• Advocates are distinct from other customers because they

publicly share their feelings about their favorite brands.
• Advocate marketing programs include five components:
• Strategic plan
• Program processes and policies
• Internal team organization
• Technology and tools
• Key performance metrics and analytics

Endnote
1. Yes, the act of sharing a confidential reference is considered sharing publicly in
the realm of customer reference marketing and advocate marketing.
This page intentionally left blank
 2
Why Is Advocate Marketing Important?

What value do you place on a customer who provides a favor-

able reference to a prospect? Would you be interested in a case study
that highlights the role of your product or service in a customer’s
operational excellence achievements? What would it mean to you if
a customer shared the benefits of using your product or service on
an earnings call? These real-world examples illustrate why advocate
marketing should be important to your organization. However, they
are just the tip of the iceberg as marketers across the globe have dis-
covered the power of advocate marketing strategies and the benefits
they provide to the businesses that adopt them. Whenever possible,
bring advocates into your marketing strategy to leverage their power
and strengths.
Advocate marketing programs should be a top priority for mar-
keters and their organizations because they deliver huge benefits for
relatively modest resource investments. Turning your customers into
fans is one of the most underutilized strategies today, despite the fact
that new customers referred by advocates are far cheaper, stay with
you longer, and spend more with you in the long run. Most marketing
teams have little budget to spend on existing customers. In the mod-
ern era of revenue marketing, budget expenditures are mainly looked
at from a new customer perspective and not for the existing customer

13
14 ADVOCATE MARKETING

base (unless the customer is identified as one of the “dissatisfiers”).

Your advocates represent, by far, the greatest opportunity to drive
demand and buzz around your products and services.
The biggest challenge is to identify stakeholders who want to
engage and share their positive stories about your brand—publicly.
Unless they are willing to share publicly, all you have is an anonymous
referral rather than an independently validated fanatic who creates
content for your organization, amplifies it within his or her communi-
ties and networks, and is happy to let you leverage it every way you
can.
As reported in 2008, the majority of marketers surveyed invest
significant resources to eliminate dissatisfiers, the dissatisfied cus-
tomer who gets attention and support (Figure 2.1). Corporate Execu-
tive Board (CEB) experts challenged this practice. Its report shows
how progressive marketers have generated greater impact from advo-
cates when they have been empowered—and supported—to have
conversations with peers and colleagues about specific products and
services. The company shares the challenges and solutions involving
advocates for Kodak, Purina, Intuit, Baker Technologies, and Iron
Mountain.
 CHAPTER 2 • WHY IS ADVOCATE MARKETING IMPORTANT? 15

How Are B2B Companies Investing in Customer Experience?

:KDWLVWKLVJUDSKLF"7KLVJUDSKLFEUHDNVGRZQ%%FRPSDQLHV·VWUDWHJLHV
for improving the customer experience.

What does it mean for me? While the customer experience is an attractive
lever for driving differentiation, the vast majority of marketers focus their
efforts—and their investments—on eliminating “dissatisfiers,” which rarely
sets them apart from competitors.

Composition of Customer-Experience Investments

Creating Differentiated
Experience Enhancements

29%

Eliminating 71%
Dissatisfiers

n = 71

Figure 2.1 Business-to-business (B2B) company investments in capturing

the customer experience1 (© 2008 Corporate Executive Board. Used with
permission.)
16 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Customer Relationships and the Customer

Company Size
When it comes to customer relationships, company size matters.
Observations from many of the contributors to this book noted that:

• In smaller companies, customers are more likely to have a per-

sonal, highly connected relationship with their sales represen-
tative and that sales representatives remain in that role over
many years with little turnover.
• In larger companies, customers are more likely to have no per-
sonal, highly connected relationship with anyone. If the cus-
tomer does have a personal relationship with someone at the
company, it is most likely someone within the customer success
or support team.

Why is this? Because sales teams of larger companies are usu-

ally driven to make their numbers and are discouraged from (or not
allowed to) cultivating close relationships with customers as they may
have in a smaller company. Sales territories often shift and change
so representatives remain focused on their quotas to maintain their
jobs. Furthermore, budgets are often extremely tight, so face-to-face
meetings are rare. Customers criticize that sales representatives only
call when they are trying to sell them something. And too many times,
they only hear from customer support when responding to an issue
they have with the product or service. Through an advocate marketing
program, customers who are nurtured feel they are sincerely valued
and appreciated, and are willing to develop a personal relationship
with the team members of the advocate marketing program. And that
advocate marketing team can include staff from various departments
within the organization—not just marketing.
 CHAPTER 2 • WHY IS ADVOCATE MARKETING IMPORTANT? 17

Finding the Right Engagement Strategies

A number of engagement strategies have worked for various com-
panies. The strategies have helped make sales teams become success-
ful and, thus, benefit organizations in many ways. This is certainly not
an exhaustive list, but it should spur creative thinking of the possible
strategies that might fit your organization’s needs. In the case studies
and best practices captured in this book, you’ll learn how companies
have leveraged some of these strategies to become successful.
Here is a brief list of strategies that have been used by various
organizations:

• Customer references
• Customer reference forums
• Refer a friend
• Online communities
• Social media participation
• Award recognition programs
• Gamification
• Contests
• Co-partnering opportunities
• Word-of-mouth campaigns
• Blogging
• Customer advisory board
• Video participant
• Analyst or media interviews
• Case study participant
• Event or session speaker
• Press release announcement
• Employee/stakeholder participant
18 ADVOCATE MARKETING

What Benefits Does a Successful Advocate

Marketing Program Provide?
Creating a new advocate marketing program on a corporate-wide
level requires significant planning, cooperation, and buy-in from oth-
ers, but the benefits are worth the effort:

• Advocates provide positive relevance and, thus, firsthand, inde-

pendent content to any marketing campaign. For example,
search engines improve your Web site ranking within their
search engine optimization (SEO) algorithm from your advo-
cates’ and influencers’ content and based on the feedback they
leave on social Web sites through blogs, tweets, stories, videos,
and so forth. In addition, they are helping you develop new
Google Ad Word campaigns, for example. Leverage your cus-
tomer relationship management data to track and measure your
advocates’ enthusiasm. Tools such as Marketo, Eloqua, and
others can help you score the engagement and participation of
your customers.
• Advocates build your brand. They not only influence their col-
leagues and peers, but they also influence the definition of your
brand. They articulate better than anyone why they love you
and why they can forgive you any shortcomings. Clearly, it is
in your company’s best interests to engage with them to ensure
they maintain a positive view of your brand that they helped to
create.
• Advocates help you secure annual renewals. Advocate market-
ing strategies help you identify and assess your promoters. In
turn, they help you gain valuable intelligence and insight that
helps position your business for the renewal process with that
particular customer. By wearing their hearts on their sleeves,
they share information that you can leverage.
 CHAPTER 2 • WHY IS ADVOCATE MARKETING IMPORTANT? 19

• Advocates create the best content. When advocates share their

story in a public forum, they are likely to share that story in
other ways, such as videos, speaking events, whitepapers, ana-
lyst interviews, and more—as long as they are asked. Further,
an advocate’s comment in a blog could be leveraged to create
a case study, a short video, a webinar, or an analyst interview.
Multiple advocate testimonials appearing on a Web site can
demonstrate to prospects and customers that you are engaged
with your customers.
• Advocates’ comments grow and spread buzz. One comment
from an advocate in social media can lead to her participation
on a panel or as a speaker or session copresenter at a global
event. As noted previously, social media presence and testi-
monials influence your company’s ranking position in search
engines and influence through Klout scores.
• Advocate marketing deepens connections with your clients
and stakeholders; this helps prevent the loss of an account. By
engaging with your advocates, you can meet and engage with
additional people within your customers’ organizations, thus
widening your connections within the organization and helping
solidify a stronger relationship so you can promote the value
of your offerings more widely. It is essential to connect with
as many people as possible within the account because your
champion may retire, move to a different department, or leave
the company altogether.
• Advocates engage and get involved. Who are the members of
your customer advisory boards? Who attends your user group
meetings religiously? Who is not afraid to tell you what they
don’t like about you, but yet they still love you? Who do you
turn to when speaking opportunities at events and conferences
pop up? These advocates give your company the fuel to increase
20 ADVOCATE MARKETING

customer engagement and involvement. This adds value, builds

buzz, and creates content. It drives leads and generates sales by
identifying, assessing, scoring, and engaging those advocates.
Engagement and involvement with your customers causes them
to speak with one voice on your behalf. Their positive word-of-
mouth efforts and online activities increase your relevance to
prospects. You may even gain support for a new purchase or
renewal.
• Advocate marketing improves customer satisfaction and delight
scoring processes. This gives you the data points to consolidate
and analyze all of your independent surveys, polls, and ques-
tionnaires about satisfaction and delight to truly understand
the substance and value of your advocates. This translates to
smarter marketing and improves your opportunities for greater
profits, targeted service delivery, and new products. This also
allows you to understand the conflicts or the synergies that are
created. You may already have the tools in hand to do this or
you may need to supplement with a few tools. A CRM tool and
a lead nurturing tool can help support your advocate marketing
goals—minus the strategies and expertise.
• Advocate marketing can improve event and workshop atten-
dance. Your advocates create buzz, which draws colleagues and
peers to your event. They will bring their team members or
suggest the event to others. Salesforce.com used this strategy in
the early 2000s when the company invited regional customers
to speak at its events. The invitees helped draw in local atten-
dance, as well as bring in colleagues and peers from various
organizations as attendees. Regional speakers help you expand
your reach and improve attendance at events, webinars, and
workshops. Their success is your success.
 CHAPTER 2 • WHY IS ADVOCATE MARKETING IMPORTANT? 21

This list illustrates just why advocate marketing should be a com-

ponent in your overall marketing plan. It should be a key playbook
strategy to be built in through all your marketing channels starting
with your database tools. You may need to create a business case to
persuade stakeholders to get on board with the change to a customer-
centric advocate marketing approach if all they have known is a
product-centric marketing approach. It is a change in mind-set but
one that is very worthy of considering.
Extend and deepen the relationship by listening carefully to what
clients are sharing publicly. Pay particular attention to what they value
most and how your products and services are making them successful,
and incorporate this intelligence into your sales process and train-
ing. Look for trends for what advocates are sharing and bolster those
areas. For example, if they are sharing how much they value your edu-
cational webinars or analytical insights shared in a blog, your company
should increase those activities. Likewise, identify areas that custom-
ers value least. Consider those areas opportunities for improvement
or investment. Product marketing and managers can leverage infor-
mation obtained from advocates just as much if not more than sales
and marketing teams. Smart organizations listen to what their advo-
cates are saying—and pay attention to what they are not saying, too.

Advocate Marketing Program Drives

Demand and Buzz and Sales
Momentum is growing to incorporate advocate marketing into
corporate America. A clear sign of its growing popularity is the growth
of social media in the past two years and the number of articles, vid-
eos, blogs, tweets, and e-mails created every 60 seconds online (see
Figure 2.2).
22 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Figure 2.2 Explosive growth of Internet transactions2 (Image courtesy of the

Centre for Learning and Teaching, Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong
[2014])

People are sharing all aspects of their life and influencing oth-
ers. The growing market interests have enabled the rise of advocate
marketing firms, such as Influitive, GYK Antler, Intel, Reputation
Advocate, Inc., and others, that have established themselves as indus-
try leaders by implementing successful advocate marketing tools and
programs to both B2B and B2C (business-to-consumer) companies.
Their stories are shared within this book.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Advocates give you credibility and provide your third-party

validation.
 CHAPTER 2 • WHY IS ADVOCATE MARKETING IMPORTANT? 23

• Advocates provide positive relevance.

• Advocates build your brand.
• Advocates help you secure annual renewals.
• Advocates create the best content.
• Advocate marketing deepens connections with your clients and
stakeholders.
• Advocates engage and get involved.
• Advocate marketing improves customer satisfaction and delight
scoring processes.
• Advocate marketing can improve event and workshop
attendance.

Endnotes
1. CEB Research Customer Loyalty graph—https://www.executiveboard.com/
member/marketing-midsized/research/general/14/how-are-b2b-companies-
investing-in-customer-experience.html?referrerTitle=Loyalty%20%26%20
Advocacy%20-%20CEB%20Marketing%20Leadership%20Council%20for%20
Midsized%20Companies

2. Center for Learning and Teaching—https://clt.vtc.edu.hk/what-happens-online-

in-60-seconds/
This page intentionally left blank
 3
The Net Advocate Score:
Building on the Net Promoter Score®

All organizations seek to grow. Outside of mergers and acquisi-

tions, growth usually occurs when stakeholders enjoy doing business
with a company. When engaging with a company is easy and satis-
fying, they invest in the organization, buy more of its products and
services, and share their positive experiences with friends and col-
leagues. The happier the stakeholder, the more he or she is likely to
be a part of that company’s community. And when that happiest level
of satisfaction is reached, an advocate is created.
Tracking and measuring how a stakeholder feels about a brand
or product and establishing accountability for the stakeholder experi-
ence has become easier by using sophisticated technology and cor-
relating specific questions with stakeholder behavior.
Several years ago, Fred Reichheld and a team from the manage-
ment consultancy group Bain & Company conducted research testing
a variety of questions. Through their research, they determined that
“one question” worked best for determining repurchases, referrals,
and a strong sense of advocacy. That was the birth of the Net Pro-
moter Score, or NPS®, question. The simple question is:
What is the likelihood that you would recommend Company X to
a friend or colleague?
In my experience, I have found that the “one question” is not
always sufficient for identifying advocates. Recall the true definition
of an advocate: a person who publicly supports or recommends a par-
ticular cause or policy.
25
26 ADVOCATE MARKETING

The “one question” methodology does not capture whether the

stakeholder is willing to be public about her satisfaction or happi-
ness. There is no confirmation of commitment to share with friends
or colleagues. That is crucial in scoring a stakeholder’s value to the
company. In order to capture how firm that commitment is, Creative
Tactics created the Net Advocate Score (NAS) to take into account a
stakeholder’s commitment for public attribution of positive opinions.
Back in 2006 and 2007 while interviewing and surveying several
companies about major efficiency gains and cost savings they had
achieved after implementing a client’s information management solu-
tion, I had an “aha moment” that led to the creation of the Net Advo-
cate Score calculation.
In one interview, a stakeholder provided glowing endorsements
about his experience, enthusiastically indicated he planned to rec-
ommend the product to his industry peers, and assured me that he
would be renewing the annual service contract. However, the stake-
holder quickly balked when I asked if the comments could be shared
publicly.
“Wait a second,” I thought. “This person has a NPS of 9, yet he’s
tying my hands by not promoting my client in public. That’s not the
definition of a promoter.”
From that point forward, I have made clear distinctions between
companies that endorse their suppliers in public and those that only
endorse in private. I firmly believe that comments made in private
should not be treated equally as those that allow their comments to be
published for public viewing, even if the restriction is driven by a legal
or compliance mandate. A public endorsement has greater value than
one that is delivered in private, and, as such, the NAS score should be
adjusted to reflect the difference.
In today’s competitive business environment, corporate decision
makers research suppliers and products months before a formal sales
 CHAPTER 3 • THE NET ADVOCATE SCORE 27

cycle begins. Getting those public endorsements from advocates sig-

nificantly influences future buying decisions. Therefore, open expres-
sions of love and satisfaction for a company’s brand and services are
more valuable to companies than the accolades delivered privately—
in most cases. Advocates who choose not to publicly support their
favorite brands more closely resemble the definition of a passive or
detractor and should be scored as such.
The NAS serves as a more accurate assessment of how well a com-
pany meets public esteem and is the cornerstone to a company’s stra-
tegic marketing plans. The NAS delivers great value by confirming
the public engagement of stakeholders and promoting a company’s
brand and products in a positive, successful, and open forum. The
NAS score is not a stakeholder satisfaction score. Rather, it enables
organizations to identify their best advocates through a two-question
process and allows them to calculate their company NAS with greater
accuracy.
A closer look at the NAS process and formulas will illustrate how
it provides a strong, quantifiable measure of commitment and, thus,
advocacy.

Calculating the Net Advocate Score

The NAS scores divide stakeholders into three distinct catego-
ries: advocates, passives, and detractors. Under the NAS methodol-
ogy, stakeholder responses are scored on any Likert scale (similar to
NPS). Using a scale of 0–10, advocates are scored at 9 to 10 points,
passives receive 7 or 8 points, and detractors are scored at 6 points or
below. But unlike NPS, scoring is calculated using a two-part process,
not just one question. Let’s look at how Part A and Part B generate a
more accurate assessment of advocacy.
28 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Part A: Determine the Likelihood of a Recommendation

Part A introduces the “one question” posed by the NPS. Compa-

nies ask their stakeholders,
“What is the likelihood you would recommend [my organization
or product] to a friend or colleague?”
Part A: What is the likelihood you would recommend Company X
to a friend or colleague?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Not Neutral Extremely
likely likely
at all

Stakeholders choose a score on an 11-point scale (or any Likert

scale you choose). In this example, 10 indicates that the stakeholder is
extremely likely to recommend, and 0 (zero) indicates that the stake-
holder is not likely at all to recommend.
Fundamentally, the three categories are defined thus:

• Advocates (9–10) are promoters and loyalists, keep buying,

refer others, and fuel growth.
• Passives (7–8) are satisfied but vulnerable to competitive
offerings.
• Detractors (0–6) are unhappy, could damage the brand, and
inhibit growth.

Once this question is answered, Part B provides the real value in

determining which of your stakeholders will provide real, sustainable
value as front-line advocates.

Part B: Confirm the Commitment

This step helps to assess and confirm the level of commitment

you can expect from the advocate. Part B asks the additional question:
 CHAPTER 3 • THE NET ADVOCATE SCORE 29

“Can we publicly share your recommendation of us?”

Part B: Can we publicly share your recommendation of us?
NO YES
−2 0

Stakeholders who choose “YES” keep their original score and are
classified as advocates. Stakeholders who choose “NO” have 2 points
subtracted from their Part A score, dropping them back into the pas-
sive category.1 They may say they are extremely likely to recommend
but will not confirm it with their willingness to announce it publicly.
This 2-point subtraction is important to calculate into the results; oth-
erwise, a company can overstate its results, leaving it vulnerable to
unspecified risks and overstatements of potential growth. The risk is
that the company has a higher level of confidence that an account is
not at risk when, in fact, it might be.

Calculating an Organization’s NAS

To calculate an organization’s NAS score, take the percentage of
the stakeholders who are accurately scored as advocates and subtract
the percentage of stakeholders who are detractors. (This is the same
process followed for NPS calculations.) The NAS is not expressed as a
percentage but as an absolute number between −100 and +100.
Here is an example of the same survey processed using the NAS
and NPS methodologies.

NAS Results

Company A performed a survey and received the following scores

for stakeholders using the NAS methodology: 25 percent advocates,
30 ADVOCATE MARKETING

55 percent passives, and 20 percent detractors. Subtract the percent-

age of detractors from the percentage of advocates to determine the
NAS:
+25 − 20 = +5 (the company’s NAS)
In this example, the company’s NAS is 5. Generally, anything
above a 0 is considered a good score. This score suggests that steps
should be taken to improve customer satisfaction because the score
can always be higher. There is always room for improvement.

NPS Results

Company B performed a survey and received the following scores

for your stakeholders using the NPS methodology: 35 percent promot-
ers, 45 percent passives, and 20 percent detractors. These numbers
are higher because the commitment—the willingness to engage—was
not factored in. Subtract the percentage of detractors from the per-
centage of advocates to determine the NAS:
+35 − 20 = +15 (the company’s NPS)
In this example, the company’s NPS is 15. This overstated NPS
score provides a false sense of confidence, does not identify public
commitment, and camouflages growth vulnerabilities and risks. By
incorporating the “second question,” the NAS becomes the more
effective tool for empowering organizations to measure and identify
their best stakeholders because it provides a realistic assessment of
the likelihood of accurate advocate identification and support.
The NAS score can be used by companies to more accurately
identify customer happiness. It gives an organization an easy-to-
understand number for all stakeholders and another useful key per-
formance indicator for managers. By tracking the evolution of the
NAS over time, companies can correlate the score to revenue growth
for benchmarking and evaluation. When more industries adopt the
NAS, companies will be able to determine their position versus their
peers, competition, and the industry average.
 CHAPTER 3 • THE NET ADVOCATE SCORE 31

The NAS score is just one key performance indicator (KPI) metric
that can be included in customer satisfaction surveys. Other KPIs that
can be tracked include determining a satisfaction score, renewal, or
repeat purchase probability score and ease-of-doing-business score.
Computations of these KPIs are powerful tools that help companies
with predictive modeling and business and customer insights. Keep in
mind, however, that NPS and NAS scores represent a point in time.
A stakeholder can score as an advocate on one survey and score as a
detractor on the next survey. There are many contributing factors as
to why a stakeholder scores a certain way. Identifying these factors is
something a company should do quickly and have the mechanisms in
place to make it happen seamlessly and routinely.

One or Two Questions Do Not Constitute

an Advocate Marketing Strategy
To understand the motives of an advocate—or for that matter,
a detractor—I recommend that you add an open-ended question to
surveys that probes the underlying reasons behind the scoring ques-
tion to recommend. Through qualitative assessment, the company
can better understand the motives and value of the score and possibly
make further adjustments to the company’s overall score.
Effective stakeholder engagement processes can fine-tune a com-
pany’s growth engine by addressing strategic concerns around iden-
tifying, assessing, managing, and analyzing advocate engagement,
including:

• Does it promote strategic engagement and efficiency?

• Does it clarify and simplify the process of delighting
stakeholders?
• Does it enable assessment and management of stakeholders?
32 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Does it enable decision makers to compare performance across

key time intervals?
• Is there a dashboard for quick, easy evaluations?

Companies that routinely monitor and measure their percent-

age of advocates can generate key information from stakeholders and
drive better decisions. Many times, the improvements that are made
help transform passives and detractors into higher-level scores and,
thus, advocates.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Tracking and measuring how a stakeholder feels about a brand

or product and establishing accountability for the stakeholder
experience is supported by several models, each with different
strengths.
• Unlike other advocate assessment scoring models, the Net
Advocate Score (NAS) captures stakeholders’ commitment for
public attribution of positive opinions.
• The NAS enables organizations to more accurately identify
their best advocates through a two-question process, allowing
greater accuracy for calculating a company’s NAS.
• Subtracting 2 points from the NPS score creates a new, more
accurate NAS score by removing stakeholders who do not con-
firm with public commitment.
• Once an advocate is identified and qualified, quick action is
required to get them publicly engaged in a smooth and method-
ical manner.
 CHAPTER 3 • THE NET ADVOCATE SCORE 33

• Companies that routinely monitor and measure advocates have

solid data from which to make better business decisions.

Endnote
1. Depending on the scale you use, you may need to change the number to sub-
tract. For example, a 0–8 scale may require subtracting just 1 point.
This page intentionally left blank
 Part II

Case Studies and Best Practices:

Words from the Experts

The case studies and best practices included in this section were
written by expert contributors in order to share their experiences, great
ideas, cautionary tales, and unique perspectives that both include and
bound advocate marketing. While they differ in their structure and
expression, each brings up points that speak to the variety of busi-
ness focus, corporate cultures, and organization personalities. Taken
together, many common themes become evident, and they provide
real-world, tried-and-true instruction in the role and value advocates
can bring to any organization.
Each contains a list of highlights that are the key takeaway points.
Also, to understand more about the contribution and the starting
point for each essay, a brief biography is included. It is clear that these
contributors walk the talk by living the role of an advocate.
This page intentionally left blank
 4
Build an Advocate Recognition
Engagement (ARE) Program

In 2006, a midsized company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona,

faced the challenge of encouraging more of its customers to share
how the company’s environmental, health and safety, emergency, and
sustainability software and professional services were helping it meet
its strategic corporate goals. On average, on an annual basis, between
four and eight customers agree to share their success stories publicly
in case studies and press releases. In some cases, the company agrees
to some financial discount at renewal that would incentivize the cus-
tomer to participate.1 In other cases, the product champion agrees
to write a case study, but the organization’s internal legal counsel or
communications executive squashes the client’s participation. The
company marketers were perplexed. They pondered how to get more
case studies from customers, and how to remove barriers erected by
legal and communication teams.
As the associate vice president of marketing for the company, this
dilemma was indirectly mine. Although it wasn’t part of my direct
responsibilities, finding a resolution to the challenge would benefit
me and my team. While reading 1001 Ways to Reward Employees2
by Bob Nelson and Stephen Schudlich, I had one of those “aha”
moments. Nelson and Schudlich assert that people are motivated by
three basic things: money, recognition, and rewards. They pointed
out that recognition and reward have deeper meaning and stronger
influence, and, thus, they resonate with people more. Their theory
helped inspire me to develop the Advocate Recognition Engagement
37
38 ADVOCATE MARKETING

(ARE) program. By publicly recognizing and rewarding customers,

they would, in turn, fulfill our need for case studies and other market-
ing assets. Over the years, the program evolved into so much more.
The Excellence Award program (a part of the ARE program)
turned out to be one of the best content development programs for
our company. Once implemented, the program was tied to the com-
pany biannual user conference. In 2006, the inaugural year for the
program, the Excellence Awards delivered 18 case studies, up more
than 200 percent over the 8 case studies delivered in 2005. We were
thrilled that some of these new contributors had previously declined
to participate. In 2008, the company generated 43 customer case
studies.
Any inaugural program is tough to get off the ground. It hasn’t
been done before and people hate change. We launched an internal
educational webinar about the program, covering FAQs for them and
FAQs to share with their customers. We wanted to get 10 customers
to participate. Most of the staff accepted the strategy of the program
and supported it. Some people rooted for me to fail and fall on my
face. (We all have our haters.) I’m proud to say this program worked
and continues to work as other companies have adopted the program.
As it matured, the Excellence Award program answered other
important questions for our company, such as:

• How can we increase marketing assets for lead nurturing

programs?
• What thought leadership topics should be the focus of our con-
tent in the upcoming months?
• What customers can we get to speak with us at upcoming events
and webinars?
• Where can the next user group meetings be held on our limited
budget?
• How can we get more stakeholders engaged?
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 39

After outlining the possible strategies to the chief marketing offi-

cer through a detailed business case, we got the green light to move
forward with a limited budget. I captured the process and require-
ments into the six steps discussed in this chapter. They are the cor-
nerstones of the program.

Step One: Identify Customers with Sales

and Support Teams
Working with the customer care and sales teams to identify cus-
tomers who had used the company’s solution for more than one year
with no reported troubles or open service issue tickets, we developed
a list of hundreds of small, medium, and large companies that use
our software tools, products, and services. We hoped to encourage
a wide variety of customers to share insights. We wanted a diverse
pool to consult so we could learn from the perspectives of various
industries, company sizes, regional locations, business unit involve-
ment, and more.
Working with our company’s internal teams helped announce the
program to everyone in each company we explored. We formed a
small leadership group with representation from each business line.
Employees were directed to their key team member should any ques-
tions arise. If they could not address questions, they would turn to me
for help.
The Excellence Award program could not succeed in isolation.
One top priority was to develop strong collaborative relationships with
all customer-facing teams. Communication with all internal stake-
holders was key to the program’s success. Also, we needed an entry
form with rules and guidelines that protected our interests, but did
not have the intimidating look of a legal contract. We were able to get
our legal counsel to help us get the right phrasing and work with us
40 ADVOCATE MARKETING

should anyone want to make edits to it. If the company is big enough
and their case study is desired enough, they could force an edit.
Another top priority was infrastructure for the program. My CMO
and I worked to build out enough of the infrastructure to get things
started. Whatever we didn’t have by then, we created it along the
way. The key components we started with were a list of all of the roles
and responsibilities that would support the program, a creative brief,
a budget, a timeline, some goals for number of case studies, an entry
form, judging criteria, a FAQ for internal staff that explained the ben-
efits of the program, a FAQ for customers that explained the benefits
for them, a FAQ for sponsors, and internal and public Web pages so
people could confirm we were real and we were serious about the
award program.

Step Two: Create an E-mail and Phone

Strategy for Identified Customer Accounts
Using e-mailing best practices, we created a unique e-mail tem-
plate using insights from Bob Nelson’s book. Leveraging the senti-
ment of recognition and reward, each person received a personal
e-mail from a person’s real e-mail address with a simple but engag-
ing subject line. To this day, it still has the highest open rate of any
e-mail campaign I’ve ever been involved with—over 90 percent open
rate and a double-digit response rate. The subject line continues to
have a very high effective rate even today. The e-mail was text format
only—simple and direct. We later changed the formatting to HTML
to make the e-mails more eye-catching and attractive. We learned,
however, that taking a plain approach to creating the e-mail content
was more effective in driving interested customers to respond. We
had over a hundred inquiries. Our DO NOT EMAIL list did grow,
but only by .01 percent of the list size.
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 41

As noted earlier, we created FAQ sheets for sales and customer

care teams. However, most phone calls were funneled to one per-
son—me. Because the Excellence Award program was so new, every-
one wanted to have me join them on calls or handle the customer
questions. E-mail responses came directly to me. We followed up
with phone calls within two to three days of the e-mail’s receipt to
assure key account users that we had read their note.
Follow-up e-mails were scheduled five days later. By replying
directly to the initial e-mail and including a quick note, we asked
whether the customer had seen our previous response and if he had
any questions.
Dozens of users responded. There were multiple users from the
same companies; this allowed us to coordinate groups from each
account to get interviews from different types of users, from system
implementers through executive managers. We had scheduled 21
interviews with customers who were interested in winning the award
and being part of the award program.

Step Three: Interview and Write Case

Study Entries by the User Conference
Deadline
Companies that write case studies about the product are doing it
wrong. Case studies should be all about the customer being enabled
to succeed, and the product is one of the tools it uses to reach that
success.
Because customers have full-time jobs and the case study was an
important element to their entry, I created a process through which
we would interview the customers, create a transcript to work from,
and present a draft of their entry to them based on the information
they shared during the interview.
42 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Before interviewing the customers, we interviewed our company

staffers who knew the customers, their experiences with the prod-
uct, and successes they experienced. These insights helped us identify
which questions should be asked and what phrasing and testimonials
were desired.
All customer interviews were recorded and transcribed to make
sure that we captured a full set of notes. Those interviews followed
a set of protocols and included carefully crafted questions for each
product. We created a hybrid of interview questions in advance for
specific customers in order to identify their challenges, business stra-
tegic goals that were involved with those challenges, and the results
they experienced—their metrics of success. Success isn’t always mea-
sured in time saved or reduced operating costs. In some cases, success
can be defined by how the software enhanced the client’s manage-
ment capabilities, increased transparency, improved operational effi-
ciency, or reduced risk. These metrics of success enabled increased
sales and created greater value for customers.
Internal interviews should involve a maximum of three customer
account stakeholders. Too many internal stakeholders in the conver-
sation may cause conflict without yielding much actionable informa-
tion. Getting information by committee can be just as hard to do as
making a decision by committee—and just as messy.
Customer interviews should always start with introductions. Have
everyone on the call state their name, title, and years with the com-
pany or other quick pieces of information so that transcribing tools
can identify the tone of the speaker and easily transcribe who is speak-
ing as the conversation happens. Try to give everyone who was on the
call a voice within the case study—be as inclusive as possible. The
more people quoted within the story, the more readers you will have.
Because our annual conference was looming, we set a submission
deadline for case study entries. This encouraged customers to get the
review and editing work done. Without a deadline, a case study can
take months to pass the initial review, and within the contributor’s
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 43

company, delay edits and approvals. If a customer could not provide

final approval for whatever reason (usually because someone within
the legal or communication team determined participating was against
a company policy), we leveraged all the work by creating an anony-
mous case study. The names of the customer and company would be
deleted, but almost all the other information would remain the same,
so the story was told but no one would recognize the company. As the
old proverb goes: waste not, want not. We utilized anonymous stories
as much as named stories.
We held firmly to the deadline so that Excellence Award commit-
tee member reviewers and judges would have time to submit their
evaluations. Each committee member scored each story based on nine
criteria developed by the committee. No case study was compared
with another case study. Stories were judged on their own merit, each
client’s metrics of success, and their own level of information shared.
To compare a large Fortune 500 company with a small 100-employee
outfit would not be feasible or fair. Stories could be judged on strategy
goals attained, clever tactics utilized, involvement of company execu-
tives, or even the degree of change management that the customer
achieved. Judging criteria might even be different from one product
category to the other due to demographic considerations.
Case studies were required to meet our standards for content
length: no more than two pages and no less than one full page. For
each case study, we required a challenge, a solution, and a result.
Each entry had to be laid out in our case study template, have all
the pieces of information we required within the story, and indirectly
identify the capabilities of the product that we wanted to showcase. It
was their story 100 percent, but it was influenced by us, written by us,
judged by us, and promoted publicly by us.
When customers submitted an internally approved case study, it
would be sent to our award committee for judging. Within five to ten
business days, we surprised the winners with a special package that
contained a Mylar helium-filled balloon on a ribbon that was tethered
44 ADVOCATE MARKETING

to the box so when the customer opened the box, the vibrant, con-
gratulatory balloon floated out. The congratulatory package included
a nice letter and a form that requested the names of client team mem-
bers to be engraved on the awards. Clients also received promotional
instructions about the award that would be delivered at the company
biannual user conference. Separately, we sent a gift basket of treats to
be shared among the winning team. We made a follow-up phone call
and e-mail to the winners to confirm that they received the official
notification of winning and encouraged them to return the engraving
forms. I personally put together the winners’ packages, printing all
the materials off the office printer, getting the balloons taped down,
and saving money by doing everything from our office instead of hir-
ing a fulfillment shop to handle it.
At the award ceremony, we set up VIP tables for the award win-
ners and spouses who were registered. Additional team members
who attended cheered their winning colleagues. We scheduled onsite
interviews with customers, which we videotaped. Our sales and mar-
keting teams then used those videotapes as leverage with prospects
and in campaigns. Many videos became the referrals needed during
the sales process when a live customer referral was requested but not
readily available.

Step Four: Create an Award Show to

Highlight Winners and Spotlight Their
Stories to Other Users for Cross-Selling
Opportunities
In 2006, the company honored 18 businesses, agencies, and insti-
tutions for their outstanding use of information technology to reduce
risks and costs associated with environmental health and safety
(EH&S) and crisis management. The inaugural Excellence Awards
celebrated extraordinary achievements of organizations that reduced
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 45

operational risks, resulting in reduced costs and enhanced operating

efficiencies. The 2006 Excellence Award winners were Alcoa, Inc.,
DAK Americas, Eastern Municipal Water District, Idaho State Uni-
versity, Linc Facility Services, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New
Jersey Natural Gas Company, Northern Illinois University, Plant
Services, Inc., Sunoco, Inc., SUPERVALU, Volvo Trucks North
America, Inc., Halliburton, Hunter Douglas, United Stationers Sup-
ply Co., Puyallup Fire & Rescue, City of Boynton Beach, and New
York Power Authority. One Excellence Award winner, the New York
Power Authority, was recognized as the “Best of the Best”—this story
stood out as the most innovative and generated the greatest benefit to
its stakeholders.
Winners were determined by achieving measurable benchmarks
for innovative use of technology, impact on employee health and
safety, emission reduction, benefit to the surrounding community,
cost reduction or fiscal impact, risk reduction, and internal awareness
of the project.
I came up with the idea of the “Best of the Best” winner because
we needed a grand finale and a degree of surprise to the event. Every-
one coming knew they were winners. We needed a little extra surprise
to encourage the audience, the winners, and the media to stay until
the end of the show. The “Best of the Best” kept people interested.
Now that we had all our winners, we needed to publicly honor and
recognize them for sharing their thought leadership. A tiny budget
notwithstanding, we created a presentation show with lights, music,
and dialogue. The script had details for all involved represented by
color. As part of the finale, each customer walked across the stage
to accept the award, was photographed with the CEO, and returned
to his seat. The master of ceremonies was a staff member who got
the room excited, got them laughing, and maintained the spirit of the
evening.
We called to confirm each winner’s attendance, and more than
50 percent attended. We had decided that, to save time, we would
46 ADVOCATE MARKETING

only tell the story of those winners in the room. We shipped awards
to those who could not attend, along with a copy of the souvenir pro-
gram and our regrets that they were not there in person. We e-mailed
tracking codes so they could anticipate when their award would arrive.
The attending winners served as speakers for sessions during the
user conference. The winners’ sessions came ready-made with hand-
outs of their case studies and were designated in the event program as
award-winning sessions.
Every opportunity was made to share the award-winning stories.
Each chair at each table had a booklet of all the case studies and a
souvenir program that listed all of the winners. Partners and sponsors
paid to be in the program booklet with their level of sponsorship. Cus-
tomers scheduled time in the hands-on labs with sales and support
teams to see the solutions that were highlighted in the case studies.
Of course, we strategically seated award winners with prospects who
were considering the solution for which the winner was being hon-
ored. A “winner’s room” created a bit more of a VIP treatment with
champagne and caviar to capture additional photos of the winners
together with their awards. This also provided the media and partners
an opportunity to meet the winners as well.

Step Five: Launch Post-Production

Promotion
After the award event, the real work started. The company mar-
keters moved quickly to update the company Web site during the
night of the event to display the “Best of the Best” winner, as well
as the other award-winning case studies. Winners were also identi-
fied on selected content Web sites such as Pollution Engineering and
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News and other different media outlets.
We created a CSI-themed webinar that included many speakers
who could share background information that detailed all the reasons
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 47

why clients’ projects worked well, and what role information manage-
ment played in the success story. Winners became ready-made speak-
ers with a case study handout and slides that highlighted their story.
Overnight, we had 18 potential speakers to help us gain speaking ses-
sions at events and conferences. After the award event, we started
getting calls from the major technology companies such as Microsoft,
IBM, and Oracle because our customers’ case studies would briefly
mention that our solution was aligned or integrated into theirs. This
helped us earn “points” as a developer/business partner to these lead-
ing companies and increase our partnerships with them. We became
“gold” or “platinum” partners with free access to better tools, thanks
to the priority status we received because of our ability to share cus-
tomer success stories that indirectly included them.
We pitched the stories to the media and offered interviews with
our award winners and their executive team. We pitched the stories to
analysts, giving them access to the winners and their executive teams.
We created an award-winner Web page for all our winners to link to
that explained the award program and served as their third-party vali-
dation of the work they were doing for their company.
Last, but not least, we sent handwritten thank-you notes to each
winner, offering our gratitude for their participation.

Step Six: Create Revenue-Generating

Alliances
From the beginning, I realized we would need a sponsor to
give credence to our inaugural award program. I identified one edi-
tor from one media company with which we did lots of business. I
created a business case to target him as our sole sponsor. He had
two publications that matched our audience: Pollution Engineering
magazine and Industrial Safety & Hygiene News. After discussing the
idea of the program and the fact that it was connected to our annual
48 ADVOCATE MARKETING

user conference, he agreed to sponsor our award program. We cre-

ated a barter agreement that benefited them and us. He was able to
distribute his publications at no charge, was introduced during the
event, helped judge entries, received direct access to winners in the
private winner’s room to interview, had his logos on everything at
the award show, received an award to thank him for being our spon-
sor, had a reserved VIP table for him and any guests he wished to sit
with, received a list of attendees, and was offered first opportunity to
sponsor the event again next year. For our benefit, we got pre- and
post-event full-page announcements about the award program and its
winners, as well as Web banners to announce the award program. The
publication and its staff provided third-party validation to the event.
We saved time pitching our stories to publication because they were
able to get the inside scoop by being judges; they preselected the
stories they wanted to publish from all our different winners. The edi-
tors coordinated with us more and allowed us to work more as a team.
They posted our case studies as content on their sites, linking back to
us, which helped our SEO rankings. We created joint, free webinars
with the editor whereby the publisher owned the list of attendees.
Many of the benefits just listed were not included in the busi-
ness case I created to pitch the barter agreement. All these benefits
and more have arisen as we worked with different sponsors. While at
the user group event, the editor pulled me aside and said he wanted
to be the sponsor for the next event. I told him that directly after
the award show the previous night, I was approached by a software
partner informing me that his company wanted to be the sole sponsor
of next year’s award show and would cover all its costs. Eventually,
we worked out that there would be a media sponsor and a partner
sponsor.
Along with the handwritten note that I sent the media sponsor, I
provided a small post-event evaluation report regarding a few metrics
of success. Results from our user group event survey had the award
program listed as the highlight of the entire event, beating out our
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 49

keynote speaker and daily sessions. Many comments from our attend-
ees were “How can I get one of those awards?” Interest from other
customers drove up participation to 43 award-winning case studies in
2008.
We knew we had a successful engagement program that we
wanted to grow, but we didn’t know the true value of it until we saw
100 percent of our award winners renew their service contracts with
us—on time.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Thoughtfully recognizing your customers’ successes brings

huge benefits to almost every aspect of business.
• A well-designed and implemented award program makes it
easy for your customers to create content that will feed collat-
eral pieces that are tailored just for you.
• Engage your company stakeholders to get their insights and
build allegiances and alliances to help sustain your program.
• Ensure that your program’s accomplishments are measurable
so you can demonstrate its value to your company.

About Barbara Thomas

Barbara Thomas (also known as BT) is the president of Creative
Tactics, a Washington, DC, area marketing company that specializes
in advocate marketing. She has an award-winning reputation (recent
winner of the 2016 Killer Content award) for providing strategic ide-
ation, effective creative marketing, and outstanding results. With over
50 ADVOCATE MARKETING

25 years of marketing experience, she helps drive business growth,

manage the marketing processes, and increase sales opportunities.
She has worked in both the agency and corporate marketing arenas
with experience in database management, list management, copy-
writing, graphic design, lead generation, social media, content man-
agement, and overall integrated marketing. Her industry strengths
include automotive, aerospace, chemical, defense, energy, engineer-
ing, environmental, health and safety, financial, maritime, purchasing,
software, supply chain, and technology. Barbara attended Madison
Area Technical College, University of Wisconsin, and Virginia Cen-
tral University. She is a former board member for Direct Marketing
Association of Washington, DC. She is a Certified e-Marketing Pro-
fessional (CeM) and Certified Direct Marketer (CDM).

Barbara Is an Advocate

As one of about 1,400 beekeepers in Maryland, she is an advocate

for Burt’s Bees products. From their lip balm to their lotions, she
highly recommends the wonderful products. Because of these prod-
ucts and her parents’ influence when she was younger, she became a
beekeeper. For years, she has kept bees (both solitary and honey) in
her backyard, helping to pollinate her neighbors’ gardens and trees.
Her home and hives are called “The Fah-Mas Hive.” She volunteers
to help educate the community and, with her husband, sells honey
at the local agriculture county fair. The hobby of keeping bees was
passed down to her by her father who kept bees—both honeybees
when he was younger and solitary bees when he retired. She points
out, if you prefer the taste of clover honey, try orange blossom, sage,
or tupelo honey if you can find them locally—and always try to buy
your honey locally. For those who like a heavier, deeper flavor, try
buckwheat honey. Remember, life is always sweeter with a honeybee
as a friend.
CHAPTER 4 • BUILD AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM 51

Endnotes
1. Understandably, the company and its account representatives resisted paying for
case studies because revenue goals took the hit. In addition, paid advocates are
really not advocates at all.

2. Bob Nelson and Stephen Schudlich, 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (New
York: Workman Publishing, 2005).
This page intentionally left blank
 5
The Power of One Advocate

One person really can make a difference.

Today’s successful marketing strategies are defined by their abil-
ity to drive increased business opportunities through promotional
channels that generate thousands or millions of prospective custom-
ers. It is rare to find examples where a single person could make the
difference between an organization’s success and failure. Yet, that
is exactly what happened when one dedicated consumer embarked
on an ambitious campaign that enabled eBillingHub to dramatically
transform itself from a company about to close its door into a lead-
ing provider of online solutions for electronic invoicing. The resulting
relationship between supplier and its determined advocate demon-
strated the power of public endorsements from a single satisfied cus-
tomer, and how those endorsements can influence the success of a
brand or product.
Greg Coticchia, cofounder of eBillingHub, said the start-up com-
pany began several years ago—with few customers and sparse rev-
enues. As its meager performance persisted, managers searched for
reasons why the company was unable to overcome persistent market
barriers. Coticchia and his team wondered whether they had failed to
execute their business strategy properly, or if the opportunity just was
not there.
After a couple years and continued subpar financial performance,
eBillingHub’s leadership considered closing the business. However,
in March 2007, they decided to launch one final effort to rescue the
business from the dissolution by hosting an educational webinar:
53
54 ADVOCATE MARKETING

eBilling: How to Gain Control of Your Growing Volume and Ven-

dors. To ensure its success, eBillingHub’s marketing team made two
important strategic changes. First, they refocused the presentation to
spotlight eBillingHub’s capabilities for automating manual processes,
a key differentiator that directly addressed customers’ pain points.
Next, they carefully targeted prospects specifically for the event.
Among the attendees was Peter Secor, an attorney from Cho-
ate Hall & Stewart LLP, a major Boston law firm. Although they did
not anticipate the impact, inviting Secor would pay huge dividends
for eBillingHub by launching a transformative one-person advocacy
campaign that miraculously reversed eBillingHub’s fortunes and
started the company on a path to improved brand recognition and
profitability.
Secor’s law firm had previously used manual processes to support
its billings. By automating those procedures, eBillingHub enabled
the firm to reduce its operating costs and increase efficiency. When
eBillingHub delivered on its promise of improved productivity almost
immediately, Secor just as immediately became a powerful advocate
to eBillingHub by sharing his company’s success story as a customer
reference and conference speaker. Secor also used his influence in
online reviews and as a popular blogger.
Secor’s relationship with eBillingHub was a near-perfect model of
advocate engagement, particularly for an early-stage start-up trying to
break through into a large marketplace. It was a perfect match: Secor
needed eBillingHub’s technology to drive process efficiency improve-
ments and operational cost savings; eBillingHub needed a passionate
advocate to tell its story in the marketplace. Secor’s testimony carried
great weight and influence in the industry.
Secor’s advocacy was critical to eBillingHub’s future success. His
status as a thought leader made it safer for other companies to consider
the company’s solutions because he brought credibility when telling
prospects about the product. In essence, Secor—the advocate—did
 CHAPTER 5 • THE POWER OF ONE ADVOCATE 55

eBillingHub’s promotion with greater credibility and assurance than

eBillingHub ever could by itself.
Coticchia even wrote in his blog that every company should build
relationships with passionate supporters like Secor. That is particu-
larly true when a company brings a new product to the marketplace,
or introduces a different way of doing something. This helps to ensure
that customers feel confident about trusting your products. A cus-
tomer endorsement can also illustrate the value of your products. It’s
good to have someone available with a high level of credibility in your
company’s corner. Peter Secor provided the level of credibility that
was key to eBillingHub’s market success.
Ultimately, eBillingHub benefited from the old saying, “What
others say about you carries far more weight than anything you say
about yourself.” Your company isn’t promoting itself; your advocate is
doing it for you, which builds buzz about your company in the mar-
ketplace. Secor proved this right.
Although Coticchia left the company when it was acquired by
Thomson Reuters in 2011, he remains an eBillingHub advocate.
Today, the company continues to meet the growing demand for tech-
nology that drives efficiency and cost savings. Its success highlights
the importance of advocates and the difference they can make to a
business.

An Emerging Approach to Marketing

Today, Coticchia shares his knowledge of advocate marketing
principles at the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business
by teaching business-to-business (B2B) marketing in the MBA pro-
gram. Coticchia regards advocate marketing as an emerging term that
encompasses concepts that are associated with integrated marketing
communications. Companies can develop true customer advocacy
programs because there are more tools at their control—beyond
56 ADVOCATE MARKETING

customer references and press releases—to influence customers,

prospects, and stakeholders.
Although advocate marketing is not yet used widely in academic
literature, the topic is discussed and case studies are dissected at
length to review identification, assessment, management, and analy-
sis of advocacy. Coticchia expects that advocate marketing will soon
be formally embraced and categorized in academia. That will spark
more discussion about the nature of advocate marketing, and those
concepts will be leveraged and their influence tracked.
Even as students are preparing to advance advocate marketing
strategies, Coticchia believes the practice has already evolved into
a powerful force for business growth, thanks to the current genera-
tion of marketers who are leveraging the market’s latest innovative
technologies, including social media platforms, to create enhanced
prospect engagement while removing barriers to sales. Advocate mar-
keting is just one of many changes that are transforming modern-day
marketing practices.
For instance, Coticchia described an eBillingHub prospect who,
toward the end of a selling process, was collecting references. This
client did not just want a referral from a customer who was using the
product; he specifically asked for users in Kansas City. Although the
product functions the same in any location, this client wanted that
level of peer-to-peer validation in order to connect a referral who
matched his organizational—and personal—identity. eBillingHub
met that game-changing need.

New Technology Expands Opportunities

Coticchia believes that platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube are creating a democratization of the mar-
keting process. Online marketing strategies and tools are driving down
the cost of entry to get into a larger game, making it easier for smaller
 CHAPTER 5 • THE POWER OF ONE ADVOCATE 57

companies to compete against larger companies. Executing advocate

marketing strategies becomes faster and more efficient, and there are
more opportunities than ever to utilize information to increase busi-
ness opportunities.
Customer advocacy doesn’t usually happen on its own. Compa-
nies need to develop strategies that utilize tools such as social media
to execute their objectives. Marketers also need to be aware that tech-
nology can empower buyers to become both advocates and detrac-
tors. Finally, technology is not the only answer: Companies need to
pursue multiple channels of marketing—print, radio and television,
and other media—to make sure their advocate’s—and their—mes-
sages meet their targets.
Despite the dramatic technology changes of the past decade,
integrated marketing tactics have not substantively changed, but the
tools that implement them have moved far ahead, Coticchia says.
In addition, social media and inbound marketing have given us new
awareness tools. Even lead-generation tools enable us to better com-
municate and gain deeper awareness of the latest market trends.
Advocate marketing, in particular, provides new methods of going
beyond traditional lead-generation techniques to incorporate inbound
marketing capabilities that empower marketers to capture better
leads. This can occur by cultivating more credible product reviews,
securing more influential references, getting more productive cus-
tomer feedback, and, importantly, sharing content with confidence.
Modern technology helps companies obtain many types of advo-
cates: influencer advocates, industry advocates, or employee advo-
cates. Whether the advocate’s testimony is earned or it is provided as
part of an agreement in which the advocate receives a payment also
impacts that advocate’s breadth of influence and persuasiveness.
An old maxim in sales is that everybody knows at least 250 people.
The old rule of 250 goes back to how many people would show up at a
wedding or show up at a funeral. Thanks to social media, people have
58 ADVOCATE MARKETING

a lot more acquaintances. LinkedIn, for example, records thousands

of people who have more than 2,000 contacts. Klout, for example,
takes the raw numbers and computes individuals’ sphere and depth
of influence.
However, Coticchia thinks the rule of 250 still applies because
social media empowers the average person with the capability to
influence that many people, and many more. Dedicated advocates for
a product, brand, issue, or cause are probably influencing at least that
many people within their personal network.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• A single advocate helped eBillingHub transform from an

underperforming start-up to an industry-leading technology
provider.
• A new generation of independent-thinking, tech-savvy market-
ers is driving greater interest and awareness of advocate mar-
keting across the business landscape.
• Advocate marketing is becoming recognized in academia as a
unique form of marketing practice and research space.

About Greg Coticchia

Greg Coticchia is an award-winning technology executive with
over 25 years’ experience in high-tech products and services. He is
considered by many to be one of the best strategic minds and mar-
keting executives in the technology business. He has led or been a
major contributor in two of the largest and most successful software
 CHAPTER 5 • THE POWER OF ONE ADVOCATE 59

companies in the world, Legent Corporation (now CA) and AXENT

(now Symantec). Recently, as CEO and cofounder of eBillingHub,
he grew the company from inception to establishing it in a leading
market position that led to its sale to Thomson Reuters. Coticchia has
played key strategic and leadership roles in 11 start-ups and founded
3. He has held executive positions for better than two-thirds of his
career, participating in companies that range from $10M to over
$1 billion in revenue. He has helped raise over $65 million in venture
capital in his career, and has actively participated in over 17 mergers
and acquisitions at both the company or product level. In the last 15
years, the companies that Coticchia has participated in have netted
“exit valuations” of eight times the revenue on average, and 16 times
the investment on average.
He has served as CEO (four times), president, and chief oper-
ating officer (COO) of several successful start-up companies, and
has been involved or responsible for the launch of over 100 prod-
ucts, solutions, and companies. His publications and presentations on
marketing strategy and product management have been recognized
as both visionary and thought provoking by leaders in the technol-
ogy business. Coticchia has served on many boards (including NFR,
Four Rivers, and others), assisting senior management with strategic
planning and other critical initiatives, and has been recognized for his
work and contribution in his service to these organizations.
A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in Industrial Engi-
neering, where he also received his MBA, he currently teaches both
business-to-business marketing and entrepreneurial leadership at the
University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business. He also attained
certificates in Entrepreneurial Management from Carnegie Mellon
University and in Professional Coaching from Duquesne Univer-
sity. In addition to his many recognitions and awards from the busi-
nesses he has served, Coticchia was named as a finalist three times
for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and for the
60 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Tech 50 CEO of the Year. Additionally, he was named a 2006 Dis-

tinguished Graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of
Business.
Coticchia’s particular specialties include the following:

• Experienced in leading and managing organizations during

their growth in various stages, from start-up to $1 billion in
annual revenue
• Proficient in leading, coaching, and teaching marketing, product
management, sales, strategic planning, and business develop-
ment in the commercial software and related high-technology
business
• Skilled in introducing and positioning new products, compa-
nies, and strategies

Greg Is an Advocate

When asked, “What are you an advocate for?” he replied, “I’m

loyal to many products and services, including the Nest Thermostat.
In my experience, it is delightful, and an unusual pleasure for a rou-
tine household device because it’s a really exciting technology that
works well. It is elegant and simple and is easily installed. And the fact
that you can take a thermostat and differentiate it from the rest of the
market is just amazing.”
He is just as passionate and discriminating about everything he
believes in—his personal and professional reputation for integrity
reflects it.
 6
Breaking Past the “Press Release” Goal

Admit it. As marketers, we love it when a customer agrees to par-

ticipate in a press release. We are thrilled when customers put their
name close to ours—and they confirm in print that they like us! It
doesn’t seem to matter if the customer can only share a benign state-
ment such as “We’ve done business with them.” For some reason, we
hang on to a need to share our relationship with the world through a
press release—and here’s the irony—that may never get picked up by
anyone other than a search engine.
Marketers need an intervention that forces them to reevaluate
the value of press releases and reassess how they are used through
media properties and their audiences to spread a message. It is then a
short leap to understand how advocate marketing provides treasured
accolades that far exceed a singular press release. In modern public
relations, it is not the story that matters so much as how the story is
shared, posted, tweeted, pinned, and otherwise disseminated to reach
as large and targeted an audience as possible. In fact, a study con-
ducted by the Institute for Public Relations indicated that the influ-
ence of traditional mainstream news media continues to weaken.
According to the Institute of Public Relations, “...various new
emerging and social communication media have brought dramatic
changes to many aspects of public relations practice. Highlights of
our 2014 results include Twitter narrowly replacing Facebook for the
first time as the most frequently accessed new medium for public
relations activities. LinkedIn and YouTube placed third and fourth.
Google+ continues to struggle in these measures. For the third year

61
62 ADVOCATE MARKETING

in a row, our research found the influence of traditional mainstream

news media continuing to weaken.”1
Brian Gladstein, executive vice president of technology market-
ing at GYK Antler, shares one of his favorite stories about a client dis-
cussing how new customers contribute to his marketing efforts. The
client boldly stated, “If we do not get a customer to participate in a
press release, we believe we have failed at our job.” He went on to ask,
“How can we get more of our customers to participate in our press
releases?” That narrow view seems to sum up how many traditional
marketers define customer advocacy. However, Gladstein says that
customers, given the right circumstances and incentives, can provide
much more than simply putting their names and a quotation in a press
release. There are many ways that customers can be involved as advo-
cates to achieve marketing business goals. For more than four years,
Gladstein has been helping businesses meet today’s urgent market
challenge: getting customers to become active and authentic promot-
ers of businesses they rely on.
Specifically, he endorses developing advocate marketing strate-
gies that build genuine customer loyalty and enthusiasm. That passion
felt by the customer, when properly nurtured, can become a robust
engine for support and advocacy that far exceeds the reach of most
press releases. Brian’s team at GYK Antler operates a broad range of
programs that generate advocate engagement for their clients. Glad-
stein defines advocate marketing as
...an organized effort to get customers involved in the busi-
ness beyond the traditional vendor/client relationship model in
which a customer pays a vendor for a product or service.
Advocacy starts when a customer embraces the company’s vision
for that market. To Gladstein, good customer relationships are built
for the long haul. The relationship must be authentic and mutually
beneficial for both the company and the advocate. A sustainable rela-
tionship with advocates requires time and investment, but, in turn,
advocates help sustain and build upon that relationship. For example,
 CHAPTER 6 • BREAKING PAST THE “PRESS RELEASE” GOAL 63

Rapid7, a leading provider of information technology security solu-

tions and GYK Antler client, coined the phrase “give now and receive
later” to describe its unique approach to customer service. This has
paid dividends for the company and its customers. The firm works
closely with IT data security managers who typically shun opportuni-
ties to participate in public advocacy. Instead of focusing on news
releases and case studies, Rapid7 developed a program that encour-
ages industry peers to share best practices and help each other pre-
vent security breaches. As a result, the company has attracted more
than 400 advocates who promote their products and show other pro-
fessionals how to optimize the use of its security software to prevent
online attacks. Customers benefit from programs that highlight their
achievements and opportunities to provide input into future product
development.
Gladstein feels that it is important for customers to be invested
in the company. To be sure, people may raise concerns about the
appearance of asking a customer to do work for them. To those people,
Gladstein suggests adopting a new point of view in which customers
perceive their investment as part of a partnership with the business.
When that occurs, they are more willing to go the extra mile to sup-
port the business. Both parties contribute and everyone benefits. The
“give now and receive later” relationship usually results in a deeper
level of loyalty that converts information into actionable engagement
that drives advocacy.
According to Gladstein, customers fulfill their role as advocates
when they provide the following:

• Endorsements—Customers vouch for you, saying great things

both publicly and privately, such as sharing best practices in a
case study or providing a public testimonial or a reference call.
Participation in a press release also falls into this category.
• Referrals—Customers help identify new leads by refer-
ring friends, colleagues, and peers. In fact, 50 percent of
64 ADVOCATE MARKETING

B2B marketers believe referrals were the most efficient lead-

generation tactic, according to Chief Marketer’s 2014 Lead
Generation Survey. This indicates that motivated customers
have the capability to unleash a powerful lead-generation (or a
demand-generation) engine.
• Education—Customers teach your market by sharing expe-
riences and expertise; this establishes thought leadership and
frames the conversation. In this critical role, customers interact
with communities where new buyers come to learn about prod-
ucts and solutions that are vital to their success.
• Representation—Customers provide intelligence, insight,
and feedback on your market, and discuss their problems and
how your products and services meet their needs. Custom-
ers are a valuable resource for generating new product ideas,
as well as affirming an existing product feature. This helps to
ensure that functionality and usability are aligned with market
demand.

Today, Gladstein believes that it is critical that businesses connect

with customers in ways that exceed the capabilities of a press release.
Customers share their experiences on social media, and their feed-
back directly influences the way people make buying decisions. Suc-
cessful marketing programs—especially for businesses that depend
on recurring revenue—inspire advocates by engaging customers
and providing an educational, rewarding, or fun user experience. In
turn, advocates can help marketers connect with the organizations
that traditional marketing practices would not otherwise reach. That’s
why advocate marketing strategies provide strategic advantages that
exceed the value of the traditional customer/vendor business model.
 CHAPTER 6 • BREAKING PAST THE “PRESS RELEASE” GOAL 65

Advocates Reach and Teach

An effective advocate helps fans reach and teach new prospects
about your products and services. Advocates want to help others and
share their knowledge of best practices to follow as well as identify
mistakes to avoid. In addition, advocates can help marketers exceed
account-focused relationships in order to reach customers in tight-
knit professional communities. Sometimes people cannot give a pub-
lic endorsement due to PR restrictions to legal constraints to simply a
desire to remain out of the public spotlight. Innovative companies like
Rapid7 have expanded their consumer advocate programs by creat-
ing social communities in which peers who manage sensitive informa-
tion can learn from their shared experiences and exchange ideas. It is
within those communities that advocates become heroes for brands
on a broad scale.
Professional communities provide opportunities for advocates to
share their experience with products and services in a closed or semi-
private setting. Participants may share product information and their
experience with it to help solve a peer’s challenge, thereby taking a
leadership role within the community. Advocates are very motivated
to contribute to communities’ ways that they cannot in their day-to-
day setting. To reach those targeted personas, Gladstein suggests
identifying communities where your targeted B2B professional is a
member. That could be a more effective strategy to remove barriers
to advocacy.

Advocacy Transcends an Open Support

Ticket
Some marketers and salespeople seem to shy away from request-
ing a reference from customers who have open maintenance sup-
port requests. Gladstein is surprised when marketers or salespeople
66 ADVOCATE MARKETING

take that approach because it presumes that active support tickets

will automatically generate negative customer reactions. He suggests
that isn’t always the case. He recounts the experience of an account
manager who needed a reference from an IT customer. The account
manager was ready to approach a customer who was perfectly suited
to influence the prospective client, but hesitated when an open sup-
port ticket was discovered. However, he decided to approach the cli-
ent anyway—and was glad he did because the customer was more
than enthusiastic about providing a reference. Why would someone
do that?
Gladstein cautions marketers not to automatically regard a sup-
port ticket as an indicator of a poor customer relationship. In fact, an
open support ticket could mean that the customer trusts your company
and support staff enough to solve system issues in a timely manner.
That’s an example of an advocate marketing program changing the
paradigm around customer support because companies with active
support tickets actually can be a better reference for your company
if they believe that your business delivers fantastic customer support.

Creating a Top-Down Internal Advocate

Culture
According to Gladstein, the most essential attribute to start
and maintain a successful advocate marketing program is executive
leadership. Top managers have the power to promote an advocate-
oriented culture throughout the company. It is important that the
CEO or executive sponsor reinforce the message that customers are
critical for success. Gladstein understands that the CEO must plant
the seed, but each business unit within the company must take the
initiative to fully embrace and nurture that relationship through a
customer-centric mantra. Momentum generally starts with account
 CHAPTER 6 • BREAKING PAST THE “PRESS RELEASE” GOAL 67

managers, customer support specialists, or customer success business

units—those who are closest to customers on a day-to-day basis—and
expands across to business line leaders who need referrals and case
studies to support their sales within their domain. An example is the
company’s content team that manages webinars and special events
where speakers can share their third-party experience for using the
product to address a business challenge.
Customer relationships touch every part of your organization.
Large companies that use traditional operating models have well-
defined processes that dictate who is authorized to contact a customer,
who owns the relationship, and how many times the customer is con-
tacted by different parts of the organization. According to Gladstein,
advocate marketing strategies challenge the traditional approach by
taking a subset of customers and establishing new relationships that
plug them into other customer-related business processes, thus taking
a comprehensive approach to product development and go-to-market
strategy.
Managing that kind of change isn’t easy. Gladstein encourages
companies to move slowly and adopt the strategic model used by
Rapid7 by starting with an executive sponsor, a high-level, highly
influential, visible leader who takes ownership for driving change.
Executive sponsors not only inspire the organization to change behav-
ior, adopt new practices, and modify its culture, but they also fight for
the initiative among their peers at the executive level, all the way up to
the CEO. They support the initiative from a political perspective, help
to acquire resources and eliminate obstacles, and mentor the initia-
tive’s key change agents. A customer-centric leadership ensures that
your company implements a culture that is open to change, and this
from-the-top perspective is key to making it successful by sending a
powerful message of support for an initiative or program of corporate-
wide visibility and endorsement. Executive support also ensures other
business units will lend support to the program.
68 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Measure What You Manage

An emerging industry best practice for advocate marketing
includes implementing technology to track and measure advocates’
activities and preferences. Measuring customer feedback through
defined and tested data points identifies how much progress is made
toward customer satisfaction goals. Tracking of qualitative and quan-
titative metrics of success are vital to any program, especially the
advocacy marketing program. Gladstein recommends that compa-
nies start by identifying metrics that align with measures of success
used by their executives, even if this is difficult. Gladstein encourages
companies to start with metrics that gain visibility and importance
with top executives and are in line with the organization’s operational
goals, including the following:

• Sales metrics—The effect of advocate marketing strategies can

be measured by identifying leads and sales that are influenced
through campaign metrics or lead-generation metrics, such as
influence on pipeline, on revenue, or on support renewals. By
identifying deals that are impacted, companies can establish
the percent of pipeline and revenue growth that can be attrib-
uted to your advocacy program.
• Marketing metrics—Gladstein recommends tracking market-
ing metrics, such as simple page views and downloads. If your
advocates are publishing their own content, track how many
leads their blogs are generating as a measure of their influence.
• Internal metrics—Customer success metrics, such as the Net
Promoter Score (NPS) or internal metrics (e.g., membership
rate or other customer satisfaction measurements), provide
organization-specific metrics that gauge how you are meeting
customer satisfaction and places to improve. Gladstein also
suggests tracking the percentage of customers who are mem-
bers of your advocacy program, as well as engagement rate
and engagement frequency—how often they publicly advocate
for you.
 CHAPTER 6 • BREAKING PAST THE “PRESS RELEASE” GOAL 69

Those reliable metrics help track the success of the program itself.
Choose goals and thresholds that the entire team can embrace and
achieve in order to show that your company is engaging with custom-
ers in a meaningful way beyond simply participating in news releases.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Eliminate the belief that the end goal of advocacy is a customer

quote in a press release.
• Advocate marketing strategies help build genuine customer
loyalty and convert that enthusiasm into acts of support.
• Create an internal advocate culture from the top down.
• Adopt the “give now and receive later” attitude.
• Companies can validate the effectiveness of their advocate strat-
egies by measuring a broad range of sales, marketing, or mem-
bership activities that are affected by customer endorsements.

About Brian Gladstein

Brian Gladstein is the executive vice president of technology mar-
keting at GYK Antler, a full-service marketing agency that acquired
his previous company, Explorics. Brian continues the work he started
at Explorics, specializing in advocacy and loyalty marketing programs
for the B2B high-tech industry. Gladstein has launched dozens of
products, starting as a developer and evolving into a marketer after
he realized he enjoyed talking to customers. He has held senior roles
at RSA, Bit9, and several other Boston start-ups. Throughout his
career, he has promoted the idea that customers are a huge source
70 ADVOCATE MARKETING

of untapped potential, and now helps clients grow by inspiring their

customers to engage in acts of advocacy on their behalf. Brian is
also a co-organizer of the Lean Startup Challenge, a six-week start-
up competition in Boston based on the Lean Startup methodology
by Eric Ries. Gladstein is an expert at applying Lean Startup, Cus-
tomer Development, and Business Model Generation practices to
both early-stage and growth-stage companies, and actively coaches
numerous start-ups in Boston and beyond. Gladstein holds a bachelor
of science in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and a master of business administration from the Stan-
ford University Graduate School of Business.

Brian Is an Advocate

“My wife and I are big fans of Trader Joe’s, a popular grocery
store chain. In particular, what we really like is the remarkable service
that you get from the moment you walk in the door. It’s like you’re
walking in and interacting with people who are like you. They like
being there and really want to help. What makes us advocates, and
not just happy customers, is how whenever we serve food from Trader
Joe’s, we always tell people where we got it from. We tell people to
shop there. We genuinely enjoy being customers there and feel like
part of their tribe.”

Endnote
1. http://www.instituteforpr.org/examining-social-emerging-media-used-public-
relations/
 7
Overcoming Skepticism with Open
Communications

What should a marketer do when the customer base and tar-

get audience include people who are better known for privacy and
skepticism than for being enthusiastic brand advocates? That was the
dilemma for Rapid7 (discussed earlier), a leading information tech-
nology security data and analytics provider of products and services
that are widely used by IT security analysts and network administra-
tors—just the people who do not like the spotlight. Engaging Rapid7’s
customer base of IT security professionals to leverage the benefits
of advocate marketing was a strategic business goal the company’s
customer alignment and experience program manager, Evan Jacobs,
wanted to achieve.
Jacobs met that challenge by implementing an innovative advo-
cate marketing program whose success has amazed both him and his
executives, thanks to strategies that have transformed customers into
fiercely loyal supporters.

Open Communication, Not Bigger Walls

Rapid7’s success can, in part, be attributed to its “Customer Suc-
cess” approach. Whereas some companies take an insular approach to
addressing growing IT security threats, Rapid7 has a more progressive
perspective. They urge security professionals to share their knowl-
edge and experiences with effective security tools and services with
71
72 ADVOCATE MARKETING

industry peers. “It’s not just about building bigger walls around your
company so it will be less likely to be breached than your competi-
tors,” Jacobs says. Rapid7 encourages customers to create a broader
culture that maintains “We’re all in this together so let’s help each
other fight threats while we’re helping our vendor make better prod-
ucts.” In the spirit of innovation and community-building, Rapid7
developed its online community—Rapid7 Community—that has
empowered IT security professionals to share the latest industry best
practices and help one another protect their digital infrastructures
from ever-present threats. In addition, customer discussion forums
have become a focal point where users publicly promote the benefits
of Rapid7’s products and share knowledge for optimizing use of the
company’s software solution.

Customer-Centric Approach Builds

Customer Loyalty
“From its origins, being customer-centric has been imbued in
Rapid7’s corporate DNA,” Jacobs said. The company believes that
strong partnerships with loyal customers are as important to its mar-
ket growth as its ability to deliver innovative products. In addition,
he believes their customer-centric relationships go hand in hand
with their approach to advocate marketing. Customers are rapidly
becoming advocates for Rapid7 because of the value and benefits
they receive that inspire loyalty and the desire to participate in news
releases, video testimonials, or case studies. Through sharing infor-
mation among themselves, customers attain a heightened level of
understanding to leverage Rapid7’s solutions to enhance their secu-
rity posture and offer feedback for future enhancements to even bet-
ter help them achieve their security goals. Through this engagement,
customers help Rapid7 build better products and services because
they benefit in the end.
 CHAPTER 7 • OVERCOMING SKEPTICISM WITH OPEN COMMUNICATIONS 73

One success that illustrates its customer-centric commitment is

Rapid7 Voice, one of the leading vehicles through which customer
engagement is delivered. With just over 10 percent customer partici-
pation, Rapid 7 Voice recognizes IT security professionals who both
implement best practices—including adoption of Rapid7 technol-
ogy solutions—and publicly share their success stories with industry
peers. “Customers love the program,” Jacobs says. Another aspect to
the Rapid7 Voice program is that it provides customers with early
access to new products and capabilities, and empowers customers to
provide feedback on the company’s products directly to engineers
and product managers. The Rapid7 Voice program has grown quickly
over the past few years, with more than 10 percent of the company’s
customers actively participating in the program.

Advocates Ensure Successful Product

Launch
Rapid7 organizes customer teams under its Design Partner Pro-
gram to provide feedback for a solution during its development jour-
ney. Rapid7 Voice’s Design Partner Program lets customer partners
provide early and direct feedback on new features being developed.
This ensures that the voice of the customer is embedded in the prod-
uct, which brings credibility and acceptance across industry peers.
In effect, Advocate Marketing is Rapid7’s primary road map for how
it works with customer advocates. It provides value to customers by
ensuring that their operational needs are met and deepens engage-
ments. Only at this threshold does Rapid7 reach out to customers and
ask them to advocate.
During a recent 18-month period, Rapid7 invited 12 customers
to participate in the product development process from ideation to
launch. Rapid7 was testing a new concept that was significantly dif-
ferent from its existing product line so the development team was
74 ADVOCATE MARKETING

interested in how customers, some of whom could become potential

buyers, would react. Customer reaction was also valuable because
developers could observe firsthand how frontline professionals inter-
acted with the system, and whether the software features addressed
real-life issues for participants. The solution eventually enjoyed a
highly successful rollout, thanks in large part to customer input.
Following the rollout, some of the customer team members
extended their advocacy efforts by speaking at Rapid7 road shows
and customer conferences. This greatly increased users’ confidence,
knowing that the solution was tested by their peer frontline profes-
sionals who understand their operational challenges.
Jacobs says customer influence is important because IT secu-
rity professionals are pressured to keep their servers and databases
safe, and they depend on Rapid7 solutions to help meet that goal.
Customers want to influence industry solutions because they want
to make security products stronger, and by optimizing all of the solu-
tion capabilities to fortify their operations, industry solutions become
more robust and comprehensive. Despite being under time pressure,
a growing number of customers make the time to provide feedback
because they love the product and want to make sure that it continues
to meet their unique requirements.

Advocacy Options for Sensitive B2B

Industries
Professionals who support B2B organizations that manage sen-
sitive information (such as financial services, health-care providers,
and law firms) are often barred from any mention in press releases or
case studies. Many companies have strict policies that prohibit these
professionals from speaking publicly about any aspect of their infor-
mation security efforts, which includes mentioning specific vendors,
tools, or technologies. However, Jacobs reminds marketers that there
 CHAPTER 7 • OVERCOMING SKEPTICISM WITH OPEN COMMUNICATIONS 75

are many other alternatives to enable those professionals to become

advocates, including the following:

• Guest blogging—Some companies have flexible policies

around guest blogging or posting messages to social media plat-
forms like Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Closed-door speaking opportunities—They can speak to
groups that hold members-only meetings. In some cases, they
can attend a meeting as a private citizen but cannot disclose
their company title or their company affiliations.
• Webcasts—They can host a webcast, reaching a broad audi-
ence of current customers as well as prospective customers and
others interested in emerging InfoSec topics.

There are many other creative ways that customers can operate
within their corporate policies and still have the ability to speak pub-
licly. They can be approved if the opportunity is presented as one
in which speakers will share knowledge and best practices such as
tips and tricks for optimizing their user experience with our software
product. In fact, Jacobs says, some customers are grateful that Rapid7
helps them gain approval for an advocacy opportunity because they
look forward to opportunities to share knowledge about the compa-
ny’s products as well as some background about their own security
program.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Rapid7’s advocate marketing program shows that a customer-

centric approach to advocacy can inspire customer loyalty and
encourage companies to participate in information sharing and
product promotion.
76 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Customers who are invited to provide input into the develop-

ment of new solutions help to ensure that the resulting prod-
uct meets market demands. Those customers also promote the
solution at road show events and user conferences.
• Professionals in B2B firms that handle sensitive information
may be able to leverage other advocacy options, such as speak-
ing at closed-door events or guest blogging if they are barred
from public endorsements.

About Evan Jacobs

Evan Jacobs is the customer alignment and experience program
manager at Rapid7, representing the voice of Rapid7’s customers
across the organization and building strong, meaningful partnerships
that deliver value for the company’s customers. In this role, Evan
drives the customer engagement strategy with an emphasis on creat-
ing deep understanding between the company and its customers to
benefit all parties. This includes ideation, design partnership, and beta
programs, as well as user groups and customer advocacy programs.
These engagement programs now involve more than 10 percent of
Rapid7’s customer base, and were integral in bringing two brand-new
security analytics solutions to market in late 2013. Prior to joining
Rapid7, Evan was in strategy consulting for five years, most recently
as a senior consultant with Peppers & Rogers Group, a boutique con-
sulting firm solely focused on customer-centricity. Evan holds BA and
MBA degrees from Columbia University.

Evan Is an Advocate

“For a long time I had heard about Wegman’s, but until recently
there weren’t stores in my local area. I had heard that they were
legendary for having great service and for just being a fun place to
 CHAPTER 7 • OVERCOMING SKEPTICISM WITH OPEN COMMUNICATIONS 77

shop. They finally opened a location in the Boston area that is close to
where I live. When they opened, there were a couple thousand peo-
ple lined up outside the door, even in rainy weather. I finally had the
opportunity to see it for myself. Now, I will talk them up to anyone.
It’s more fun shopping there than at any other chain. That elevated
shopping experience made it more fun. Now it’s a box you’ve got to
check on your weekend to-do list. It has shaken up the market in this
region. Wegman’s has redefined what a great place to shop is. They
have elevated the standard.”
This page intentionally left blank
 8
Innovative Marketing Strategy Propels
Intel to Successful Global
Product Launch

In 2012, Intel, one of the world’s leading providers of innovative

computing technology, was preparing to launch a new line of tab-
let computers. Tablet industry sales were soaring, experts were pre-
dicting a strong growth trajectory, and Intel officials saw tablets as a
natural extension of their business. Even though it possessed valu-
able assets, including a highly regarded global brand, Intel would be
launching new products into a highly competitive market in which
industry leaders Microsoft and Samsung were among the businesses
already well established in the consumer tablet market.
Sandra Lopez, director of marketing for new business at that
time, was tasked with leading the effort to promote the company’s
new tablet product line. An award-winning marketer known for her
entrepreneurial spirit, Lopez had an impressive track record for
launching new initiatives during her ten-year tenure at Intel. Scott
Jaworski, Intel’s head of buzz marketing for the company’s new busi-
ness organization, was selected to manage the program.
As they developed strategies for the product launch, Lopez and
Jaworski recognized that an advocate-focused strategy, with social
media engagement and outreach as its foundation, would play a cen-
tral role in the plan to introduce Intel’s tablets. They discussed pos-
sible strategic approaches: Should they create content to distribute
through existing social platforms or recruit advocates to create their

79
80 ADVOCATE MARKETING

own content to share their stories? After deep risk-to-reward strat-

egizing and cost-benefit analysis, they selected the latter alternative.
Intel has already invested considerable energy to expand and
leverage social strategies internally and within its market. The com-
pany had already incorporated two-way communication into its cor-
porate marketing toolkit as part of a commitment to be a leader in
social media. In addition, Intel marketers discovered that a cohort
of online brand advocates was already posting valuable feedback on
online forums.
Lopez’ vision was to create a campaign that was creatively dis-
ruptive, and not dependent on cost-prohibitive media. Instead, Intel
chose to unleash an army of advocates to share product information.
The goal would be to show the value of Intel tablets to thousands of
prospective buyers online via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and
other social media sites—a kind of virtual flash mob.
The campaign was based on a simple underlying principle:
Empower advocates to share their story and let Intel’s product stand
on its own merit. Lopez believed Intel’s advocates could provide a
competitive advantage by becoming a de facto sales and marketing
channel for the company.
To support the program, Lopez and Jaworski enlisted two sets
of advocates: nearly 75 external bloggers, each a well-known domain
expert, and nearly 350 volunteers from Intel’s workforce. Leveraging
influencers from verticals other than marketing sent a powerful mes-
sage that Intel tablets could deliver value to audiences across a broad
spectrum of interests.
Jaworski also organized teams of employees, armed with appropri-
ate training, to create buzz around Intel tablets by engaging consum-
ers on leading social platforms. The program allowed Intel colleagues
to step away from their day-to-day routine and transform themselves
into an army of enthusiastic online brand advocates. Eventually, the
almost 350-employee team became known as the “Tablet Smart
Squad” in recognition of the immense talent of Intel’s staff. Team
 CHAPTER 8 • INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY PROPELS 81
INTEL TO SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH

members completed a three-part training curriculum to ensure they

understood overall strategy, value proposition, and product features.
Intel’s training ensured compliance with rules adopted by the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) for employee-driven advocacy programs.
The FTC requires companies to train brand advocates on product
features and capabilities to avoid making false or misleading claims.
Advocates are also required to disclose their relationship with Intel, in
accordance with the requirement that employees reveal any material
relationship, including employment, that they have with the product
or brand they promote.
The program, which began as a pilot, enabled Lopez and Jaworski
to show that advocacy campaigns could be an effective way to launch
new products. In addition, Lopez and Jaworski decided to test the
Tablet Smart Squad’s ability to help drive sell-through to retail outlets
by amplifying retailers’ promotions that were supporting Intel-based
tablets. After providing guidance on the promotion itself, they simply
asked the Squad to help promote it. Within 24 hours, they advised
the Squad to stop the promotion because the campaign had quickly
achieved its objectives—to drive sales.1 Overall, it was clear that Tab-
let Smart Squad advocacy can work.
In addition, the team created a Twitter hashtag, #TabletTipTues-
day, that encouraged and enabled anyone to share a tablet application
tip on Tuesdays. This provided a natural platform for participation by
Intel’s partners and its internal advocates. In addition, they created
the hashtag #IntelTablets to track social conversations.
During its two-year existence, the Tablet Smart Squad campaign
brought increased visibility to Intel tablets across seven countries
and nine social networks, and clearly demonstrated that a company’s
employees can serve as an effective marketing channel. The cam-
paign’s success generated several more requests from Intel businesses
to launch other new products. To date, Jaworski has guided about 12
Tablet Smart Squad teams that have helped Intel businesses create
buzz for a variety of new product lines.
82 ADVOCATE MARKETING

In her new capacity, Lopez is responsible for new Intel product

launch promotions for the Wearable Tech in Intel’s Fashion business
line. To be sure, she continues to adapt and support the Smart Squad
philosophy by emphasizing the importance of influencers, advocates,
and loyalists in the fashion vertical.
Due to its great success, Intel has received a number of pres-
tigious awards from respected marketing organizations, including
the American Advertising Award,2 formerly called the Addy, and the
2013 Hub Prize, gold level,3 which validated the success of Intel’s
advocate marketing strategy. In particular, Hub Magazine applauded
the campaign for “Excellent use of the most important resource of
any company—its own employees.” In addition, Lopez received the
2013 Marketers That Matter award.4 Not surprisingly, a member of
a judging committee, a senior-level marketing executive for a leading
furniture company, approached Intel team members about adopting
the Smart Squad concept.
Other measures of the tablet campaign’s success included exter-
nal influencers and Smart Squad teams that delivered a combined
audience of 4 million people, while producing nearly 85,000 online
activities, which generated an estimated 49 million impressions.

Smart Squad’s Success Goes Beyond

Marketing Achievements
Beyond its marketing achievements, Smart Squad also proved to
be a major employee relations success as well. Intel has more than
100,000 employees across facilities in 46 countries. The company’s
massive scale makes it nearly impossible for an individual employ-
ee’s contribution to be visible at the consumer level. In fact, there’s
a risk that some people can become siloed and personnel teams frac-
tured. Smart Squad brought together participants from 20 different
Intel business lines. Accustomed to working anonymously to support
 CHAPTER 8 • INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY PROPELS 83
INTEL TO SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH

development and production of Intel technology, employees found

themselves engaging directly with customers, and providing product
information and other insights that promoted the advantages of Intel
technology. Some had to overcome a lack of experience on engag-
ing social media—one employee remarked that his granddaughter
helped him create a Twitter account so he could participate. Jaworski
was amazed at the level of passion and interest demonstrated by Intel
employees brought together from a range of disciplines and pushed to
the front lines where products are activated and deployed.
Today, the Smart Squad footprint extends from North America
to markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and mainland China;
this poses some unique cultural and political issues for Intel market-
ers. Jaworski said Chinese audiences are less apt to speak candidly
about a private organization. Instead, they use aliases. Social channels
are more suspect. Still, they were able to influence audiences in that
region.
Several Intel veterans told Jaworski that participating on Smart
Squad was the first time they felt like they were contributing to the
company’s bottom line. Marketing Programs Manager Sylvia Salazar
was one such example.
Salazar joined the Tablet Smart Squad while serving as a product
marketing engineer. It was her first opportunity to interact directly
with consumers and educate them about Intel technology. Like many
of her colleagues, she was excited for firsthand exposure to prospec-
tive buyers. She created YouTube videos about the different Intel
tablets on the market and provided content that articulated critical
differences between Intel tablets and its competitors’. Those vid-
eos started several online conversations—and offline too. According
to Salazar, some people who saw her posts on Facebook or Twitter
would approach her at the gym. One person told her, “Hey, my mom
is thinking about a Windows tablet and I saw your video. Now she’s
getting an Intel-based Windows tablet.” Being recognized as an Intel
staffer never happened before when she worked on other product
teams.
84 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Salazar’s Smart Squad experience has influenced how she now

approaches her work. In her current role as a marketing programs
manager, she produces internal marketing programs to educate
employees about a variety of Intel products and how they perform.
Salazar said her Smart Squad experience alerted her to the need for
internal marketing programs for employees that now support new
program volunteers.
One of her greatest challenges was to create video content that
was compelling enough that people would watch it, short enough to
be effective, but long enough to be informative. One of the videos that
Salazar produced featured time-lapse photography of three tablets,
each running full-feature films. The video starts with fully charged
tablets, and then shows how many full-length feature films can be
played on each tablet. To meet real market needs, Lopez believes the
video content rings true to everyone who travels. As someone who
often takes coast-to-coast flights, she knows this firsthand. One of the
most popular questions consumers will ask is “How many movies can
I watch on this device? How long can I watch TV?” Creating that
video was a clear-cut way to answer the question.

Divisions Between Traditionalists and

Advocate Marketing Proponents
Lopez said the Smart Squad’s emergence as a key marketing
tool has helped generate considerable interest from other Intel busi-
ness lines that want to implement advocate marketing strategies.
Increased demand has also divided promotional professionals into
two distinct camps. The first are social media advocates who believe
that two-way communication is driven by online brand advocates; this
camp represents the new wave of marketing. The second is the tradi-
tional marketers who believe direct mail, space ads, and other forms
of marketing lead the campaign and Smart Squads complement the
 CHAPTER 8 • INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY PROPELS 85
INTEL TO SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH

traditional forms. Traditionalists are not sold on advocate strategies

because they believe promotional performance should be measured
by widely accepted metrics such as gross rating points (GRP). In
addition, they prefer to give spokespeople scripts rather than play-
books. When marketers place an advertisement on television, GRP
tells them how many people were reached. Lopez said marketers
who embrace advocate marketing strategies, powered by activity on
social media platforms, believe in the mantra “do more, go fast, get
creative, embrace the power of social media and what it can do for
your company’s bottom line.” More and more of these cutting-edge
practitioners believe socially driven advocacy can generate a “positive
network” effect—the power of one user to impact the perceived value
of that product to other people. Studied and verified through inde-
pendent research, over time, the positive network effects help create
a bandwagon that more and more people join. Lopez acknowledges
that social media metrics in marketing are in their infancy; there is not
yet an accepted measurement that equates to GRP. That leads tradi-
tionalists to question the value of social media’s impact. One thing is
certain, however—keeping an open mind and willingness to try new
marketing tactics and techniques is crucial for success in any business.
Overall, Lopez says, Smart Squads have become great case stud-
ies for other organizations that take Intel’s advocate marketing play-
book and build their own programs. The first step is for marketers
to trust their colleagues and provide adequate employee training to
ensure they can be successful and compliant with legal requirements.
Marketers are accustomed to using platforms such as Facebook, Twit-
ter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. However, many nonmarketers may not
use social media channels regularly, so it was essential for Lopez and
Jaworski to provide a support structure where employees could obtain
answers at all hours regarding Intel tablets as well as how to use social
media applications. Infrastructure for the advocates was key for their
success and the campaign’s success.
86 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Smart Lessons Learned

After two years of successful Smart Squad implementations, Lopez
and Jaworski came away with several key takeaways. One takeaway is
that money makes a person lazy. From a marketing standpoint, Lopez
contends a big budget does not guarantee success. Success requires
that marketing professionals must be super creative and be aware of
every possible asset in terms of communication channels. Overcoming
the lack of resources requires creative tactics. Also, understanding the
consumers—especially advocates—is critical at a fundamental level.
They have the capability to help achieve breakthroughs to increase
product recognition and strengthen the corporate brand.
Jaworski added that when addressing new marketing challenges,
he now always begins by asking, “How can I bring in influencers to
tell the story?”

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Lacking resources for a traditional advertising campaign, Intel

marketers developed an award-winning, creative advocacy
marketing strategy to introduce a new tablet to the market.
• Smart Squads that included advocates helped Intel promote
new tablets on social media platforms, generating 24-hour sell-
out situations with retailers.
• Thousands of impressions from potential buyers across diverse
interests generated excitement among longtime employees and
made them feel valued and special.
• Keep an open mind to new tactics and techniques because you
never know where the next strategic marketing idea will come
from.
 CHAPTER 8 • INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY PROPELS 87
INTEL TO SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH

About Sandra Lopez

Sandra Lopez joined Intel in 2005 as a B2B integrated market-
ing manager. Leveraging her rich and proven marketing experience
within the technology sector, she quickly began to transform B2B mar-
keting. She was then chartered to drive Intel’s Consumer Marketing
Strategy group, from which she led Intel’s focus on the Masterbrand,
Intel, as well as the launch of the award-winning campaign “Spon-
sors of Tomorrow.” Recently, Lopez focused on launching Intel’s first
smartphone and Android-based tablets. Currently, she is responsible
for driving Intel’s Wearable Business Development Strategy within
the fashion vertical. She has been a leading voice on driving the con-
vergence between fashion and technology.
She has been recipient of several accolades: 2013 Marketers That
Matter, Cannes Lions, David Ogilvy, Effie, Addy Awards, and Intel’s
Achievement Award.
Prior to her tenure at Intel, Lopez worked at Macromedia as
senior director for Macromedia. Before that, Lopez served as mar-
keting manager with Computer Associates. She brings over 17 years
of experience in marketing within the technology and fashion sector.
Her tenacity to deliver impact extends beyond the walls of Intel.
Lopez is a member of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Respon-
sibility: Corporate Executive Forum—a program that provides the
most senior Hispanic corporate executives at Fortune 500 a forum to
discuss business issues, challenges, and solutions, and provide men-
torship for the next generation.

Sandra Is an Advocate

Sandra is an advocate of WUNWUN—What You Want When

You Want. Its concierge delivery services have made life more con-
venient for her and her family. There are situations in which Lopez
needed to get product from point A to point B within an hour in the
88 ADVOCATE MARKETING

same city; WUNWUN made it happen. Or, when she is too busy to
pick up groceries, she can request WUNWUN and have the goods
delivered within an hour—giving her the time to focus on her family.

About Scott Jaworski

With more than a decade in interactive marketing from major
Web sites to grassroots social campaigns, Scott Jaworski is a strategic
leader who knows how to get things done. Jaworski joined Intel in
2011 as a marketing manager for AppUp. As director of AppUp.com
and its social footprint, he focused on customer acquisition. In just
one year, Jaworski was invited to join the Intel Ambassador program
and was tapped to head buzz marketing for new business. In this role,
Jaworski led internal and external social influencer programs aimed
at having a lasting impact on Intel’s consumers. Today, Jaworski can
be found on a team leading Intel’s global digital and social strategies.
Before he joined Intel, Jaworski served as director of interactive
marketing and technology for HookUp Feed, where he led its tech-
nology team and served as chief strategist for all Tier-1 accounts; his
clients included the likes of Aramark, Sam’s Club, and Pier 1. Preced-
ing HookUp Feed, he served as vice president, interactive services for
Posner Advertising and managing director of interactive marketing
and creative services at Global Fluency. He has also held senior posi-
tions at MortgageIT (a Deutsche Bank subsidiary) and CNN.

Scott Is an Advocate

“The product I am a devoted advocate for is Burton. Burton, a

snowboard and apparel manufacturer that originated in Manchester,
Vermont, was started by Jake Burton, a fellow Northeast snowboarder
and one of the sports pioneers. As a young kid, I would go to the ‘local’
Burton shop in Manchester where I would buy demo boards that the
Burton team riders (whom I aspired to be) were testing. The first time
 CHAPTER 8 • INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGY PROPELS 89
INTEL TO SUCCESSFUL GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH

I put a (Burton) board to my feet was in 1990 at a local Vermont moun-

tain—Stratton. I’ve been riding Burton exclusively (Cruise 165, M8,
PJ, Air 6.1, Twin 158, BMC, and Custom X) and have since started
purchasing their garments and gear. Having been snowboarding in
Europe (Switzerland, Italy, and Austria), British Columbia (Whistler
and Blackcomb), and across the majority of our own U.S. mountain
ranges, I think it’s fair to say I’ve done my fair share of stress test-
ing Burton products, and they haven’t failed me yet. Thanks to their
high-quality products, great customer support, and business values,
consider me a lifer. Thanks, Jake!”

About Sylvia Salazar

Sylvia Salazar joined Intel in 2003 as a software engineer in the
Technology and Manufacturing Group and currently works as a mar-
keting programs manager for the Client Computing Group. Salazar is
known for her creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, especially when
it comes to looking at fresh, compelling ways of delivering messages
and demonstrations, and clearly illustrating product benefits to her
audience. She loves to learn new things and loves to share her knowl-
edge with others. She uses these talents to lead creative marketing
efforts around some of our coolest PC products and technologies.
Salazar is a graduate of the University of Miami.

Sylvia Is an Advocate

“I’m a huge advocate for a workout company called The Bar

Method. It’s a bar-inspired—not drinking bar but a ballet barre—
workout. It’s a combination of yoga, Pilates, and dance conditioning.
I started doing it over three years ago and it completely transformed
my body. I lost eleven inches in less than three months. I’ve seen how
it transforms not only people physically but also mentally. You learn
90 ADVOCATE MARKETING

that you can push yourself beyond the limits you initially set for your-
self. The community is also very strong; I’ve created some amazing
friendships with some of the other women. It’s also very interesting
to me that it’s a very low-impact workout. I’m an indoor person, so I
don’t like going outside even though I live in Oregon. I like working
out in an air-conditioned room indoors. You don’t sweat very much
and it’s turned me into a morning person. So I usually work out at six
o’clock in the morning, which means I have to wake up at five. It’s
very Zen for my mind; it quiets my thoughts so I can get a workout
in, and then I can calm my head and shut it down a little bit for an
hour. And then I come out and I’m calmer; I can see things a little
bit differently. I’m constantly talking about it on Facebook. I actually
used to be an instructor, but I had to stop because it interfered with
my Intel work. I have to travel too much for Intel work and I couldn’t
keep teaching.”

Endnotes
1. Lopez cautions the sell-through could have been impacted by many other vari-
ables, including the retail sales price (RSP) or the terms of the promotional offer
itself.

2. American Advertising Awards are sponsored by the American Advertising Fed-

eration and recognize the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

3. Hub Prize is sponsored by Hub Magazine in recognition of excellence in the

brand experience. Submissions are judged based on whether the brand expe-
rience served a purpose, solved a problem, and made everyday life better for
people. http://www.hubmagazine.com/hub-prize/

4. Marketers That Matter is sponsored by Sage Group and The Wall Street Journal
in recognition of Bay Area marketing leaders who lead and inspire teams, innova-
tively engage customers, and leverage new technologies to drive success. http://
www.marketersthatmatter.com/award
 9
Citrix Moves from Customer Content
Factory Model to Content Showroom

CIOs make purchasing decisions 25 percent faster when they’re

supplied with a reference, according to a 2010 Gartner report.1 Cus-
tomer references are one of the best marketing tools a company has
at its disposal, but many organizations aren’t tapping into the power
of this resource. There are a couple of reasons why. Either they don’t
know how to start or they don’t have resources to do so. How many
times have you read an article in which the company tells you how
terrific its products and services are but nowhere can you find veri-
fications from its customers? Companies can say anything they want,
right?
“Nothing sells better than customers selling to other customers.”
This is one of Lee Rubin’s favorite phrases from his senior vice presi-
dent of sales at Citrix. Rubin, senior manager of the Citrix’s Global
Reference Programs, is a member of a highly successful team that
has implemented a wide range of advocate marketing strategies that
are helping Citrix successfully market its products across the globe.
In fact, Citrix was named Program of the Year for Customer Expe-
rience & Account-Based Marketing at the SiriusDecisions Summit
2015. By providing innovative technology solutions, enabling more
than 330,000 organizations worldwide to work more effectively, Citrix
is a top industry performer with 100 million users globally and 2014
earnings of $3.14 billion.

91
92 ADVOCATE MARKETING

“Our customers talk about the products they use every day,” Rubin
said. “They provide firsthand, trusted, and vocal feedback about our
company and our products. And they’re more valuable to us than any
advertisement that we could buy.”

Citrix’s Community and Customer

Marketing Infrastructure
According to Rubin, the secret to the company’s success is equally
simple: His team delivers customer stories to account representatives
at the moment in the sales cycle when they’re needed most, moving
from a customer content factory model to that of a content showroom.
By delivering customer stories to the sales representatives throughout
the selling process, they win more deals and close them quicker. This
has a positive bottom-line impact for the program and the company.
Citrix’s Community and Customer Marketing infrastructure has
four primary areas:

• Community programs—Coordinate user groups, online

communities, and the Citrix Technology Professional program
• Reference programs—Include the sales and marketing help
desk, reference database management, and Customer Refer-
ence Forums
• Strategic customer program—Takes responsibility for advi-
sory boards, recognition programs, advocacy, and producing all
customer videos
• Content marketing—Develops case studies, customer slides,
infographics, and e-studies

The Citrix Community and Customer Marketing team work with

nine industry verticals and five overarching product groups, each
overseeing three to five products. Rubin’s team tracks the Reference
 CHAPTER 9 • CITRIX MOVES FROM CUSTOMER CONTENT 93
FACTORY MODEL TO CONTENT SHOWROOM

Engagement Value (REV) of the programs throughout Citrix’s sales

pipeline. The REV measures the value a reference has within the
pipeline to influence and help close a deal to a successful win. In
2014, Citrix’s REV equaled $500 million from the marketing efforts
of Rubin’s Community and Customer Marketing team. This was a 40
percent increase compared with the prior year. Additional 2014 year-
end metrics confirmed that over 2013, a 150 percent increase in sales
reference utilization, a 133 percent increase in marketing reference
utilization, and a 67 percent increase in closed/won revenue.
Rather than just creating a video or a written case study, Citrix
leverages the content and repurposes it to use for other areas, creat-
ing a full bill of materials (BOM), including a video, the case study
text, a list of approved quotes, and a hundred-word executive sum-
mary of the case study that the public relations (PR) and analyst rela-
tions (AR) teams use to help pitch stories for customer interviews.
They also craft social media text (which generates hundreds of social
media impressions), infographics, e-studies, presentation slides that
can easily slip into a sales representative’s presentation deck, and
product spotlight text.
Rubin’s content team members work with about 12 customers
each quarter on a case study. Typically, a case study may take as long
as three months or more to complete due to the need to finalize cus-
tomer reviews and approvals. However, Citrix creates a 100-word
executive summary within 48 hours of an interview. This executive
summary allows the communications team the ability to start pitching
the stories immediately so that stories are not embargoed while wait-
ing for PR or AR to pitch them. This saves time, eliminates delays,
and keeps everyone enthusiastic throughout the engagement experi-
ence—especially the customer. Delays can sometimes equal derail-
ments and/or disinterests.
During the program’s early stages, Rubin says the team focused
on producing content. Citrix now calls it The Content Factory, and it
delivers content—684 reference assets—conveniently via an online
94 ADVOCATE MARKETING

search capability searchable by product and industry. Rubin and his

eight-member team are responsible for references and testimonials.
His team provides a reference help desk where they help stakehold-
ers address more complex requests.

Implementing and Leveraging Customer

Reference Forums
A key element of Rubin’s reference strategy is the quarterly Cus-
tomer Reference Forum, which is an invitation-only, online round-
table discussion moderated by Citrix’s thought leaders. These are
aimed at deals in the pipeline that are at 60 percent of the sales cycle
or higher, and are designed to help the sales teams close deals and
win contracts. The Customer Reference Forum session begins with a
moderated discussion featuring a Citrix customer followed by a Q&A
session with the attendees. Customers do not give a presentation;
they simply talk about how they evaluated, implemented, and/or use
the Citrix solution. Registering attendees are asked to send questions
in advance so the customer can address their queries as part of the
discussion. Held as a webinar, this is a low-cost effort whether one
person or a thousand people attend. The session is recorded but not
shared openly online for the public. The recording is sent to those
who registered to attend but, due to one reason or another, could not
attend. Ideally, they will hear the questions they hoped to ask in the
recording.
Since Citrix started holding quarterly Customer Reference
Forums, requests for live one-on-one customer reference calls have
dramatically decreased. Previously, at the end of every quarter,
Rubin’s team fielded nearly 50 requests each month for peer-to-peer
calls. On a given quarter now, they get about 4 requests.
 CHAPTER 9 • CITRIX MOVES FROM CUSTOMER CONTENT 95
FACTORY MODEL TO CONTENT SHOWROOM

Creating the Content Showroom

Rubin’s team received recent feedback from salespeople that cur-
rent processes and tools were hindering their ability to access content.
The sales representatives use tablets and smartphones while out in
the field visiting prospects and need to be able to access customer
evidence anywhere and at any time. So Citrix recently launched a new
reference database tool.
In partnership with Salesforce.com and Ethos, Citrix is develop-
ing a new reference application that is tile-based and allows its sales
reps to see all the references located in the database. When they click
into a reference record, they get rich, detailed information that com-
bines reference record and account information.
Rubin says, “Citrix is moving from the content factory to a content
showroom with this new program.” By moving away from its Share-
Point sites to an application that is embedded into Salesforce.com,
this one-stop reference tool meets sales representatives’ needs. The
content showroom contains everything pertinent to their sales team,
including information on Citrix solutions, products and services, com-
petitive intelligence, customer references, win wires, win-loss reviews,
industry analyst reviews, field management, and partner information.
But Rubin’s team didn’t stop there. They worked with Citrix
enablement to create Citrix Sales IQ, which Rubin declares is the
genesis behind showcasing content at the right time. Citrix divided
the sales cycle into different segments. At each segment, the team
recommended appropriate resources that can be used based on what
might be happening at that point. Sales representatives answer a series
of questions based on the current sales stage. Those answers create
the opportunity to deliver relevant reference content right when the
sales representatives need it. For example, for deals at 10 percent, a
suggestion is made to sales to use Citrix’s Work Better videos—pol-
ished, high-level, commercial-quality videos that tell how customers
are using Citrix products to improve their business operations. At 25
96 ADVOCATE MARKETING

percent, a suggestion is made to representatives to use the e-studies

and infographics. At 40 percent, Citrix Sales IQ suggests that the rep-
resentative use the Top 150 slides. At 60 to 75 percent, suggestions
are made to invite their prospects to a Customer Reference Forum.
Citrix has thousands of happy customers, thanks in part to its Cus-
tomer Reference program. With more than 600 enthusiastic refer-
ence customers, they have lots of opportunities to share their views
on Citrix products with prospective customers. Citrix customers are
enthusiastic advocates; they look forward to opportunities to share.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• If you can validate return on investment (ROI) with a custom-

er’s endorsement, CIOs report they make purchasing decisions
25 percent faster when supplied with a reference.
• Deliver customer stories to account representatives at the
moment in the sales cycle when they’re needed most, moving
your customer marketing program from a customer content
factory model to that of a content showroom.
• Track your Reference Engagement Value (REV) of your pro-
gram to measure the value a reference has within the pipeline
to influence and help close a deal to a successful win.
• Implement a Customer Reference Forum to reduce peer-
to-peer reference call requests at the end of each month or
quarter.
 CHAPTER 9 • CITRIX MOVES FROM CUSTOMER CONTENT 97
FACTORY MODEL TO CONTENT SHOWROOM

About Lee Rubin

Lee Rubin has more than 20 years of experience in corporate
marketing and nonprofit leadership. He is an avid social media devo-
tee with more than 2,100 friends on Facebook, 2,700 connections on
LinkedIn, and a Klout score of 60. A demonstrated leader in market-
ing and brand strategy for leading technology companies, including
France Telecom, Digex, Savvis, and Citrix, Rubin has served on the
national board of governors of the Human Rights Campaign and was
board co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force: Founda-
tion. He currently serves on the board of directors for Our-Fund, a
Fort Lauderdale-based community foundation.

Lee Is an Advocate

Lee Rubin is an advocate for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual,

transgender, queer) equality. He chairs the LGBT employee resource
group at Citrix, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he is senior man-
ager, Global Reference Programs. In February 2015, Rubin’s efforts
were recognized by South Florida Gay News in its “Out 50,” a list of
the top LGBTQ leaders in the community. He is currently on the
Board of Directors of Our-Fund, a LGBTQ community foundation,
and has helped to raise more than $150,000 for Pride Center of South
Florida. In 2009, he was elected co-chair of the National Gay and Les-
bian Task Force Foundation, and in 2010, was appointed chair of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s 401c3 Action Fund. Rubin
previously served on the National Board of Governors of the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC). He also writes a monthly blog (http://
lgbtsfaevents.blogspot.com) highlighting the events of LGBTQ non-
profits in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Endnote
1. Gartner 2010—www.gartner.com
This page intentionally left blank
 10
The Influential Power of Customer
References

No one knows your customers like you do, and building this
knowledge is likely the most influential investment you have made
in your business. The critical tool—the technology “Swiss Army
Knife”—for advocate marketing is the customer relationship manage-
ment (CRM) system. A CRM helps you record, store, track, mine,
and analyze the invaluable and irreplaceable information about your
customers’ needs, histories, and concerns to help positively grow your
relationship with them. Using CRM solutions intelligently can help
align customer information with your business goals for superior pre-
dictive planning and modeling, in short, to meet everyone’s needs.
There are a number of CRM systems on the markets; one of those is
the Customer Reference Program, which is, specifically, a customer
reference platform.
Customer references are an important component of advocate
marketing and a vital tool that sales teams use in many ways to meet
many goals. Potential buyers frequently seek advice before purchas-
ing products and services; trusted references can increase sales as well
as build current and potential customer trust in your business itself. A
well-coordinated customer reference program can realize big profit-
promoting benefits, such as the following:

• Spending less time searching for suitable references

• Avoiding overuse or underuse of valuable references

99
100 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Gaining and assuring authority and credibility with prospects

• Reducing sales cycle times

Neil Hartley, founder of Incubatus, LLC, believes that customer

references are the primary mainstay that impacts buyers’ decisions.
Salespeople regularly rely on customer references for peer-to-peer
validation that ensure that deals get done.

Customer Advocate Versus Customer

Reference
Hartley says the terms customer advocate and customer reference
are sometimes used interchangeably but actually represent distinct
customer personas. He defines an advocate as a stakeholder who
proactively champions (and defends) brands, products, or services in
public and private forums without a request from the company itself.
In contrast, a customer reference is a brand advocate who responds
to requests for a wide variety of endorsements, including peer-to-peer
calls, news release quotes, testimony for case studies, or video inter-
views. Of course, a person can be both an advocate and a reference.

Get Organized and Proactive

Hartley advises that companies adopt practices that organize cus-
tomer reference processes into a proactive program that is supported
by technology and is a part of the company’s strategic business plan.
He believes that too many companies take a reactive approach by rel-
egating customer references to the end of the sales cycle; this leaves
companies vulnerable to last-minute requests that sometimes catch
salespeople unprepared. Proactive use of, for example, customer sto-
ries and quotations earlier in the sales cycle helps build trust and miti-
gate a buyer’s risk.
 CHAPTER 10 • THE INFLUENTIAL POWER OF CUSTOMER REFERENCES 101

He believes a buyer’s journey may not be linear and may not fol-
low a well-understood process. Hartley rightly asks, “Why apply rules
to what prospects or customers can or can’t do?”
Many companies assume that buyers know what they are doing,
but actually, they may not have experience procuring technology
and certainly do not know, or care about, your sales processes. They
undoubtedly are not aligned with your well-ordered, well-documented
linear sales path. Buyers understand their business and, usually, their
needs but should not have to be students of your preset sales funnel
processes. If a buyer prefers to talk with a live reference earlier in your
structured sales cycle, they might be conducting a lot of research on
their own and getting to a buying decision earlier than the sales rep-
resentative expects. But the typical reaction from sales is to say, “No,
you can’t do that until we’ve gotten past step five of our seven-step
process.” Hartley thinks leveraging marketing automation or even
automating sales pipeline rules that are built in to customer reference
management systems are common mistakes based precisely because
buyers do not know your processes—nor should they have to. Hartley
advises that if a prospective customer passes the evaluation phase and
enters into the making decision phase without your sales representa-
tive’s help, then embrace the speed of the closed purchase order.
This scenario is all too common: After the parties have agreed
on price and project specifications (and the salesperson believes that
the final agreements are at hand), the customer suddenly requests
to speak directly with a client reference. Too often, Hartley says, the
response resembles a fire drill, starting with an urgent e-mail blast to
the sales and marketing teams that requests help to identify clients
whose persona and customer experience closely align with those of
the prospect. Businesses that manage customer references with ad
hoc processes expose themselves to multiple risks, especially reaching
out to the same clients for references repeatedly, causing reference
burnout. Ad hoc arrangements, according to Hartley, too often result
102 ADVOCATE MARKETING

in “happy” reference customers eventually becoming “annoyed” ref-

erence customers.
A growing number of companies have embraced technology plat-
forms that streamline and organize processes for recruiting and pro-
viding customer references. These solutions help salespeople quickly
identify clients who are available and authorized to speak as a refer-
ence and, more importantly, have not been “overused.” These solu-
tions help companies avoid reactive, panicky exercises and, instead,
respond efficiently and confidently by identifying all appropriate
customer reference resources available with a few keystrokes. A cus-
tomer reference platform also provides approval workflow and track-
ing that mitigates risks, prevents reference burnout, and enables a
company to efficiently manage marketing support materials, such
as case studies, customer quotations, white papers, video testimoni-
als, and other corroborating, persuasive materials. Tracking usage of
these materials thus enables ROI calculations that were previously
difficult to establish and glean insight on which materials contribute
most to sales success.

The Golden Circle Philosophy

Why do some leaders or companies inspire while others cannot?
Hartley believes that while trying to engage clients to become advo-
cates, companies should consider an approach developed by Simon
Sinek, author of Start with Why. Hartley cites a study by Sinek that
concludes that successful brands such as Apple and great leaders such
as Martin Luther King focus on the why, how, and what of their busi-
ness rather than the what, how, and why. The successful leaders and
companies think from the inside out rather than from the outside in.
And this creates the “Golden Circle.”
People prefer to do business with companies that share similar
core beliefs. Sinek claims “People don’t buy what you do; they buy
 CHAPTER 10 • THE INFLUENTIAL POWER OF CUSTOMER REFERENCES 103

why you do it.” Sales representatives who explain the cause, purpose,
or core beliefs of the company and why it exists are far more compel-
ling and successful than sales representatives who explain what the
product does, how it does it, and why it does it. The latter sells the
steak; the former sells the sizzle. Although many customers claim that
their buying choices are based on the benefits that products’ or ser-
vices’ features and capabilities bring (i.e., the product’s what, how,
and why), Hartley believes that customers who become strong advo-
cates make buying choices based on why the company exists (its mis-
sion or vision), how it plans to achieve its goals, and what products it
offers that help make those goals possible—the why, how, and what.
Hartley believes that Sinek’s Golden Circle affords a significant
opportunity for those producing customer stories of many types
because these advocates speak to the why rather than the what. By
aligning a company’s core beliefs along the model of this Golden Cir-
cle, magic will happen.

Does Social Selling Make the Best

Advocates?
The process by which a customer introduces someone in her net-
work—typically a client or industry peer—who may be interested in
a company’s products or services to that company is called social sell-
ing. This is another way that customers serve as advocates, accord-
ing to Hartley. Inspired by concepts from Influence: The Psychology
of Persuasion, written by best-selling author, psychologist, and mar-
keting expert Robert Cialdini, social selling is based on the premise
that people are more likely to be persuaded to consider a product or
service if a person of trust introduces them to a respected authority
figure in that space. For example, if someone introduced a business
partner or friend to a colleague who is an authority on marketing, that
person is more likely to be receptive to the expert’s message than if
104 ADVOCATE MARKETING

that expert introduced herself without the introduction. The recom-

mendation of an expert by a trusted colleague helps overcome doubts
that occur during cold calls or other forms of initial, anonymous con-
tact. Because of the trust of the colleague that is conveyed, resistance
is dramatically reduced during social selling introductions. When
advocates are properly engaged, their social network becomes a pow-
erful lead-generation engine for you and your company.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Customer references are a mainstay of an advocate marketing

strategy. This peer-to-peer tactic can significantly influence
customer decisions.
• Companies should consider the prevailing best practices for
customer references, such as adopting strategies that organize
information assets for prompt retrieval and ensuring that cli-
ents are not overused or overburdened in endorsing a product,
service, or brand.
• Being proactive in using customer references can build trust
and mitigate a buyer’s risk.
• Social selling can be an engine to drive lead-generation growth
by engaging customers to introduce “experts” to industry peers
and clients that may be interested in a product or service.
• A strong advocacy mechanism includes leveraging a customer
reference’s social network to build trust and credibility to a
wider but trusted pool of prospects.
 CHAPTER 10 • THE INFLUENTIAL POWER OF CUSTOMER REFERENCES 105

About Neil Hartley

Neil Hartley has served in technology sales and marketing posi-
tions for more than 20 years. He has held several leadership positions,
ranging from CEO of a high-tech start-up (Leximancer) to the United
Kingdom manager of SPSS (which has been acquired by IBM). Neil
earned his sales spurs during a 5-year tenure at Cadence Design Sys-
tems. Having developed a passion for all things customer satisfaction
and customer advocacy, Hartley cofounded Riding High Rocks in
2015.

Neil Is an Advocate

“I’m a superadvocate of ASICS, Southwest Airlines, and National

Car Rental. Southwest because I grew to love the no-seat policy,
which initially seemed bizarre because I didn’t know what was going
on. I love Southwest because it’s very cost-effective, booking is easy,
and changes are free. The same applies to National Car Rental. You
just turn up and choose a car. It is so simple. There is no checking-in.
After a couple of months’ worth of trips, I suddenly earned enough
points for its executive-level customer reward program and now
I could choose from the really nice cars. Which one do I want this
week? Do I want a sporty car? Do I want a big car? A white car? A
black car? A red car? I could choose whatever vehicle I wanted.
“Finally, if an overpronator were to ask me what kind of running
shoe to buy, I would absolutely say they need to buy an ASICS shoe.
I tried all kinds of shoes and only ASICS shoes are, as far as I’m con-
cerned, truly designed for runners who overpronate. That’s why I’m
an advocate for those three companies: ASICS, Southwest Airlines,
and National Car Rental.”
This page intentionally left blank
 11
Award Engagement Program Helps Win
Two-Million-Dollar Contract

In 2008, Reid Hawkins was one of the top account executives with
Environmental Support Solutions (ESS), a boutique environmental
health and safety (EHS) software company. He faced a major chal-
lenge trying to win a contract to implement an enterprise-wide EHS
software platform at PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and
beverage conglomerates. Hawkins had successfully navigated his pro-
posal through the early procurement stages. As the competition and
deadlines escalated, he faced a pitched battle with SAP, the world’s
leading provider of business software, to win the contract.
Regardless of their size and valuation, businesses are cautious
about making major capital investments. When a company considers
making high-dollar, high-impact, and sometimes high-risk expendi-
tures for infrastructure and products, the timeline of the sales cycle
lengthens, even when those changes are imperative to business sus-
tainment and expansion. EHS software systems perform thousands of
complex calculations based on inputs from hundreds of in-house and
remote automated and manual systems. Thus, installation and effec-
tive use requires seamless integration across the disparate systems that
support a company’s multiple business lines. To ensure compliance
with stringent government regulations, voluntary industry standards,
and corporate commitments to reduce safety-related workplace inci-
dents and lower environmental emissions, the accuracy of the EHS
system calculations must be fully trustworthy and defensible.

107
108 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Hawkins needed to inspire PepsiCo’s confidence that ESS prod-

ucts and services could both meet PepsiCo’s requirements and deliver
long-term value. In every way, ESS’ proposed solution was well suited
to deliver on PepsiCo’s business requirements. But to win the deal,
Hawkins needed to devise a strategy to overcome SAP’s global rep-
utation and overwhelming marketing resources. He decided an in-
person customer referral meeting would provide the best opportunity
to underscore ESS’ competitive strengths. But this would not be any
ordinary in-person customer referral meeting.
Under normal business conditions, arranging such a meeting is
nearly impossible. However, Hawkins had a significant advocate cus-
tomer event he could leverage to his advantage: the ESS Excellence
Awards.

Awards Transform Clients’ Attitudes

ESS’ chief marketing officer and associate vice president of mar-
keting created the Excellence Awards in 2006 to recognize organiza-
tions for their innovative use, knowledge, and experience with EHS
technology to implement industry best practices, improve productiv-
ity and operations, or meet compliance and sustainability goals.
In the past, ESS sales and marketing struggled to persuade cli-
ents to share their success stories for public distribution. To fill the
endorsement gap, ESS published a handful of case studies each year.
But getting case studies to publication was a difficult, protracted effort.
Customers had difficulty getting approvals from internal corporate
communications, or were simply not motivated to share their stories.
In short, ESS users just didn’t see what was in it for them. But when
learning about the ESS Excellence Awards program, many clients’
attitudes changed. Customers suddenly embraced the opportunity
to share their achievements for an ESS Award nomination. Between
2006 and 2009, more than 80 clients submitted high-powered case
studies to win the ESS Excellence Award.
 CHAPTER 11 • AWARD ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM HELPS WIN 109
TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR CONTRACT

Customer Referral Meeting Provides

Powerful Endorsements
Before the conference, Hawkins learned that three of ESS’ top cli-
ents—Alcoa, Duke Energy, and Spectra Energy—had been selected
as award winners, and each would be attending the annual ESS user
conference and award ceremony. Each company planned to send a
group of frontline EHS managers to accept the award. Alcoa’s delega-
tion also included the vice president of their global EHS team, further
enhancing the group’s stature. So Hawkins reached out to his custom-
ers at Alcoa, inviting them to attend a private dinner that coincided
with the ESS conference. He also invited the members of PepsiCo’s
purchasing evaluation committee, as well as his other award-winning
customer, Spectra Energy. Each company’s representatives agreed to
attend the private dinner meeting.
The award presentation and dinner meeting had a powerful effect
on the PepsiCo committee. They had an opportunity to hear the suc-
cess of several award winners who had leveraged ESS software to
address operational challenges similar to those that PepsiCo sought
to address through its technical solicitation. Most compellingly, the
PepsiCo team could personally ask questions of the Alcoa and Spectra
Energy teams at the private dinner meeting. Instead of learning about
the software’s capabilities from a proposal or product brochure, the
PepsiCo evaluation team met face-to-face with peers who relied on
the software to support their operations and had made them success-
ful in reaching their business goals. There is no better endorsement
than real-world experience.
Once the meeting began, Hawkins provided some brief introduc-
tions for those in the room, and then left so his clients and prospects
could talk privately. At first, he was nervous because the fate of the
deal was out of his hands. Unsupervised customers could have deliv-
ered negative comments that could have prevented ESS from secur-
ing a PepsiCo contract. However, Hawkins remained confident of
110 ADVOCATE MARKETING

securing the deal because the software solution delivers good value
through a reliable product, the PepsiCo team had witnessed an award
gala that highlighted the success of many companies that use solution
as a critical component of their operations, and Alcoa was known to
be a strong advocate for ESS. When clients are successful and have
received good value from a product, they willingly share their news
of their success and purpose. In fact, Hawkins had previously invited
customer advocates to provide references, presentations, and other
activities with good effect during all stages of the sales cycle. He was
ready to leverage his advocates again on such an important deal in
hopes his strategy would pay big dividends.
And it did. The strategy worked perfectly. PepsiCo executives
got the answers they sought, and Alcoa and Spectra Energy provided
candid assessments about the capabilities of the software solution.
As a result, Hawkins was eventually rewarded a deal worth $2.1 mil-
lion with PepsiCo, one of the largest in the firm’s history. Years later,
Hawkins looked back and called the achievement a minor miracle.

Program Boosts Customer Advocates

ESS Excellence Awards attracts top corporate decision makers
to attend the gala award ceremony, which is held in conjunction with
annual ESS’ users’ conference. Executives and managers take great
pride in being recognized for business achievements that might have
otherwise gone unnoticed within their own organization. To be rec-
ognized and praised by industry peers is very gratifying and inspiring
to the award nominees. One customer was so elated about receiving
an award that she brought her mother to the ceremony that honored
her work. In addition, the program increased attendance to the users’
conference because award-winning organizations bring their col-
leagues and prioritize the conference in their annual budgets.
 CHAPTER 11 • AWARD ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM HELPS WIN 111
TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR CONTRACT

For executives, the award is an acknowledgment that the orga-

nization’s investment in information management delivered on the
promise to drive improved business performance while meeting
the operational and financial goals. Whereas most corporate leaders
are focused on revenues, margins, profitability, and share price, the
award program recognized people who support those strategic goals
and make sure that the organization maintains a license to operate,
keeps insurance rates low, reduces their environmental impact, and
maintains compliance with regulations and standards.

Award Program Elevates Sales

Performance
The ESS Excellence Award program had a significant impact
on Hawkins’ career, too. The PepsiCo deal helped him achieve
sales of $4.7 million in 2008. He was recognized as the leading ESS
account representative, was awarded shares of company stock, and
was promoted to vice president of sales. In addition, 280 of 500 audi-
ence attendees at the 2008 ESS Excellence Award ceremony were
Hawkins’ clients. The award program’s biggest benefit, in Hawkins’
opinion, was its ability to help close sales deals. It also helped him
cement long-term relationships with clients. “It’s not just about clos-
ing the deal,” he contends. It’s about being viewed as a trusted advisor
or strategic partner, and having those relationships deep within their
company. Any top-notch account executive who approaches his cho-
sen profession seriously relishes developing the deep, strategic rela-
tionships that transform customers into advocates.
When asked what aspect of the award program surprised him
the most, Hawkins pointed to the impact winning an award had on
the companies that were recognized. He identified the renewal of
their annual software maintenance contract. He informally analyzed
maintenance contract renewals over three years and the results were
112 ADVOCATE MARKETING

surprisingly consistent. Award-winning customers had a 100 percent

renewal rate during years in which an award program was held, and
the rate dipped below 100 percent during the year that a ceremony
was not held.
An award program helps increase customer loyalty ratings by
double digits.1 According to Hawkins, the award program provided
access to powerful corporate authorities who had previously avoided
his meeting requests. Before the award program, the only way he met
with high-level executives was when there was a technical problem in
the software solution. But, after meeting at the award program, that
executive who had ignored Hawkins’ meeting invitations in the past
participated in several reference calls over the subsequent two years.
As a result, that customer helped drive more software sales than any
member of the firm’s sales team.
The award program also paid dividends after the award ceremony.
Hawkins said PepsiCo had a long-standing reputation for declining
speaking opportunities at trade shows. The year after PepsiCo won
its ESS Excellence award for its success, the company agreed to
speak at a major industry conference to present the global benefits
of its implementation project. That’s why Hawkins regarded the ESS
Excellence Award program as the gift that continually delivered sales
and marketing benefits.

Advocacy Strategy Helps Drives Sales

Connections
Hawkins has developed his own advocacy strategy based on a mix
of customer references and marketing content to build a connection
that is nurtured throughout the sales cycle. His approach consists of
the following:
 CHAPTER 11 • AWARD ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM HELPS WIN 113
TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR CONTRACT

• Case studies—At the beginning of the relationship, he pres-

ents case studies that address the prospective client’s business
challenge.
• Benchmarks against peers—He follows the first case study
with success stories in which the customer’s performance can
be benchmarked against industry competitors.
• Recorded customer endorsements—Next, Hawkins pres-
ents more personalized content, such as audio or video client
testimonials.
• Customer referral—He arranges customer reference meet-
ings when the deal is ready to close to completion.

Companies Should Incentivize Promotions

Hawkins believes it is a missed opportunity when vendors don’t
incentivize their sales and marketing teams to pursue advocate mar-
keting strategies. It can be extremely difficult to get any organiza-
tion—both buyers and sellers—to consent to sharing a significant
accomplishment in a news release, social media, or a case study
because some customers are opposed to publicly promoting their ven-
dors. For example, Hawkins brokered a software sale and obtained
approval for a news release from the company’s purchasing officer
and the operational manager. However, that arrangement was sub-
sequently vetoed by the corporate communications officer and legal
counsel. As a result, vendors often feel they have to make financial
concessions to customers—which can cost thousands of dollars—for
a news release announcing a sales win. This antiquated structure
discourages sales professionals from pursuing promotional activities
because their pay is reduced when clients agree to a discounted deal.
114 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• An advocacy strategy enabled an IT company to overcome a

larger competitor to win a record-setting contract.
• An innovative award program generated dozens of case stud-
ies and helped drive up attendance at an IT company user
conference.

About Reid Hawkins

Reid Hawkins specializes in leading and developing high-
performing sales teams and managing accounts at Fortune 500 and
Global 500 companies. During a career spanning more than three
decades, he has helped several information technology companies
meet or exceed their revenue goals. He is known for building col-
laborative client relationships and for delivering million-dollar trans-
actions for software services and content, while competing against
the world’s leading technology companies. He also delivers a wealth
of market and application experience in business intelligence/ana-
lytics, web conferencing, environmental/health/safety, compliance,
MDAP (mobile development application platforms), and EAM/plant
maintenance.

Reid Is an Advocate

“I’m certainly an advocate for some of the charities such as The

Nature Conservancy and the National Resource Defense Council.
I’m a big advocate for those organizations in their fight to preserve
the ecosystem and the environment. I’m also an advocate for Ford.
I’ve been a Ford guy for many years.”
 CHAPTER 11 • AWARD ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM HELPS WIN 115
TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR CONTRACT

Endnote
1. Based on measurements found in The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind
Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value by Frederick F. Reichheld and Thomas Teal
(Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2001).
This page intentionally left blank
 12
Enthusiastic Advocates Help Businesses
Drive Measurable Marketing and
Revenue Performance

Jim Williams is an advocate evangelist who is passionate about

telling marketers about forward-thinking organizations that harness
the power of advocate marketing programs to advance their market-
ing and revenue goals.
Williams, vice president of marketing for Toronto-based Influi-
tive, believes that most businesses today only identify a few customers
who are fans of their brand, products, or services. But leading-edge
companies are adopting scalable advocate marketing strategies sup-
ported by emerging technology solutions. They are identifying crowds
of brand advocates and leveraging the passion of their fans into action
that generates measurable benefits.
Every organization has known advocates, Williams maintains. He
believes that for every advocate you know about, there are probably
three or four yet to be identified. If asked, many would gladly partici-
pate in your marketing programs.
First, you have to learn how to identify your advocates. Second,
you need to learn what motivates them to publicly endorse your
brand. Finally, you want to align their efforts—and your own—for
maximum impact on your marketing and sales objectives.

117
118 ADVOCATE MARKETING

To ensure that your advocate marketing program will enjoy long-

term success, start by asking yourself and your colleagues the follow-
ing questions:

• Why do your customers advocate for you now?

• How can advocates generate more leads and Web traffic for
you?
• How does it enhance your brand perception?
• How can they shorten your sales cycle?
• How can you keep advocates engaged with your brand beyond
the first big push?
• What’s in it for your advocates?
• How can you get your entire organization aligned around
advocacy?

Advocates Pay Big Dividends for Savvy

Firms
According to Williams, SMART Technologies is just one exam-
ple of a firm that gained big benefits by implementing a strategy
that developed and nurtured relationships with its brand advocates.
SMART selects an elite group of advocates to participate in an ongo-
ing customer engagement program to learn more about SMART’s
solutions, network with other advocates, and market the company’s
offerings to new prospects.
SMART Technologies, based in Calgary, Alberta, provides high-
tech interactive whiteboards and projectors for businesses and schools
that gained immediate traction. However, early market success was
followed by unique challenges. The company found that it lacked
resources to provide consultants and a professional services team to
meet burgeoning demands for aftermarket services.
 CHAPTER 12 • ENTHUSIASTIC ADVOCATES HELP BUSINESSES DRIVE 119
MEASURABLE MARKETING AND REVENUE PERFORMANCE

Given a seemingly impossible task, Deena Zenyk, SMART’s senior

advocate marketing manager, quickly devised a creative solution. She
developed an elaborate strategy to identify and recruit teachers and
other school officials to become SMART’s training and marketing
consulting team.
Zenyk publicly encouraged educators to perform a wide variety
of education-based tasks, but what she really wanted them to do was
host small, group gatherings of teachers and educators to learn best
practices for using the company’s products so they could get more
value in the classroom. More than 400 school officials around the
world responded to Zenyk’s appeals. They later reported that they
were motivated because they loved the technology and felt that they
had a stake in ensuring the company’s success. Teachers invested
several hours learning about the technology and its application in
schools. Then, as volunteers, they returned to their school districts
to train their peers on best practices for the classroom, and by doing
so, indirectly promoted SMART products to prospective customers.
She also used creative incentives, such as awarding points toward
higher status within the customer community, and access to SMART’s
product development team to provide product feedback, to keep
advocates active and engaged.
The program paid big dividends for SMART. Zenyk estimated
that each advocate delivered services that would have cost more than
$130,000 if those functions had been provided by full-time consul-
tants. She also gained added value by presenting performance infor-
mation to SMART’s top executives and governing board to justify
funding the program. And the program proved that SMART’s prod-
ucts meet real, market-driven needs.
SMART supported its advocate program with an Influitive soft-
ware solution called AdvocateHub that enabled Zenyk to track and
monitor advocate data so she could efficiently nurture multiple rela-
tionships across its customer base. Prior to implementing Influitive’s
software application, SMART communicated with advocates through
120 ADVOCATE MARKETING

manual processes and e-mail—an approach that lacked a systematic

method of aggregating and interpreting educators’ data. Now Zenyk
knows the right advocates to contact when she needs support for cli-
ent projects. In return, SMART rewards willing volunteers with an
experience that’s enjoyable and gives them immediate feedback. Wil-
liams said advocates receive some form of acknowledgment every
time they volunteer to perform a task. Williams says each acknowl-
edgment keeps advocates engaged because they feel appreciated.
Another advocate marketing success story spotlights DocuSign,
one of the fastest-growing cloud software companies and a provider of
electronic signature technology and digital transaction management
services. In December 2012, DocuSign launched AdvocatesHQ,
an advocate marketing program for customers and partners that
enhanced social media engagement, while boosting online consumer
reviews and generating customer referrals. DocuSign was looking to
generate more product reviews from customers on Web sites such as
AppExchange, Salesforce, G2 Crowd, and Software Advice in order
to increase its market visibility and sales opportunities. According to
Meagen Eisenberg, DocuSign’s vice president of customer market-
ing, the company earned a return on its investment in less than six
months. Today, DocuSign attracts an estimated 40,000 unique users
to join the DocuSign Global Network every day, and its advocate mar-
keting program has been transformed into a revenue engine that has
moved more than $3 million into its sales pipeline.
Influitive doesn’t just promote its advocate marketing software to
its prospects; advocacy is at the core of everything the company does
from marketing to sales to customer success to product development.
Because customers are a central marketing focus for Williams’ mar-
keting team, it spotlights the successes of marketers like Zenyk and
Eisenberg, and positions them as the company’s most valued assets.
An innovative advocacy program shows appreciation for customers
by publicly promoting their customers’ accomplishments in ways that
may positively influence their careers. For example, Influitive posted
 CHAPTER 12 • ENTHUSIASTIC ADVOCATES HELP BUSINESSES DRIVE 121
MEASURABLE MARKETING AND REVENUE PERFORMANCE

a “LinkedIn recommendation” that trumpeted SMART’s advocate

marketing success to Zenyk’s LinkedIn profile. Also, Influitive’s advo-
cates are offered opportunities to speak at professional conferences
where they can share testimonies about the advantages and chal-
lenges of their advocacy programs.

Surprising Benefits from Advocacy

Programs
Advocate marketing programs often provide a variety of pleasant
surprises in addition to meeting their initial sales and marketing goals,
according to Williams. Raving fans never fail to amaze marketers by
exceeding expectations to demonstrate their support of their favorite
brands. Here are two examples:

• Product surveys—Advocates are more likely to thoughtfully

respond to surveys and feedback requests than to special pro-
motions that offer free items in exchange for submitting contact
data. Williams believes this is because advocates want to feel
like they are a part of the company and so happily provide infor-
mation without remuneration.
• Branding feedback—When companies consider a new prod-
uct name, changing a product’s direction, or launching a major
promotional campaign, they can count on advocates to strongly
voice their opinion before those changes go to market. Williams
believes including advocates in the decision-making process
helps transitioning and accepting the change go a bit smoother.

Many organizations face challenges similar to those met by

SMART and DocuSign that can be effectively addressed with an advo-
cate marketing program. For example, when a company announces
a product launch, advocates can generate hundreds of new refer-
rals in a very short time. Because advocates are already committed
122 ADVOCATE MARKETING

to supporting the brand, they are always ready to enthusiastically

endorse new products and services from a company they love—but
only if the new product is good. Advocates will not support a bad
product because they have their own reputations to protect. In addi-
tion, a request for referrals is often welcomed because of the strong
vendor/customer relationship that has developed over time. Because
the request comes from a trusted source, advocates are ready to share
their enthusiasm with others. Sales records do not provide any clues
that indicate which clients would be willing to provide a peer endorse-
ment for products. This lack of customer-focused data can lead to
account representatives repeatedly calling on the same customers
for endorsements, causing referral fatigue. An advocate program can
solve this problem: Businesses that invest in advocate marketing con-
stantly collect, maintain, and monitor customer data. This guarantees
that a list of ideal reference candidates is always available.
Some businesses struggle to create effective customer referral
programs because they lack critical insights that would increase par-
ticipation. Williams believes most programs are either poorly timed
or awkwardly constructed, or they primarily rely on a form letter to
generate customer interest; these approaches rarely connect with
target audiences. Poorly designed programs do not clearly illustrate
the benefits of making a referral or what will happen once a referral
is provided. There are just too many unanswered questions to spur
action, so appeals for referrals are unanswered.
The best-in-class technologies provide immediate acknowledg-
ment to advocates when a referral is provided. They alert advocates
whenever their referrals are contacted, and when a deal closes. This
not-so-subtle reminder underscores that referrals are important to
the advocates.
Williams loves when Influitive’s customers launch an advocate
marketing program using AdvocateHub and expect social sharing or
product reviews, but get a big surprise when they receive referrals as
well. Peers and friends are being referred and, in turn, they willingly
contact the company for more information on products and services.
 CHAPTER 12 • ENTHUSIASTIC ADVOCATES HELP BUSINESSES DRIVE 123
MEASURABLE MARKETING AND REVENUE PERFORMANCE

A Growing Interest in Developing

Advocate Marketing Programs
As more buyers move to online transactions, advocate market-
ing strategies can significantly influence purchasing decisions across
the global marketplace, Williams says. A growing number of potential
customers now expect product or service ratings from existing cus-
tomers, and will factor rankings and reviews into their overall buying
decision. Momentum for customer advocacy programs is being driven
by several emerging trends, including the following:

• Rating platforms—The increasing popularity of customer

rating platforms, which enable them to share their opinions
and experience with a product, give buyers the opportunity to
circumvent traditional sales and marketing efforts until a later
time.
• Disruptive marketing—Williams says customers are willing
to change vendors at the drop of a hat—if the offer is right. If
the cost and risk to switch is low, and the customer does not feel
any loyalty, the renewal will not happen. As a result, businesses
need to be aware that customer engagement is a key market
differentiator.
• Customer obsession is on the rise—CMOs are constantly
looking at strategies, including advocate marketing programs,
to improve customer engagement. Companies operate at a con-
siderable disadvantage when they fail to cultivate enthusiastic
brand advocates. The best way for a business to closely align
with client needs is for it to build an organizational structure
focused on product offerings, along with consumer education
and technical support. Once those investments are in place,
companies can easily identify fans best qualified to speak pub-
licly about their product experience.
124 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Williams believes that not only do technology companies fail to

manage customer relationships in a manner that inspires jubilant
support, but they also do not optimize the impact of their happy
customers.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Advocate marketing is an emerging necessity for every market-

ing department, which empowers companies to harness the
energy and enthusiasm of their happiest customers to expand
their marketing capabilities and drive increased referrals and
revenue.
• Successful advocate relationships require significant engage-
ment, so that customers feel appreciated and involved in the
business.
• Customer-focused data provides critical insights that can help
sales, marketing, and product teams inspire advocates to take
action.
• Marketers are often surprised to find that enthusiastic advo-
cates are willing to go to great lengths to continue the success
of their favorite products and brand.

About Jim Williams

Jim Williams is a veteran marketer who is focused on high-tech
start-ups. He loves bringing transformative concepts to marketers.
Before joining the Influitive team as vice president of marketing, he
held marketing leadership roles at Eloqua, Unveil Solutions, Lernout
 CHAPTER 12 • ENTHUSIASTIC ADVOCATES HELP BUSINESSES DRIVE 125
MEASURABLE MARKETING AND REVENUE PERFORMANCE

& Hauspie, and several public relations agencies. He directs most of

his energies toward ensuring that his two kids have a fantastic and
memorable childhood.

Jim Is an Advocate

“I use a tool called Snagit all the time. This widget, produced by
TechSmith.com, enables me to easily capture and manipulate screen
images. I use it for basic image editing because I have no idea how to
use Photoshop. When I need an image for an e-mail or a PowerPoint
presentation, I use Snagit. I use it nearly every day. I love that it’s easy
to use, yet powerful enough to do the things that I want it to do. I’ve
told many people about Snagit.
“Yet I think it’s funny that Snagit has never reached out to me and
said, ‘Do you love our product? Would you be willing to recommend
Snagit or write a review about it?’ If they did, I would say ‘Yes. It’s a
part of my day-to-day habits.’”
This page intentionally left blank
 13
The Paradox of “Do as I Say, Not as I Do”

How do companies that encourage customers to provide testimo-

nials, case studies, and referrals explain why they bar employees from
providing testimonials, case studies, and referrals to vendors? The
simplest answer is that most companies are structured autocracies or
have an autocratic leadership that makes policies. And with autocra-
cies, the golden rule is always “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Every company wants advocates. Companies reap value when
advocates publicly praise them about their products and services.
They develop strategies and programs to encourage customers to
publicly endorse or advocate for the company. But when it comes
to their own employees, public endorsements, or providing positive
praise for vendor products and services, internal legal counsel or com-
munication directors prevent them. Why does this paradox exist?

“Because” Is Not an Answer

So why do companies continue the irony of the “Do as I say, not
as I do” policy?
For some industries, it’s the law. Advocacy is regulated. The
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation of Advertising by
Investment Advisers is one example. The SEC Advertising Rule (17
CFR 275.206(4)-1) specifically prohibits an investment adviser from
publishing, circulating, or distributing any advertisement that:

127
128 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Refers to any testimonial concerning the investment adviser or

any advice, analysis, report, or other service rendered by such
investment adviser
• Refers to past specific recommendations of the investment
adviser that were or would have been profitable unless the
investment adviser complies with certain conditions

For some companies, it is easier to say “no” to employees than to

take on the risk, liability, or cost of letting employees provide testimo-
nials, case studies, or referrals according to some directors of commu-
nications and internal legal counsels. The time involved in prepping
employees for interviews or reviewing materials from interviews
interrupts the billable work of internal legal and marketing teams.
Their planned days would unexpectedly shift when needing to review
the content to make sure:

• Whatever is written or said aligns with corporate messaging;

all key departments need to be in alignment (for example, in
a financial firm, Market Analyst Relations needs to be in sync
with Investor Relations).
• No corporate proprietary information is shared and/or any com-
petitive or industry information is inadvertently made public.
• Risk is minimized and liability is obviated.
• No statement is made as an endorsement on behalf of the
company. Personal opinions must be explicitly identified as
those of the individuals and not the opinions of the company.
Some companies may have policies that prevent even personal
endorsements.

With the expansion of social media, it has become more and more
difficult to restrict employees from becoming advocates. Social media
muddies how restrictive company policies can prevail over individuals’
personal expression. Due to the multiple marketing channels today,
 CHAPTER 13 • THE PARADOX OF “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO” 129

companies find it more and more difficult to restrict employees from

serving as advocates for a brand or cause.

It’s Just Business

Lawrence Dietz, general counsel for TalGlobal Corporation, pro-
vides his legal counsel and market research analyst perspective.
TalGlobal offers security services ranging from executive pro-
tection and workplace violence mitigation to data forensics inves-
tigations. One service provided is analyzing the security design for
buildings and complexes for risk analysis. During the course of these
assignments, Dietz confidently says the company’s managing direc-
tors would have been asked to endorse products or services used. In
practice, TalGlobal does not endorse products or services in order to
maintain corporate neutrality. But recently, the CEO of TalGlobal
has stated publicly that some products are so good and of such high
quality that the company should resell those products. Dietz believes
reselling a product naturally implies endorsement.
TalGlobal uses customer case studies in its marketing efforts
and endeavors to encourage advocates to participate in customer
case studies. But at the same time, the company does not necessarily
believe there is an obligation to its vendors to provide case studies
about their products and services. According to Dietz, this is not a
case of “Do unto others.” It is just business.
Dietz confirmed that TalGlobal has allowed employees to speak
on behalf of a vendor’s interest when the employee was paid as a
speaker or contributor. Dietz explained although paid endorsements
are allowed at TalGlobal, the statements must remain generic so they
run into fewer problems with clearance from within the company. He
gives a salient example:
130 ADVOCATE MARKETING

“‘International travel can be very dangerous. We believe clients

who go to potentially dangerous areas need to have a variety of
ways to communicate in an emergency.’ That statement would
be okay. If you wanted somebody at TalGlobal to say: ‘If you’re
traveling, you need the ABC Corp. security sweep communica-
tor.’—that would probably not be okay unless TalGlobal were
reselling the product. In that case, the company would need to
disclose the invested interest.”
Dietz formerly worked at Giga Information Group, where he
spoke to different vendors who wanted him to provide quotations for
their press releases regarding their products or services. He remem-
bers the policy of Gideon I. Gartner, Giga’s CEO, “If you want to talk
to my analysts, you have to pay for it.” In other words, Giga followed
the “pay-to-say” advocacy model. Some analyst companies believe
this philosophy allowed them to remain neutral as market research
firms and perhaps stimulated more business on their behalf. There
is an inherent paradox, however. Vendors and customers would need
to pay for any contribution from the Giga analysts. However, Giga
wanted and valued free positive quotes provided by their “press
release writing” customers. Giga valued customer recommendations
and testimonials about the value Giga provided to them.

And the Paradox Continues...

Another point of view comes from the vice president of corporate
marketing and communications for Gridstore, Inc., Douglas Gruehl.
According to Gruehl, corporate marketing people generally like to
step away and deny an endorsement of any tool used by an employee
(depending on the focus of the endorsement). “If they were asking if
the employee or company used the tool, I probably would approve
it. If they were asking how the employee or company were leverag-
ing it for a competitive advantage, I would disapprove it. A benign
 CHAPTER 13 • THE PARADOX OF “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO” 131

endorsement helps them while causing no detriment to me. How-

ever, if they were asking us how we were using the tool, when we used
it, why we used it, then the company is starting to expose the competi-
tive advantage it has, whether it be perceived or real.” Protecting the
company and brand is his job.
Gruehl says generally, outside of the executive team and cer-
tain senior members, nobody at Gridstore, Inc., has been trained to
understand the nuances of media- or marketing-related questions,
how to stay on message, and what value propositions the company
wants repeated to the market. He says the company wants employees
to tweet and Facebook about value propositions. Thus, Gruehl com-
ments, many employees do not understand the subtle nuances and
pitfalls of public statements or interviews such as “Don’t fill the void”
and, therefore, doesn’t want employees serving as advocates without
some education and company control of their statements. Although
Gruehl recognizes the paradigm that Gridstore uses customer testi-
monials, case studies, and press releases with its customers, he states
the company does not completely prevent employees from doing the
same for vendors but suggests that employee endorsements and com-
ments must be controlled, reviewed, and managed. In many cases,
employees may only be allowed to validate that they are using a
specific tool or application and not provide details beyond that. He
tries to be flexible, but it is his job to protect the company. Gridstore
embraces the old paradigm of relationship building while taking steps
to protect its brand.

You Are Not Paranoid. They Are Watching

You.
Lately, an increasing number of companies are becoming pro-
active in managing and monitoring employees’ opinions and pho-
tos on social media. They check social media sites before making
132 ADVOCATE MARKETING

employment offers to job applicants. They check employee activities

and advocacies for anything and everything that may affect the com-
pany brand. Although companies encourage employees to advocate
for the company’s products and services and issues the company cares
about, they do so cautiously.
One example of a company checking on an employee’s advocacy
efforts comes from a writer who was hired by a West Coast software
company. He was hired to write Web content and develop a media
relations strategy to increase product visibility for the environmental
software company. Before joining the company, the writer coordi-
nated social media activities and writing content, including content
for corporate blogs. He also penned his own blog that featured per-
spectives on environmental issues.
Several months after he was hired, he was informed by a com-
pany official that only authorized personnel within the company were
allowed to publicly comment on issues relevant to its business. The
content provider did not realize when he took the position that he
would be giving up his personal blog so he could avoid running afoul
of company policies and issues. The writer agreed to discontinue
writing his personal blog advocating about environmental issues to
comply with the company policy. This example illustrates the opening
assertion in this chapter: Most businesses are autocracies.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Some industries are regulated and specifically prohibited

from any testimonials concerning the investment adviser or
any advice, analysis, report, or other service rendered by such
investment adviser.
 CHAPTER 13 • THE PARADOX OF “DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO” 133

• Due to the multiple marketing channels today, it is not practical

for companies to think they can restrict employees from serving
as advocates for a brand or cause.
• A company’s restrictive policy may restrict an employee’s right
to free speech but may not (in practice) prevent the employee
from representing the company that endorses a product or
service.
• Companies are becoming more proactive at managing and
monitoring employees’ opinions and social media activities for
anything that may affect the company brand.
• There is always a level of risk to an advocate who takes a stand.

About Larry Dietz

Larry Dietz’ background combines commercial and military
experience. He is an insightful senior executive with a broad back-
ground in market intelligence, customer support, and legal matters,
with exceptional international exposure at the highest levels. He has
peerless strategic planning and business development talents. Dietz
is a licensed attorney with emphasis on complex business transactions
that involve international partners, contracts, and intellectual prop-
erty issues. He is a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel who supported
pandemic influenza planning and operations, is fully fluent in the Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Informa-
tion Management Systems (NIMS), and has served as a Department
of Defense consultant for Information Operations and Psychological
Operations (PSYOP). He is an extraordinary communicator, mentor,
and team builder. He has a bachelor of science degree in business
administration, a juris doctor, a master of business administration,
and master’s degrees in strategic studies and in European Union law.
Dietz is a member of the bars of the Supreme Court of the United
134 ADVOCATE MARKETING

States and of the state of California. He publishes his blog on psycho-

logical operations at www.psyopregiment.blogspot.com.

About Douglas W. Gruehl

Douglas Gruehl is a highly skilled corporate communications and
marketing professional with extensive career history in global brand-
ing, corporate strategy, events, global public relations and strategic
marketing communications, and analyst relations. His area of focus
has been in the high-technology field working with some of the major
players in Silicon Valley, including Amdahl, Fujitsu, LEGATO, and
EMC, where he leads international cross-functional marketing teams
dispersed across five continents. Early in his career, he was part of
the marketing team that launched the first Apple Macintosh, Steve
Jobs’ NEXT Cube, and the market’s first laptop, the WorkSlate. In
addition to his high-tech career, Gruehl is a nationally award-winning
California Community Colleges instructor in the fields of marketing
and merchandising. He has a bachelor of arts degree in liberal and
performing arts.

Doug Is an Advocate

“Personally, I am a huge fan/advocate for the Jaguar brand of cars.

Their attention to detail in their styling and finishes carries on the
legacy traditions of refined elegance of this storied brand. The driving
experience, from the road handling to the interior creature comforts,
provides a level of luxury that cannot be matched by any of the other
brands. They have maintained their exclusivity with their limited
model selection so you don’t see yourself coming and going. I try to
persuade anyone buying a car to only consider Jaguar—bar none, the
best cars I have ever owned.”
 14
Survey Says: Engage Your Advocates as
Partners at Every Opportunity

One of the oldest forms of engaging customers is through a tradi-

tional survey. Conducting a survey is simple enough: Ask questions,
record answers, analyze the responses, and report the results. Every
day, we conduct surveys without thinking when we ask our family and
friends, “How are you doing? How are you feeling today? What’s on
your mind?”
Who came up with the first survey? No one is really sure, but
we know that ancient Roman emperors polled their citizens in the
form of census surveys, and this practice has continued for thousands
of years. During the Middle Ages, respondents were typically local
authorities such as the clergy who reported on the numbers and the
occupations of their parishioners. Far beyond the census, the survey
continues to be a common and useful tool today to identify and pre-
dict trends, preferences, and behaviors. The results influence many,
many aspects of our daily lives from predicting how we will vote (and
moving funding accordingly) to designing the products we use.
As marketers, we generally talk about surveying as a research
tool. The survey tool has been used for a census, interview, evalu-
ation, litmus test for satisfaction, and ideation. Discussions usually
focus on the process of collecting data to support a strategic objective
or test market acceptance for a product or service. But for Dr. Pamela
Kiecker Royall, head of research at Royall & Company,1 surveys are
more than a research tool. Surveying also offers her a way to build

135
136 ADVOCATE MARKETING

and manage relationships with clients and her targeted audience by

engaging and deepening relationships with advocates to gather the
voice of the customer (VOC).
Elevating research from a tactical tool to a relationship-building
strategy is a key differentiator for Royall & Company, a Virginia-based
direct marketing firm that works with colleges and universities on
student recruitment and advancement programs. Using data-proven
research as part of its relationship-building strategy has positioned
Royall & Company as an influential market leader with a client list of
several hundred institutions within the higher-education sector.
Royall & Company was founded in 1983 as a direct response ven-
ture to serve major national nonprofit organizations. After a single
successful engagement with one college client, the firm leveraged
customer referrals to grow the company’s higher-education busi-
ness. Building advocates and activating the voice of the consumer has
resulted in tremendous growth for Royall & Company. The company
now enjoys relationships with many private and state universities, Ivy
League schools, small Christian colleges, and single-gender institu-
tions—schools across the nation in which enrollment trends vary
widely in student needs and goals, region, student demographics, and
backgrounds. The company has combined traditional client satisfac-
tion research methods with innovative advocacy strategies to improve
engagement between its client-facing team members and institutional
partners.
Relationships can be deepened through survey research because
a survey instrument does more than just collect data. Recognizing
this fact, Dr. Kiecker Royall believes that a skillfully designed and
targeted survey can be a key differentiator in research design and
analysis. It drives researchers to more closely monitor the messages
conveyed in the interactions between researchers (your business) and
respondents (your customers). Factors such as the tone and structure
of a survey—how a researcher invites respondents to participate in a
study, how the specific questions are structured—represent the voice
 CHAPTER 14 • SURVEY SAYS: ENGAGE YOUR ADVOCATES AS 137
PARTNERS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

of the firm. Kiecker Royall reports respondents come away from a

survey experience with an impression of the maturity and integrity of
the sponsoring institution and its attitude toward its clients. Its influ-
ence on the client-stakeholder relationship is profound.
Royall & Company also leverages advocate marketing strategies
to enhance relationships with key decision makers at colleges and
universities while simultaneously advancing its own business devel-
opment goals. Its rapid concentration of new business in higher edu-
cation seemed almost organic, starting with organizing the voice of
the customer. Royall & Company used its relationship with deans of
admissions—a key constituent group—to present powerful testimoni-
als to prospective clients. Compelling testimonials are posted on the
company’s Web site and are placed in the collateral materials pre-
sented at higher-education conferences. Selected administrators’ pic-
tures are prominently displayed along with quotations that describe
strategic successes and Royall’s role in their success. Over time, the
program of testimonials and peer advocacy developed momentum
as others noted the growth and achievement of Royall & Company’s
advocate institutions. Soon the opportunity to be a Royall brand advo-
cate became a highly coveted role among academic institutions, a role
that has inspired more participation in the program and has driven
new business opportunities among prospects. Years later, new part-
ners still inquire about becoming an advocate.

Research Techniques Communicate a

Client’s Brand and Values
In addition to relationship building, Kiecker Royall regards using
surveys as an opportunity to positively influence perceptions of pro-
spective students. For instance, Royall & Company’s research team
looks for opportunities to advance relationships between its partner
institutions and prospective students, even when prospective students
138 ADVOCATE MARKETING

indicate they will not enroll at the institution. Their forward-thinking

strategy considers the possibility of other future engagements.
Although students may not enroll now, the recruitment process
should leave them with a positive view of the institution, leaving open
the possibilities for the future. Students could consider enrolling as
graduate students, or become candidates for future employment
at the school. Their grown children might consider enrolling at the
school in the future. In other words, all communications during the
initial student recruitment process play a role in building opinions
about the school, its brand, and values.
Conducting surveys is a real challenge to researchers to ensure
that it accurately reflects the client’s brand and values to respondents,
according to Kiecker Royall. When well designed and delivered, sur-
veys are an “open door” for respondents to share their thoughts about
the organization. When the survey functions as an invitation to pro-
vide feedback, including constructive criticism, you can uncover the
voice of the customer. These critical but sometimes nuanced insights
can be used to guide future communication plans and growth strate-
gies. And this can translate into solid and sustainable profits for your
company.
While surveys are a powerful tool by themselves, their results can
complement the findings of focus group research. When recruiting
focus group participants, however, care must be taken to assemble
the right individuals. Researchers should attempt to learn as much as
they can about the demographic, behavioral, and psychological profile
of the group in order to tease out important, but credible, insights. If
you have a group of only advocates in the room to talk about an orga-
nization, you effectively stack the cards in favor of the organization.
In other cases, the voice of a single, outspoken advocate (or detractor)
can unduly influence the discussion and results of the focus group.
Once recruited, however, researchers need to look for signs to tell
if they are hearing from advocates, influencers, or detractors when
determining the real insights offered by participants’ comments.
 CHAPTER 14 • SURVEY SAYS: ENGAGE YOUR ADVOCATES AS 139
PARTNERS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

Royall Partners with Clients to Promote

Achievements
Royall & Company conducts several corporate survey projects
each year, engaging client institutions as partners in the process.
Many survey ideas are generated from a list of “top-interest” topics
from the client base. Recent surveys have explored financial consid-
erations of families involved in the college search process and stu-
dents’ communication preferences among themselves, with parents,
and with the university. Topics like these are of interest to virtually
every institution in Royall & Company’s client portfolio and provide
the opportunity to share content of the greatest value with clients.
These cooperative projects help Royall reach its research goals, and
the brainstorming and camaraderie generated from discussions about
potential research topics also strengthens client relationships. When
Royall’s college partners are invited to participate in survey plan-
ning and preparation—and given the privilege of early-release find-
ings—they are being treated as an exclusive club member. This often
attracts the interest of other clients and prospects, generating more
opportunities for greater engagement. In the world of high technol-
ogy, this would be similar to alpha or beta testers collaborating with a
company to make a solution better.
In another effort to leverage the strength of its relationships with
partner institutions, Royall & Company engages institutional repre-
sentatives—university presidents as well as deans of admission—in
advocacy roles. When clients achieve ambitious goals, they become
“case studies” for others to aspire to match. University representa-
tives join Royall & Company representatives to share their success
stories in collaborative materials and/or presentations at conferences
attended by many key prospects.
140 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Partnerships Drive High Client Retention

Rate
The strength of Royall & Company’s brand is best reflected in
its client retention rate of 96 percent. That’s a big selling point when
Royall approaches a prospective client. Kiecker Royall reports that
when clients discontinue their relationship with the firm, the decision
is almost always driven by fiscal constraints, and not dissatisfaction.
And in many cases, Kiecker Royall says, clients return after a brief
hiatus, recognizing that the financial investment is necessary to their
institutional health and well-being. Royall team members always part
on friendly terms with clients. In fact, Royall continues to share some
research resources even when the service agreements have expired.
Clients also maintain their engagement after formal service agree-
ments lapse, too. When one former client noticed his testimonial was
no longer included on the Royall & Company Web site, he called to
ask what had happened. It was his sincere desire to have his endorse-
ment retained and asked that it be included on the Web site. The
message was clear: He was committed to recommending Royall to
colleagues.
Despite its success, Royall does not rest on its solid reputation.
Its innovative team constantly tests new technologies and tactics,
including SMS and IM channels, Facebook integration, and mobile-
optimized campaigns. These strategies and others ensure its place as
a major marketing player in higher education.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:
 CHAPTER 14 • SURVEY SAYS: ENGAGE YOUR ADVOCATES AS 141
PARTNERS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY

• Surveys are the original engagement tool. Use them to your

advantage with your advocates to engage as often as possible
without being a nuisance.
• Surveys are an excellent tool to promote clients’ brand image
and deepen relationships as well as collect data for market
research.
• A toolkit of advocate marketing tactics, such as promoting univer-
sity administrators’ endorsements at leading higher-education
conferences, drive prospects’ interest in becoming clients and
advocates.

About Dr. Pamela Kiecker Royall

Dr. Pamela Kiecker Royall leads Royall & Company’s efforts to
survey prospective students, enrolled students, and alumni, as well as
parents, high school counselors, admission professionals, and other
key stakeholders. Her higher-education experience spans more than
twenty years as a university faculty member and administrator. Pam
holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Colo-
rado at Boulder, an MBA from Minnesota State University, Mankato,
and a BA from Carleton College. She currently serves as a trustee of
Carleton College and is chair of the advisory board of Massey Can-
cer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University. The customized
research programs that Kiecker Royall heads at Royall provide infor-
mation to guide strategic planning and decision making for its higher-
education clients in both enrollment management and advancement.

Pam Is an Advocate

“My behavior says I’m a fan of Starbucks. I go to Starbucks every

day and yet, I’ve never had a cup of coffee in my life! I go to Starbucks
for hot tea, which is not their standard offering. I put hundreds of
142 ADVOCATE MARKETING

dollars on my mobile app and I suggest to colleagues that we meet at

Starbucks. When I visit with my ninety-seven-year-old mother-in-law,
I always bring her a Starbucks’ latte and morning bun. Yet, as a mar-
keting professional, I recognize the limitations with the company’s
service format. I wait in line. And I tolerate ‘out-of-stock’ situations
when my favorite tea is not available. And I clean up the mess that the
last guest left behind. Despite all its flaws, I certainly am a fan. And a
non-coffee drinker, at that!”

Endnote
1. In interest of full disclosure, the author is a former student and client. She con-
tinues to maintain a professional relationship with Dr. Kiecker Royall and is an
advocate for Royall & Company’s research services.
 15
Advocates Turning Rogue: The
Importance of Reputation Management

Imagine you are driving home after a hard day’s work. It’s about
dinnertime and you are getting hungry. You push a button on your
steering wheel and say, “Siri, what’s the best Italian restaurant near
me?”
“OK,” she says in her female, intelligent assistant, natural tone.
“One of these Italian restaurants looks fairly close to you. I’ve sorted
them by rating.”
The first question that should pop up into your mind is, “Whose
rating?” iPhone doesn’t collect ratings for restaurants. You haven’t
loaded ratings of your favorite restaurants into your phone.
The answer is Yelp’s ratings. During Apple’s 2011 “Let’s Talk
iPhone” event, keynote speaker, Scott Forstall, former senior vice
president of iOS software at Apple, Inc., stated that Apple had formed
a partnership with Yelp. Under this agreement, the technology giant
has integrated Yelp’s rankings into the iOS system’s processes for
sorting restaurants.1 That’s how Siri sorts restaurants when you ask
for searches of nearby “best” restaurants on iOS 4S.

The Importance of User Feedback

Although most forms of advocate marketing tactics are growing in
popularity, none match the meteoric rise of online reviews. Customer

143
144 ADVOCATE MARKETING

reviews are playing a bigger role as big data feeds search engine algo-
rithms, and reviews are becoming a more trusted source of informa-
tion when making purchasing decisions.
Although this trend is helping consumers make informed choices
about local services, scammers and criminals are leveraging online
review sites, looking for opportunities to defraud or defame. Getting
a false or malicious review removed from an online review site can be
extremely difficult. Sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Angie’s List
often refuse to remove negative reviews without a court injunction.
When brands are under attack or reputations are damaged online,
organizations turn to experts such as Steven Wyer, chief executive of
Third Coast Interactive, a digital marketing firm based in Nashville,
Tennessee.

Embracing Online Reviews

In a survey conducted by BrightLocal,2 85 percent of consum-
ers indicated they read online reviews for information regarding local
businesses.3 This is part of an emerging trend as consumers leverage
the wealth of consumer-generated information to research local and
international products and services before making buying decisions.
Social media has empowered consumers with a full spectrum of
online review tools such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google+ Local, Open-
Table, and Foursquare, whose growing popularity are driving
increased interest in online feedback. In response, businesses are
scrambling to develop new engagement strategies to take advantage
of positive reviews for growth and competitive benefits. However,
just as advocates go public with positive reviews that encourage prod-
uct or service purchases, so are detractors with negative reviews that
deter or extinguish purchasing decisions.
 CHAPTER 15 • ADVOCATES TURNING ROGUE: THE IMPORTANCE 145
OF REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

New Technology Boosts Reviews

When was the last time you provided a review of a product or ser-
vice? Was it a positive or negative review? A recent infograph4 com-
piled by Dr. William Ward of www.dr4ward.com features data points
indicating that 75 percent of customer reviews online are positive.
Another data point highlights the fact that 82 percent of consumers
consider reviews to be valuable. In addition, 83 percent of respon-
dents said they would trust a user’s review over a critic’s review.
According to Wyer, potential buyers now consider online reviews to
be a viable source of information when selecting service providers
such as restaurants, real estate agents, doctors and dentists, hotels,
electricians, plumbers, and more.
Favorable online ratings are important to advance a business’s
competitive standing. A study by Harvard Business School5 indicated
that a one-star rating bump can increase revenues between 5 and 9
percent for a restaurant listed on Yelp.
Do consumers trust these sites to provide fair assessments of local
businesses? In “Customer Rating and Reviews Site: An Upcoming
Crisis of Confidence,”6 David Ensing of Maritz Research looked into
consumers’ opinions of online reviews and concluded:
“Seventy-five percent of consumers think that the informa-
tion presented in review sites is generally fair. These people do
admit, though, that consumers need to discern for themselves
the level of trustworthiness of the user-generated reviews and
ratings that they read. Meanwhile, 16 percent of respondents
believe that review sites are overly negative, while 9 percent
think they are overly positive.”
However, a recent article in Time magazine7 now casts doubt on
processes used to manage some consumer review Web sites. It cites a
study by Consumer Reports that investigated the practices of popular
146 ADVOCATE MARKETING

online review sites, including Yelp and Angie’s List, as well as lesser-
known firms such as Porch. The study “calls into question the validity
and trustworthiness of user-review sites. Unsettling surprises came
fast and frequently.” It states:
“Angie’s List, which only allows its two million paying subscrib-
ers to see (and write) local business reviews, is criticized due to
its practice of allowing businesses with a B rating or better to
pay to get their listing placed at the top of search results. ‘We
think that the ability of A- and B-rated companies to buy their
way to the top of the default search results skews the results...’
CR researchers write. ‘Angie’s List misleads consumers by
prominently promising that “businesses don’t pay” and that it’s
a consumer-driven service supported by membership fees. But
almost 70 percent of the company’s revenues come from adver-
tising purchased by the service providers being rated.’”
Tuttle continues, offering that Google+ Local’s ratings are simi-
larly questionable because ratings can be skewed as customers are
cajoled into posting more-flattering reviews or deleting less-favorable
ones. Yelp’s ratings also tend to skew high—66 percent of the first
quarter of 2013’s reviews were four or five stars—and Yelp corre-
lates this to high and repeat usage. In other words, the more movies,
for example, a person rents, the more likely she is to post a positive
review.8 Tuttle warns his readers that, in line with the old maxim, just
because someone says something online does not mean that it’s true.
The wise individual or business owner digs deeper to find out what
is really behind those assessments when her reputation is on the line.
 CHAPTER 15 • ADVOCATES TURNING ROGUE: THE IMPORTANCE 147
OF REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Encouraging Positive Online Reviews

According to Wyer, businesses are becoming aware of two impor-
tant challenges associated with online reviews:

• They need to develop strategies that encourage satisfied

customers to post online reviews—More than 80 percent of
people who have a bad customer experience will go online and
post a review, according to Marketing Pilgrim’s Frank Reed.9
Vitals.com, a Web site that provides referrals to medical profes-
sionals, reported 73 percent growth in 2013.10 The Web site
had 1.5 million unique visitors to the site looking for a physician
referral. However, while 50 percent of the people looking for a
doctor read online reviews, less than 1 in 10 ever file a review
themselves.
• Seventy-four percent of consumers refuse to interact
or do business with a person or company that has nega-
tive information published about them online.11—Nega-
tive reviews have a powerful impact on purchasing decisions.
Affected companies need to act quickly to generate favorable
feedback that provides a balanced view of their customers’
opinions. Other strategies to offset negative reviews can include
conducting their own customer satisfaction surveys and sharing
customer testimonials publicly when given permission. Other
key performance indicators of customer success and satisfac-
tion include a high referral rate or Net Promoter Score (NPS),
a high renewal rate, or customer satisfaction rate.

Businesses Generate Favorable Reviews

Many organizations find themselves at a disadvantage because
their specific business focus areas do not easily accommodate requests
148 ADVOCATE MARKETING

for online reviews. On their own, customers are relieved that their
service request has been addressed, but tend to remain silent once
the work is completed. Surprisingly, companies have found that when
specifically asked, many satisfied customers are enthusiastic about
providing an endorsement after a favorable experience. With a grow-
ing number of consumers making decisions based on online reviews,
favorable reviews are needed in order to remain competitive and this
takes deliberately reaching out to the customer base, which costs
company time, money, and effort.
To help companies generate more positive reviews, technology
firms have introduced powerful software tools such as The Review
Solution. This application, built in partnership with the Better Busi-
ness Bureau (BBB), makes it simple and efficient for small businesses
to request reviews from their customers at the point of service. The
Review Solution forwards a request from a service provider for con-
sumers to rate their experience and seamlessly forwards the informa-
tion for use in an online review.
Elsewhere, the BBB, an institution that has documented con-
sumer complaints since 1912, recently recognized the value of allow-
ing consumers to report excellent service as well as complaints. Locally
focused, about 40 percent of local BBB offices now accept positive
customer feedback and post those comments to their Web sites. BBB
officials are considering expanding the program nationwide.
In addition, several companies, such as McDonald’s fast-food
restaurants, use the purchase receipt to encourage guests to visit a
Web site to complete a customer satisfaction survey. The feedback
is shared directly with the restaurant to help make the guest’s next
visit an excellent experience. If it appears that the quality of the ser-
vice experience did not meet expectations, the guest has the option to
request a direct contact from the restaurant to resolve the concerns.
 CHAPTER 15 • ADVOCATES TURNING ROGUE: THE IMPORTANCE 149
OF REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Claiming Your Online Identity

Wyer provides a stark reality check when asked about online
threats to a company’s brand or an individual’s reputation. He warns
that failing to properly manage a virtual identity opens the door to
shadowy figures—trolls, as they are sometimes called—who obtain
online identities to defame or defraud others. Reputation manage-
ment experts like Wyer say the best way to avoid online fraud is to
establish and self-manage online identities on LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and other major social platforms—even
if there is no intention to activate those accounts.
Wyer also advises that individuals and companies visit a Web
domain registrar, such as GoDaddy or Network Solutions, and enter
the individual’s name or business title to find out whether it is avail-
able or has been purchased by someone else. If it is available, consider
acquiring it as soon as possible. It is critical to check every possible per-
mutation of the name, including FirstNameLastName, FirstName-
MiddleNameLastName, FirstNameMiddleInitialLastName, Com-
panyName, CompanyNameAbbreviation, CompanyNameLocation,
etc., and by the different URL extensions, such as .com, .net, .mil,
.gov, .us, .biz, etc. By not owning those identities, a rogue detractor
can buy them and can put any type of content on that Web site. At
that point, halting or mitigating fraudulent activity is extremely dif-
ficult (if not impossible) and expensive. Wyer even suggests that par-
ents obtain domains and URLs for their newborns to ensure a child’s
identity isn’t compromised before she begins kindergarten.
An incident involving one of Wyer’s clients provides a chilling
illustration of how trolls can use social platforms to damage a brand or
individual’s reputation. The client was a retired firefighter who wrote
a popular weekly newspaper column in a small New England town.
One particular column took an unpopular stand on a volatile political
issue. Persons taking the opposite view of that issue became enraged
150 ADVOCATE MARKETING

and decided to use an online forum to attack the columnist. They

bought a domain with the columnist’s name embedded and effec-
tively took virtual control of his online identity. The group launched
a well-orchestrated effort to build a Web site and populate it with
highly defamatory content while carefully concealing their own iden-
tities. Unable to stop the deluge of insults, Wyer’s client watched
helplessly as his reputation was ruined in public view. Frustrated and
embarrassed, he finally moved out of town.
URLs and social media platforms offer the ability for individuals
and organizations to build an identity that aligns with their brand.
However, Wyer says claiming and managing a virtual identity across
the Web in all social media platforms is just as important as owning
an organization’s or individual’s identity. It is no longer a question of
having an identity online. The critical question is just who is control-
ling that identity?

Selecting a Reputation Management

Strategy
Managing a virtual reputation must be part of a business’s strate-
gic plan and must contain contingency plans to ensure that the busi-
ness survives if that reputation is sullied. Wyer warns consumers to be
careful when selecting a reputation management firm. Just as there
are reputation trolls, there are bad actors that pose as legitimate firms.
For instance, a client was desperate for action when he spotted nega-
tive comments about his firm in an online review site. He found a Web
site that advertised reputation management services and hired the
firm by sending a $5,000 cashier’s check overnight to the published
address. After payment was made, nothing happened and, predict-
ably, nothing was resolved. The client turned to Wyer to research the
first company hired and to help repair his online reputation. Tracing
 CHAPTER 15 • ADVOCATES TURNING ROGUE: THE IMPORTANCE 151
OF REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

the transaction, Wyer found that the check was delivered to a one-
bedroom apartment that rented for $350 per month.
Another ploy used by people posing as reputation management
experts is to go to Web sites such as RipOffReport.com that offer
anonymous postings. They are commonly used because users do not
have to verify the validity of their complaints. RipOffReport.com,
which claims to have 1.7 million complaints posted, generates such a
high volume of activity that it garners high search engine optimization
(SEO) ratings. According to Wyer, trolls can use that to their advan-
tage by posting multiple false claims online. They then approach the
affected business, point out the citations, and offer to clear the post-
ings for a substantial fee.
Wyer says reputation management firms support advocate mar-
keting by educating individuals and organizations about the risks to
their brands when free access to information and easy publication
platforms converge. People contact him when they feel helpless
because they don’t understand why their identity was co-opted or,
significantly, how this occurred on the Internet, an often mysterious
territory. He has observed that when consumers better understand
what has happened to them and why, they are less likely to become
victims again, and they are better equipped to develop a response.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Businesses should monitor their online reputation and check

for negative reviews or complaints.
• Customers with negative experiences are more likely to post a
review online than those with positive experiences.
152 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• The use and importance of online consumer reviews are

expanding rapidly as consumers use data to make decisions.
• Businesses are developing innovative strategies to encourage
customers to post reviews online.
• Companies and individuals should take proactive steps to pre-
vent online reputation damage by claiming domains that have
the individuals’ names or business titles before detractors can
use them for defamation.
• Reputation management services can provide guidance and
online reputation restoration if a virtual identity has been delib-
erately damaged.

About Steven Wyer

Steven Wyer serves as chief executive of Third Coast Interac-
tive. The firm provides online reputation management, online review
management, and consulting services.
He has been a consultant to financial institutions involved in con-
sumer lending and collections, mortgage lending, and institutional
asset management. He is affiliated with several professional organiza-
tions, including the National Association of Securities Dealers, the
Mortgage Bankers Association, the Direct Marketing Association,
American Teleservices Association, the Debt Buyers Association, and
the eMarketing Association.
Wyer is the author of Violated Online, a book that chronicles the
issues that clients have faced as victims of online slander, damaging
online reviews, and virtual identity misuse. He also serves on the
Advisory Board of the Middle Tennessee Better Business Bureau.
Wyer resides in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife, children, and
creatures.
 CHAPTER 15 • ADVOCATES TURNING ROGUE: THE IMPORTANCE 153
OF REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Steven Is an Advocate

“I’m an advocate for Apple. Why am I an advocate for Apple?

Because they have truly gone to the source of need and provided a
solution. I don’t ever have to come up with a workaround when I use
their product. I just use the product. There are many brands, but if I
were going to be a cheerleader for a brand, certainly Apple would be
right up there at the top. In addition, Whole Foods does a great job.
Publix also is an amazing, amazing grocery store. They offer a won-
derful level of customer service and attentiveness. It is materially dif-
ferent from other stores. If I were going to stick three bumper stickers
on my car, they would be for Apple, Whole Foods, and Publix.”

Endnotes
1. Scott Forstall, “Let’s Talk iPhone,” October 11, 2011, http://events.apple.com.
edgesuite.net/11piuhbvdlbkvoih10/event/index.html.

2. Myles Anderson, “Welcome to Findings of the BrightLocal Local Consumer Re-

view Survey 2013,” BrightLocal, 2012.

3. Jennifer Slegg, “Local Business Reviews Read by 85% of Consumers,” Search

Engine Watch, June 2013.

4. Dr. William Ward, “Dr. 4 Ward,” http://www.dr4ward.com/dr4ward/2013/03/what-

are-some-interesting-statistics-about-online-consumer-reviews-infographic.
html.

5. Michael Luca, “Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com,”

2011, http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-016_0464f20e-35b2-
492e-a328-fb14a325f718.pdf.

6. David Ensing, “Customer Rating and Reviews Site: An Upcoming Crisis of Con-
fidence?” Maritz Research, 2013, http://www.reviewtrackers.com/75-percent-
consumers-online-reviews-ratings-fair/.

7. Brad Tuttle, “Guess Who’s Getting Some Awful Reviews: User Review Sites,”
Time, September 2013, http://business.time.com/2013/09/21/guess-whos-
getting-some-pretty-awful-reviews-user-review-sites/.

8. Ibid.
154 ADVOCATE MARKETING

9. Frank Reed, “Eighty Percent of Shoppers Change Purchase Decision Based on

Negative Decision Marketing,” Pilgrim, August 2011.

10. Review Trackers, “Eighty-Two Percent of Patients Say Online Reviews Influ-
ence Willingness to Be Treated by a Doctor,” November 2013, http://www.
reviewtrackers.com/82-percent-patients-online-reviews-influence-willingness-
treated-doctor/.

11. Joy Hawkins, “Relevance and Impact of Online Reviews,” Imprezzio Marketing,
2014.
 16
Best Practices for Creating a Project
Management Plan for an Advocate
Recognition Engagement (ARE) Program

The previous chapter shares the story of how the Advocate Rec-
ognition Engagement (ARE) program came to fruition. This chapter
expands on the steps described in the previous case study and pro-
vides more specific advice to create a sustainable program.
Once you have determined critical roles and responsibilities
(from managers to staff workers to outside consultants and vendors),
create your strategic plan. This plan outlines timelines, budgets, tools
and technologies needed, and your specific goals and how they will be
measured. Table 16.1 provides an example of a simple project man-
agement chart. It identifies the key stages of the project and the steps
to consider.

155
Table 16.1 A Sample Project Plan

156
ADVOCATE MARKETING
Components Activities Status Tools Due Date Start Date Budget KPI Approved
Planning Roles and responsibilities
Planning Strategic marketing plan
Planning Timeline/budget
Planning Executive endorsement
Planning Team roles
Communications Internal communication
milestones—launch, FAQ,
policies and process, updates, etc.
Communications External communication
milestones—Web, e-mails, FAQ,
forms, etc.
Launch Internal launch to educate teams
and gather list of nominees
Launch External launch to engage
nominees—e-mails, calls, entry
forms
Launch Sponsor campaign to engage
media and partners, news release
or media alert, e-mails, calls
Media/Partner Bartered or paid agreement,
Sponsor Campaign sponsor materials for pre, during,
and post award event, etc.
Components Activities Status Tools Due Date Start Date Budget KPI Approved

CHAPTER 16 • BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Nominee Campaign Master list of nominees, e-mails,

PLAN FOR AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM

calls, entry forms
Nominee Entry Case Interview, draft, editors,
Studies approvals, judges evaluations,
final content products
Awards and Notifications to internal teams
Ceremony and winners, gifts, guidelines,
public announcements,
engravings, photos, videos,
posting stories, pitching
stories, VIP treatments, award
presentation, script, souvenir
event booklet, case study booklet,
hotel contract, award show details
Post-Event Posting and pitching content,
thank-you notes, production of
video, communications of where
content is posted to internal and
external people
Analytics Profile winners, evaluate feedback
from event, gather accounts from
internal/external people, how
engaged was the winner and their
company, media pickups and

157
impressions and results of the
goals set in the planning stages
158 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Using this table as a model, your team should be able to develop a

strong project management tool because you have captured the infor-
mation that is vital for success.
Through your ARE, you are creating not just an award but a sus-
tainable award program. Figure 16.1 outlines the stages involved,
based on the ARE program.

Internal Audit External Advocate Award Gala Actionable Renewal

and Audit and Outreach and Analytics
Infrastructure Infrastructure Asset
Development

Technology Requirements

Figure 16.1 Stages of a continuous ARE program

As you can see, technology is the foundation of the program

supporting all of the stages of the ARE program. Having the right
technology that supports the entire process is vital for analytics and
provides your executive sponsor with the evidence he needs to justify
the renewal of this program. Using the right technologies saves you
time, performs status analysis, and provides you with a minute-by-
minute snapshot of your program data so you can identify program
risks and points that merit more focus. This list of the technology
capabilities is worth considering as you develop your program:

• CRM solution
• Lead nurturing solution with survey and e-mailing capabilities
• Social media management solution
• An analytics or SEO metrics management solution
 CHAPTER 16 • BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT 159
PLAN FOR AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM

If you do not have these tools or access to them or budget for

them, consider free technology that might be available to fill these
needs.

Project Management Stages

Let’s examine these stages more thoroughly.

Internal Audit and Infrastructure Stage

In the Internal Audit and Infrastructure stage, you are setting up

your foundation. Goals are established. You identify what is needed,
what needs to be created, who is needed, who is involved, and which
forms and templates are needed. The program’s policies and stan-
dards are produced, and the scope for the number of awards and cat-
egories is determined. Award categories are defined but should be
very flexible to maximize participation.
This stage may include creating (or drafting) materials for the
following:

• Communications and frequency

• Training
• Toolkits and templates
• Timelines and schedules for goals
• Internal Web pages

During this stage, you begin outreach within your organization,

including the following:

• Involving business lines, customer care, sales, product manage-

ment, and other internal staff
• Sharing your budget with departments
• Identifying external resources, including partners
160 ADVOCATE MARKETING

The tools, processes, strategies, and technologies you use for advo-
cate marketing are very much the same you use for integrated market-
ing. If your advocate is willing to engage in tweeting or retweeting (for
example), you need the tools, processes, strategies, and technology to
identify, assess, manage, and analyze her activity and the value that
activity provides to your company. Advocate marketing infrastruc-
ture may include leveraging resources you already have within your
organization. If those people or solutions are limited, new, additional
people and technology may be needed.

External Audit and Infrastructure Stage

In the External Audit and Infrastructure stage, you prepare to

open the doors and windows to the public: what happens when, who
does what, how to answer customer questions, and how to contact the
customers to get them involved and engaged.
This stage may include creating and implementing many out-
reach tasks:

• Create briefs of the promotions

• Set external Web pages
• Build toolkits and templates for FAQ, entry form, rules, and
guidelines
• Provide training to communicate each external step
• Identify timelines to guide and track
• Create the press release to canvas nominations
• Craft pitch to customers
• Identify and confirm sponsors
• Execute the social media strategy and plans
• Create the award icon and guidelines (press kit for winners)
• Get creative input needed for award program design
 CHAPTER 16 • BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT 161
PLAN FOR AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM

• Create final list of nominees

• Schedule the event gala scheduled and book the venue
• Purchase the awards
• Design and put together the gift baskets and award
announcements

Advocate Outreach and Asset Development Stage

In the Advocate Outreach and Asset Development stage, content

flows, such as press releases dropping, social media tweets, e-mails
going out, postings on sites appearing, and calls being made to gather
entries for creating case studies. No case study is started until a signed
rules form is collected.
This stage includes the following:

• Schedule and carry out interviews with nominees

• Write interview questions for each customer
• Communicate progress and status to internal teams
• Conduct interviews with internal and external contacts
• Transcribe interviews
• Write case studies, confirm layout, get written final approvals
• Notify internal teams of finalized case studies
• Send out gift baskets and award announcements
• Write and send out press release listing all winners
• Pitch stories to publications before public

Award Gala Stage

The Award Gala stage is one of the most enjoyable parts of this
program. Understandably, this is the most vital stage. It is what your
advocates love most—they get public appreciation. Appreciation is
162 ADVOCATE MARKETING

the key to the magical chemistry felt by an advocate. There are three
basic components of showing appreciation:

• Praise
• Recognition
• Reward

This stage may include creating materials for the following:

• Event gala presentation slides

• Event gala script
• Music selected
• Web pages set up and content updated
• Toolkits and templates
• Internal communication and training
• Social media strategy and plans
• Event gala production and direction

Of course, you need staff to stage and support every task in the
actual event.

Actionable Analytics Stage

The Actionable Analytics stage is where you measure what you

have managed and manage what you have measured. Here the loop
is closed and the success you were able to attain through the program
becomes evident. The goals that were set in the internal audit stage
are brought forward and your key performance indicators are mea-
sured against those goals.
 CHAPTER 16 • BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT 163
PLAN FOR AN ADVOCATE RECOGNITION ENGAGEMENT (ARE) PROGRAM

This stage may include the following:

• Create the final report on news release pickups and coverage

• Social media coverage—tweets and retweets
• Track customer postings on award and recognition Web pages
• Facilitate customer participation in news releases, tweets, and
other social media
• Write profiles of participating advocates, capturing such infor-
mation as company revenue to date, description of the com-
pany (e.g., Fortune 500 or Global 500 company), industry, and
other demographics

Renewal Stage

In the Renewal stage, you create your presentation to the exec-

utive team to justify repeating the program. Ask to meet with the
executive team to share your findings. Align your presentation to
the corporate strategy goals and provide two to three results as value
proof points per goal. Work with your executive sponsor to hone the
messaging of this final presentation to seal the renewal. And like a
good sales representative should always do, ask for the renewal at the
end of your presentation.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Secure an executive sponsor that is 100 percent supportive to

your project.
164 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Create the strategic plan outlining strategy, policies and pro-

cess, timelines, resources and budgets, tools and technology,
and goals.
• Break down the project into stages with milestones identified in
each stage.
• Get the evidence you need to present to the executive team so
your project is renewed and financially supported.
 17
Best Practices in the B2B Customer
Advocacy and Reference Industry

SiriusDecisions first launched its Customer Advocacy and

Engagement Survey back in 2013. Its 2015 version continues its suc-
cessful format, while adding a few new questions that target market-
ing professionals. From this survey, SiriusDecisions created the State
of B-to-B Customer Advocacy and 2015 Reference Report. Currently,
it is the only industry report that covers this topic. In 2015, more than
200 companies participated in the survey.
During an address at the 2015 Summit on Customer Engage-
ment, Megan Heuer, vice president at SiriusDecisions, told the audi-
ence that customer advocacy is the future of marketing. When Heuer
shared some results from the State of B-to-B Customer Advocacy and
2015 Reference Report, one thing was very clear: The report’s con-
clusions are truer today than ever before. When customer advocacy
professionals or customer reference professionals think about what
they do, it is all about how to get customers to be advocates. Heuer
said she believes that putting customers at the center is what defines
a company’s business value.
Heuer started her session by defining a few terms as part of her
research and presentation:

• Customer experience is defined as the experience a customer

has with your brand. Customer experience includes both your
buyer’s journey and your post-sale customer life cycle. Cus-
tomer experience is the umbrella.

165
166 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Customer advocacy is underneath that umbrella as a collection

of interactions and opportunities for customers to engage with
you.
• A customer advocate is someone who is willing to speak on your
behalf, formally or informally, via rumor or via a very formal
case study or via presenting at a conference.
• A customer reference is a subset of customer advocates refer-
ring to a more traditional sales reference.

What Can Marketers Learn from the

Survey?
SiriusDecisions learned that a lot of people really care about this
topic. The great news is that the survey reported that 85 percent of
advocacy professionals described their role as more than just cus-
tomer references. Organizations have come to embrace advocacy as a
bigger category, and it is becoming more strategic in their company.
It is starting to get a seat at the table more often than not. More com-
panies than ever before are expanding their view of customer advo-
cacy. This result is up 26 percent compared with 2013 responses.
According to Heuer, more and more organizations are building
direct relationships. They are doing direct outreach to customers.
They no longer depend solely on sales and have since reduced sales
contests. They use various channels such as surveys and social media
to engage with people who are natural advocates.
She told marketing executives that more companies are taking
advantage of technology to help them with their advocacy efforts.
Technology helps companies scale their marketing efforts. But the
best thing about technology now is that there are generalist tools—
such as sales for automation, marketing automation—that can be
used in the service of advocacy. In addition, there are more dedicated
 CHAPTER 17 • BEST PRACTICES IN THE B2B CUSTOMER ADVOCACY AND 167
REFERENCE INDUSTRY

solutions, too. Companies are adopting these technologies to do more

with their advocacy efforts and teams.
Heuer said 53 percent of all responders to the SiriusDecisions
survey reported that they are looking to invest in technology within
the next 12 months. Sixty percent were planning to invest in CRM/
Salesforce automation solutions while 44 percent were looking at cus-
tomer reference platforms, followed by 37 percent who were consid-
ering marketing automation platforms. The list of different types of
technologies that companies were planning to invest in was long and
varied. Advocacy is an incredibly innovative category within technol-
ogy right now. Technology for advocacy is one area we should all care
about, Heuer stressed, because it helps everyone do their job that
much better.
According to the report, responders say they plan to spend their
2015 technology investments in the following areas: 54 percent are
investing in a customer reference platform, 25 percent are invest-
ing in an advocate marketing/gamification platform, 21 percent are
investing in an online community platform, tying with 21 percent
investing in a marketing automation platform.
Heuer said she sees these as positive signs that companies are
realizing the value of advocate marketing. However, as an analyst, she
said she always has to look at the dark side of situations. There are a
few areas where things may not be where we would like them to be,
and companies have an incredible opportunity to do more and do
better:

• Opportunity 1: Sales team members—Heuer reminded

marketers that advocate marketing is still a volunteer army.
Seven percent of surveyed companies said sales has customer
advocacy as an action item and they are measured on it, which
is a less-than-desirable outcome. Advocacy is the lifeblood of
your business. Heuer emphasized that if it is voluntary for sales
to identify individuals who might be willing to participate in the
168 ADVOCATE MARKETING

company advocacy program, marketers must find other ways to

get participants. She said marketers should work with sales, but
not depend on them for identifying advocates.
• Opportunity 2: “Rock star” advocates—According to the
survey, only 35 percent of companies said they actually look for
their best advocates. They look for those people who are most
willing to go out and shout from the rooftops how great it is to
work with your company and the value that they’ve gotten from
it. This is way too low, Heuer said. For something so easy to
do, marketers should all be looking for rock star advocates. It is
easy to find out who these people are. Some organizations have
informal processes, but shouldn’t be leaving this to chance. This
should be something that is a meaningful part of an advocate
marketing program, to know and nurture and thank and engage
those customers who care the most about your business. This is
really important.
• Opportunity 3: Heed the warning signs—One important
disconnect SiriusDecisions continues to see from responders is
around customer strategy. Eighty-three percent of respondents
to the survey said they felt customer references were either
critical or valuable to their sales cycle—as in “can’t close busi-
ness without it.” However, SiriusDecisions noted that less than
10 percent of marketing program dollars is going to secure cus-
tomer advocacy. What surprises Heuer the most is that this is
unchanged from 2013. She raised this caution flag before. This
is wild under-resourcing of the lifeblood of your business. If
you reviewed all the activities done in marketing that touch cus-
tomers, could it be coordinated better? Could investments be
coordinated better? Is what you are investing in an appropriate
investment? Is it a relevant investment? Each chief marketing
officer (CMO) should think about this and where those invest-
ments fit within a customer-centric strategy.
 CHAPTER 17 • BEST PRACTICES IN THE B2B CUSTOMER ADVOCACY AND 169
REFERENCE INDUSTRY

Do You Really Know Your Customers’

Experience with Your Company?
Heuer told the audience that marketing and sales teams histori-
cally have played the blame game with each other. Marketing claims
they are passing over good leads to sales. Stuffing them into the top of
the pipeline based on the service level agreements for what market-
ing is supposed to bring to sales, but sales can’t close the deals. What’s
wrong with sales? Meanwhile, the sales team claims they do what they
can, but they cannot force somebody to buy. The lead was not really
warmed up to buy. The issue may not be a sales or marketing issue.
• Opportunity 4: Put your customer first—Heuer asks, “What
if the silent killer of your sales pipeline is actually your customer
experience?” Do you know what you really are delivering to the
market? And what do your customers think about their experi-
ence with you? Could that be the reason leads are not closing?
Is that why your company doesn’t have enough advocates? She
says part of your customer strategy has to be putting customers
first. Discover their experience through feedback and that will
help you find more advocates, and every company can do this.
SiriusDecisions continues to analyze data from its Customer
Advocacy and Engagement Survey with the persona studies they have
developed. According to Heuer, one of the disconnects experts have
seen is that much of content created out of advocacy organizations is
relegated to the later stages of the buying cycle. But, think back to
the silent killer idea just described: Prospects want information from
your customers at all stages. If your company is not providing rel-
evant information to clients earlier in the sales cycle, they will get it
themselves from other sources. That means you risk being taken out
of that conversation, she warned. This means that you are missing out
on what customers want.
170 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Based on results from survey respondents and overlaying the per-

sona of CXO, 89 percent say their perception of a vendor’s brand
“moderately to significantly” influences the creation of their short list.
Heuer said 75 percent say their research is done via personal inter-
actions and viral communication networks. But 80 percent say their
final decision is based on their own or others’ experience with your
company. So let’s return to the question about understanding your
customers’ experience through their buying journey. Eighteen per-
cent of respondents said they know each buyer’s journey extremely
well. They have it mapped out and know who plays a role throughout.
That leaves 82 percent of the companies that haven’t done the neces-
sary work. Or, if it has been done in another part of the organization,
it has not been communicated to the advocacy team. That is not good.
If somebody has done the work, one message that should have been
loud and clear is how critically important advocacy is to your buyer
during all stages. It certainly shows that in Heuer’s research.
• Opportunity 5: Get advocate information in front of
sales—So, what can we do as advocacy teams to anticipate
information needs and map to them? If you think about how
each of us buys as an individual, what do you go to first? You go
to reviews. You go get information. Your buyers follow the same
process when considering whether to purchase your product or
service. So why not front-load customer evidence (references,
testimonials, case studies) to help throughout all stages? The
fact that about 25 percent of respondents purposely don’t do it
at all is very surprising. But by getting customer information to
your advocate marketing team, and advocate materials in front
of sales, you can make huge improvements in both your sales
pipeline and customer experience. It is a major shift in think-
ing: a shift to invest time to better focus on what your prospects
need and when they want it.1
 CHAPTER 17 • BEST PRACTICES IN THE B2B CUSTOMER ADVOCACY AND 171
REFERENCE INDUSTRY

In summary, Heuer advised customer advocacy teams to map

each buyer’s journey and calculate your customer’s life cycle. She
said these two pieces of information give you the foundation for mak-
ing advocacy more powerful within your organization. Ask yourself,
“What do I need to do, when do I need to do it, and with whom do I
need to do it?”
Next, Heuer suggests completing a simple gap analysis. At this
point, ask, “What support is needed, at which stage, what do I have,
and what do I need today?” This will help you determine where or
what you need to invest in to advance your advocacy program’s impact
on the business.
Lastly, Heuer encouraged marketers to think about a measure-
ment strategy and communications. If you are not sharing what your
advocacy team is doing and the impact you see you’re having, no one
will know it or see it. She suggested that your marketing strategy iden-
tify a clear link between your activity and customer engagement and
sales outcome, then start communicating it. This will really help you
get the credibility you and your team need to ask for more resources
that are clearly necessary. This type of information will allow you to
make a case for the investment that will help advocacy fulfill its role
as the future of marketing and help make your business—and you
personally—more successful. We can all agree on these two good
outcomes.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Putting customers at the center of your marketing strategy

defines your company’s business value.
172 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Marketers need to develop more effective programs that

empower and encourage account executives to develop advo-
cates from their client contacts.
• Technology investments help marketers more efficiently ana-
lyze customer experience data.

Endnote
1. Megan Heuer, presentation at 2015 Summit on Customer Engagement, Febru-
ary 24, 2015.
 18
Best Practices for Measurability

In today’s B2B marketing ecosystem, promotional campaigns

alone do not lead to a sale. As companies increase marketing invest-
ments, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are facing increased pressure
to prove the return on marketing investments (ROMI). Customer
advocacy marketing initiatives are no exception.
The cost of building a customer marketing program can be
high, but companies definitely benefit in the long term. The benefit
of increasing advocates for your brand, product, or service is great
because the return is high: You are essentially getting free sales and
marketing from those advocates. However, measuring that advocacy
and reporting on ROMI is tricky business. It is nearly impossible
to capture every element of customer advocacy and what custom-
ers advocated on your company’s behalf. As difficult as the task is,
CMOs who are eager to please their bosses must be able to discover
what is measurable and report back that information. It is those bits
and pieces of data that provide insights into your advocacy marketing
effort’s bottom line and give you an understanding of exactly what
metrics moved the needle the most.
Jim Mooney, Dan Montoya, and Nichole Auston from RO Inno-
vation shared their thoughts, expertise, and best practices on what,
when, how, and why to measure for advocate marketing success. After
doing this with best-in-class companies for over a decade, they have
compiled the following best-practice metrics, which can help you
prove advocate marketing’s worth, along with their tips on avoiding

173
174 ADVOCATE MARKETING

some common mistakes surrounding their use and advice on taking it

to the next level.

Measuring Advocate Marketing Is Vital

But Hard
Regardless of a customer advocate marketing program’s size or
maturity, it can be easy for customer marketers to get caught up in the
day-to-day tactical and operational tasks of their jobs:

• Producing new case studies for the sales team

• Fulfilling reference requests
• Lining up customer speakers for the next company event
• Pulling customer quotes for press releases
• Asking customers to share new content via social media
• Launching a new referral campaign

Being proactive with strategy and program improvement often

gives way when customer marketing managers are continually stuck
in the cycle of reactive tasks, thus program analysis and review of hard
metrics often gets pushed to the back burner. But it is really impor-
tant to ask some honest questions about your program:

• Is it aligned with corporate priorities?

• Is it aligned with key stakeholders, and the things they have
charted you to do?
• Is it enabling the sales process to be more efficient and effective?
• Is it providing the greatest benefits possible to your customer
advocates?
• Is it contributing to the company’s revenue goals?
• Is it supporting key marketing initiatives and projects, like a
new product launch?
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 175

CMOs must audit and analyze metrics of their advocate market-

ing program because they are charged with proving value of market-
ing investments. CEOs and boards of directors care about results and
moving the needle. When they ask, “What was the return on invest-
ment in this program?” you don’t want to be caught by surprise or be
unprepared. Proving the investment in such a program comes down
to showing measurable, quantitative, trackable results.
The good news is that 85 percent of B2B companies in a recent
Demand Metric1 survey are using some sort of metrics to track their
customer marketing efforts. Measuring and reporting the results
of your program helps you know which areas need more attention
and focus, and which areas are thriving. It also helps you to do the
following:

• Prove value and business impact

• Prove program improvement and growth
• Secure or increase program budget
• Secure or increase executive support

The bottom line is that without measurements, it is much harder

to definitively prove your efforts are yielding the desired results on
the company’s bottom line.
That said, auditing a customer marketing program is not always
a walk in the park either. It is one thing to ask the question, “What
kind of results did we deliver?” It is another to determine the answer.
Some key challenges to customer marketing program measurement
are as follows:

• Knowing when to measure—The time and money you invest

today will have an uncertain impact at an uncertain point in the
future. Last month’s video case study might deliver results next
month or perhaps not for two years, but customer marketing
managers need to decide where to invest their energy and bud-
get today.
176 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Multiple touches—Various studies show at least seven or

more marketing touches are needed to convert a cold lead into
a sale. This confirms what every marketer knows: It takes mul-
tiple touches to create a customer. This makes it difficult to
allocate revenue to any specific advocacy touch.
• Multiple influencers—The average buying committee at a
midsized company comprises six people. In the case of larger
companies or more complex purchases, such a committee can
involve 21 or more influencers. Different marketing programs
affect each individual differently, so it is a challenge to know
which programs have the most impact.
• Extraneous variables—In many cases, factors outside mar-
keting’s control can significantly impact program results—
from macroeconomic trends, to the weather, to the quality
of the sales reps. If revenues increased because the economy
improved, can marketers claim their programs delivered better
return on investment (ROI)?

What You Should Measure

Like most marketing programs, advocate marketing should be
measured and optimized over time. As part of this effort, marketing
should analyze strategic metrics that show performance against busi-
ness objectives like advocate revenue contribution. At the same time,
marketing needs to pay attention to operational and tactical metrics
that highlight things like advocate participation rates.
So which advocacy marketing metrics provide the most value?
The answer depends on the goals of your organization.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 177

Program Goals

What are your customer marketing objectives? Generate sales,

expand brand awareness, increase revenues, enhance customer loy-
alty, improve customer experience, or something else? The dynamics,
drivers, and priorities for a customer advocacy program are very dif-
ferent for every company. As such, you’re going to set your own goals
and measure against them.
RO Innovation has worked with companies of all sizes for over a
decade on goals and processes for specifically making their customer
reference programs thrive. Here are some examples of basic metrics
to track achievement of reference program goals over a designated
time period, whether annually, quarterly, monthly, or weekly.

Customer Reference Pipeline

• Number of new reference companies and contacts added to the

program
• Number of nominations converted to references
• Reference customer scorecard tracking
• Gap analysis; reference pool versus number of requests

Request Fulfillment

• Number of requests fulfilled

• Request fulfillment time versus service level agreement (SLA)
• Requester feedback on reference experiences

Reference Asset Utilization and Development

• Number of internal team member downloads (assets and asset

types)
178 ADVOCATE MARKETING

• Number of external views (by prospects and customers)

• Number and status of assets in development process
• Number of assets produced

Let’s look at the different types of metrics that when captured,

analyzed, and used, give you a full view of the state, value, and poten-
tial of your program. These types are strategic, operational, and
tactical.

Strategic Metrics: ROI and Business Impact

Strategic metrics should correlate with the larger goals of the pro-
gram or organization as a whole. Most often, we see strategic metrics
focused on measuring business impact. After all, the core of assessing
and evaluating your program is ultimately to find out what impact it
is having on revenue and ROI. Although it is easy to think about this
and understand the nature and importance of it, only 36 percent of
companies can accurately measure the ROI of their customer refer-
ence programs. That means for every 10 programs, 6 or 7 cannot tell
you their value to the business—scary!
Demand Metric reports over 90 percent of B2B organizations
have some sort of customer marketing efforts or function, and 53
percent of them report getting moderate to significant revenue as a
result. The metrics most associated with moderate to significant rev-
enue impact from customer marketing are “renewal rate or churn”
(44 percent) and “customer influenced revenue via referrals or ref-
erences” (42 percent). In fact, best-in-class companies that report
higher revenue contribution rates from their customer marketing
programs use “renewal rate or churn” as a metric 59 percent of the
time and “customer influenced revenue via referrals or references” 53
percent of the time, compared with just 27 percent and 30 percent,
respectively, for companies that report lower revenue impact.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 179

The following sections describe some examples of ways you can

measure the strategic business impact of customer advocacy programs.

Customer Renewal and Upsell Rates

Engaged, happy customers will renew and purchase additional

products from you, so track renewal and upsell rates for advocates
versus nonadvocate customers.

Lead Generation

Peer-referred leads are typically the highest converting B2B lead

source. Referral leads typically convert at a rate of 4 to 10 times higher
than leads from other sources. Track the number of leads generated
by advocates, the percentage of them that convert to new customers,
and the average value of advocate-referred deals. Comparing those
with the same metrics for nonadvocate referred leads can make this
metric stand out even more as a measurement of success.

Cost Per Acquisition

If you are able to identify the number of advocates your program

generated, you can also measure the cost per acquisition (CPA) of
those advocates. Was the cost of campaigning and recruiting them to
your program above or below the plan? How long did it take? Is there
room for improvement?

Impact on Closed Business

At best, only one third of companies track deals where references

are supplied, so this is critical. However, formal technology platforms
that integrate with CRM systems give CMOs a formal way to track
reference activity against generated revenue. Measure the total dollar
value of deals won by month or quarter, and references (both content
assets and live activities) that were provided to assist in closing those
180 ADVOCATE MARKETING

deals. Measure the use of references in the following ways through

the sales cycle:

• References listed in request for proposal (RFP) responses

• Live reference events supported
• Case studies, videos, and other content that leverage the voice
of the customer

Recognizing that reference activity and reference assets are only

a component of successful sales cycles, many companies actually
ask their customers why their business was won. Often, the reply is
“Because you were able to share references with us.”

Return on Investment

Some reference programs measure the cost (infrastructure and

staffing) to run their program against the value of deals won to assess
the program’s contribution to the business. Let’s walk through an
example for a SaaS-based software company.
There are four variables you will need to know:

• Average gross sales value—This may refer to the amount the

customer spent on license fees. In this example, the average
deal involving customer advocacy results in $75,000 revenue.
Also assume the average tenure of a customer is five years.
Thus, each customer is worth about $375,000 in gross revenues
to the company.
• Average cost per acquisition—Let us assume the company
spends $12,500 on average in sales and marketing to acquire
each new customer.
• Total external program costs—This includes the advocacy
solution provider technology and services, agency services to
produce customer advocate assets, and so on. In this example,
the SaaS company spends about $75,000 a year on external
costs.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 181

• Total internal program costs—This is staff costs for advocate

program management, promotional costs related to the pro-
gram, and so on. In this example, the company spent $100,000
this year.

Now plug them into this formula, and the benefits become obvi-
ous and data-verified (Figure 18.1).

Customer Lifetime Value

Return on Investment =
Total Program

Average Gross Sales Value Average Customer CPA

-
Return on Investment = $375,000 $12,500

External Program Costs + Internal Program Costs

$75,000 $100,000

Return on Investment = 2.07 In other words, every $1 spent on

advocacy efforts generates $2.07 in revenue!

Figure 18.1 Calculating the return on investment for business impact

Sales Cycle Acceleration

Measure the length of sales cycles for deals that include customer
reference participation and those that do not.

Asset Utilization

Measure what assets and asset types are used the most and con-
sumed the most in sales cycles. Analytics can be run on several vari-
ables of the sales cycle, including industry, product, or geography.
For example, analysis of which assets are viewed by prospects may
indicate that case studies are consumed more by companies in manu-
facturing, and video testimonials are more interesting to companies in
technology. This analysis helps marketing and content development
teams prioritize and allocate their content budgets more effectively.
182 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Operational Metrics: User Adoption and Stakeholder

Awareness
Operational metrics track the performance of the advocate mar-
keting program itself. The following sections list some examples of
operation metrics to track.

Program Awareness

Avoid falling into the trap of thinking, “If you build it, they will
come.” It is important that your key stakeholders from sales, market-
ing, channel programs, and the customer community are inundated
with programs, systems, tools, and processes to help them do their
jobs. Thus, sometimes they forget your advocacy program is even out
there. The reality is that your advocacy program is going to require
announcement, promotions, reminders, and ongoing nurturing. Track
login rates to your advocacy platforms, the stakeholder groups that
use it most and least frequently, patterns in reference request rates,
and responses on feedback surveys about your program.

Ease of Use

This is a qualitative metric that should not be overlooked. If you

are not making your advocacy marketing program easy for your inter-
nal sales and marketing teams to use (including the platforms you
choose to support it), they will not use it. It also means you are not
likely to see the return on investment you desire. You can get a good
reading on usability by surveying or interviewing your top users to get
their opinions. From their candid feedback, figure out ways to make
it even easier for them to use and get value to your program. Areas to
measure include steps and time it took to find the correct advocate
or reference asset, number of questions the team has about platform
features, and so on.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 183

Companies that are growing and nurturing user adoption typically

do the following:

• Send frequent communications, announcements, and newslet-

ters about their program to stakeholders.
• Leverage social media tools like Twitter and Chatter with
stakeholders.
• Provide regular and frequent training sessions on how to lever-
age and use their program, platform, etc.
• Share stories of their peer’s success using the advocacy program.

Customer Participation Rates

Obviously, a customer advocacy program provides no value unless

you have a number of customer participants to call upon for requests.
You should be measuring the percentage of your customer base will-
ing to participate in some form of advocacy activity—and if that num-
ber is growing or shrinking. Look at net new advocates and slice by
type, industry, solution, geography, and so on. This keeps your pro-
gram fresh and adds to the currency and variety of advocates you can
call upon to prevent reference fatigue or burnout.
Also remember that some customers only participate in your
advocacy program for a limited time. They may leave the company or
become dissatisfied and grumpy. Therefore, it is important to track
ongoing engagement with metrics like number of responses per advo-
cate and the number of advocates per campaign. Be sure to track
the conversion rate for responses to asks, and determine participation
distribution across the advocate pool.

User Adoption

Track the number of logins to your advocacy technology platforms,

the number of new user logins, the number of support line requests,
184 ADVOCATE MARKETING

and feedback or ratings on program awareness surveys. These growth

rates should be measured consistently over time.
It is also important to track exactly who is using your program and
who your main stakeholders are (and if these are changing over time).
You may have initially designed your program thinking sales would be
the main users, but then find out that the marketing department uses
it three times as much. This helps you position your program’s assets
and functionality to be useful and quickly adopted by the main user
groups. It also helps you flag any areas or groups that you may need to
readdress to increase user adoption.

Tactical Metrics: Asset Growth

These are the assets produced as a result of your advocates’

labors. They should be tracked and analyzed against your objectives
and compared monthly, quarterly, and annually. Some tactical met-
rics to track include those listed in the following sections.

Net New Assets

Look at the number of new customer reference and advocacy

“assets” you can leverage in sales and marketing activities, such as
case studies, reviews, quotes, testimonials, online reviews, and so on.

Reference Pool Growth

It is important to not only look at the total number of new advo-

cates you are adding to your program, but to also look at new advo-
cates by different categories (such as geography, solution/product,
industry, activity, etc.). This ensures you have a well-rounded pool to
call upon to prevent overuse of any one advocate, and also helps you
flag any gaps that exist.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 185

Advocacy Demand

This metric not only showcases the need for your program, but
also its relevancy. Look at the types and frequency of advocates being
requested for sales and marketing activities. This helps you see what
types of advocates are most popular and what you need the most of, as
well as discover where your program may be a little weak. Also look at
the rate of fulfilled versus unfulfilled reference requests to determine
if your reference database is current and on point enough to ensure
you can fulfill current and future requests.

How Frequently Should We Measure?

Some metrics require continuous monitoring and data capture.
Others require more periodic review, such as on a monthly or quar-
terly basis. Regardless, you should have the tools in place that allow
you to constantly talk to your end-user base, to survey them, and to
get their feedback. How you proceed depends on the types of metrics
you are gathering and the interactions you are having.

Pitfalls and Advice

Although it’s great to have key performance indicators (KPI) and
metrics, it’s also important to not get in over your head. Know where
the KPI land mines are and how to avoid them:

• Measuring without a goal in mind—One of the most com-

mon mistakes we see in companies taking metrics is not mea-
suring against goals. What we mean by that is they just jump
right in. “We need to start a recruiting program” or “We need
to go out and get nominations” without a target or goal in mind.
As a result, their efforts and messaging are not very focused and
186 ADVOCATE MARKETING

they have nothing to measure against that would define success

or failure for a KPI.
• Not answering the “so what?”—Another mistake is “mea-
suring” basic numbers. “We’ve got 15 references in financial
services, 10 in Product A, 17 for North America, 30 case stud-
ies, etc.” The response is always, “so what?” It’s good to know
how many you have, but it is more important to know how
many you need in each of those areas. Again, it goes back to the
gap analysis mentioned earlier. Remember, it’s not just about
measuring activity, it’s about measuring effectiveness.
• Focusing only on financial—It’s not all about money. Not
all KPIs need to be (or should be) financial. There are many
qualitative metrics that help determine impact and success of a
reference program.
• Having too many KPIs—Avoid “paralysis by analysis.” Again,
consider your organization’s major goals and initiatives. If you
really only need to track a handful of metrics, do it! Every com-
pany and program is different, so sometimes it’s best to keep it
simple!
• Having hidden KPIs—Once you have some solid data in your
hands, don’t keep it to yourself! Make sure you put your reports
in the hands of those who need it. Because what good is a KPI
if it’s a secret?

Celebrate Your Program Along the Way

In addition to making a formal presentation and report pack-
age for your stakeholders, be sure to make the information dynamic.
Alert the company when your program hits major milestones or goals.
Invite yourselves to weekly sales team meetings. Get on their agenda.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 187

Keep them aware of what’s going on in your program. Ensure they

know the benefits your program provides and the ways you can help
them. That will go a long way in keeping your program successful and
dynamic, and help aid the culture of customer-centricity you aim to
support.

Let Metrics Serve as the Guardrails for

Future Decisions
Through the process of assessing, measuring, and validating their
program in a formal, organized way, CMOs are able to leverage the
information it produces to let it guide future decisions in regard to
the following:

• Budgets
• Staffing
• Asset development
• Advocate recruiting targets
• Customer reference fulfillment targets
• Business processes
• Technology platforms
• Executive support

Conclusion
When it comes to verifying and assessing how KPIs are met and
tracking the ROI of your customer reference management program
to executive management, identifying and capturing the right data,
then constantly reporting on and promoting your program’s progress
188 ADVOCATE MARKETING

is the key. A disciplined approach to reporting your program’s perfor-

mance, coupled with presenting the information in meaningful, easy-
to-digest indicators for the executive team, means that you will not
only strengthen your customer marketing program year over year, but
you will also increase your budgets with amplified executive support.

Highlights and Takeaways

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from this
chapter:

• Measuring and reporting the results of your program helps you

know what areas need more attention and focus.
• Measuring and analyzing data points helps ensure buy-in from
decision makers.
• Understand and know your customer marketing objectives.
• Strategic metrics should correlate with the larger goals of the
program or organization as a whole.
• Avoid paralysis by analysis. If you really only need to track a
handful of metrics, do it.

About Nichole Auston

Nichole Auston is the marketing director at RO Innovation. She
has honed expertise in online content development, sales enable-
ment, customer advocate marketing, SMB Internet marketing strat-
egy, e-mail marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and social media
outreach. Her “can do” attitude and a passion for the results produced
both online and offline drives success at RO Innovation.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 189

Auston’s marketing experience covers a variety of fast-paced

industries, including software, health care, financial services, indus-
trial manufacturing, travel, real estate, career services, and more.
Before coming on board at RO Innovation, she worked in market-
ing capacities at Access Marketing Company, Republic Financial,
90Octane, University of Denver, and Shea Properties.
Auston has a bachelor of science in business administration in
marketing with a minor in real estate from the Daniels College of
Business at the University of Denver.

About Jim Mooney

Jim Mooney is the founder and CEO of RO Innovation. He is a
seasoned business professional with an extensive background in all
levels of sales and business development. With over 30 years of pro-
fessional experience, Mooney has worked in and with major compa-
nies in several industries, including high-tech and enterprise software.
Prior to founding RO Innovation, Mooney served as vice presi-
dent of North American sales for Deuxo, Inc., where he brought the
company to a new level of prosperity. Throughout his career, he has
found success at all levels of sales, including the selling of complex
business solutions to large corporations, such as Coca-Cola, American
Airlines, Walmart, United Airlines, and Shell.
In 2002, after seeing a need for a sales technology in the market-
place that could deliver optimized sales tools and customer reference
assets to prospects and provide intelligence on when and what tools
the prospect engaged with, he founded RO Innovation. In his cur-
rent role as CEO, Mooney has strategically guided the company to
be a true innovator and pioneer in sales and marketing technology.
He has been instrumental in the development and evolution of the
company’s customer reference management platform and enterprise-
level sales enablement solution, and is always seeking new ways RO
190 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Innovation can help enterprises make sales easier, close rates faster,
foster better customer relationships, and create integrated solutions.
Mooney holds a bachelor of science degree in business from Fort
Lauderdale College.

About Dan Montoya

Dan Montoya is the vice president of professional services at RO
Innovation. He is a customer-oriented business professional with over
25 years of combined experience in consultative sales, marketing, busi-
ness process consulting, and program and operations management.
Montoya has worked directly with major companies in several
industries, including high-tech, enterprise software, aerospace, indus-
trial, energy, medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods. Prior to
joining RO Innovation, he was the program manager of consulting
services for i2 Technologies where he was responsible for success-
ful customer implementations of supply chain management solutions
and generation of $5 million in annual services revenue.
Other assignments include presales business consulting at i2
where he contributed to over $10 million in annual sales; knowledge
management where he was responsible for development and delivery
of training, coaching, and materials for i2 presales consultants; and
product marketing for SMC Networks, where he developed market-
ing programs to support generation of $30 million in annual revenue.
Montoya was also the director of professional services for CADIS, a
component and supplier management solutions company where he
established the services practice and organization, responsible for suc-
cessful customer implementations and generation of over $3 million.
Dan holds a bachelor of science degree in natural resources man-
agement from Colorado State University and a master of business
administration from the University of Phoenix.
 CHAPTER 18 • BEST PRACTICES FOR MEASURABILITY 191

Nichole, Jim, and Dan Are Advocates

Nichole is an advocate of Shaklee cleaning products because they

are green, safe, smart, and powerful. They are made with nontoxic,
ecofriendly ingredients (more so than any “green” cleaner found at
stores) and are better than the “green” “make it yourself” versions
found on Pinterest or the Web. Plus, their packaging is biodegradable
and uses less materials than conventional cleaners. Shaklee says their
Starter Kit can save users $3,400 on equivalent cleaners, can elimi-
nate 108 pounds of packaging waste from landfills, and can keep 248
pounds of greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere. Because Shaklee
products don’t contain nasty chemicals or fumes, Nichole has peace
of mind knowing she is not exposing her small children to dangerous
chemicals, especially if they were to get their hands on them and do
some “cleaning” of their own. Because Shaklee’s cleaning products
are sold as a concentrate, it is cheaper for Nichole and lasts her lon-
ger. She can also clean in more ways based on the dilution she uses.
“Seriously, a little goes a long way with this stuff and always gets the
job done in no time at all...it’s awesome! You wouldn’t believe some
of the before and after photos I’ve taken simply because my friends
didn’t believe the power of this stuff!” she says.
Jim Mooney is an advocate of Office Evolutions, an office space
provider for small businesses throughout the United States. As a busy
CEO and salesperson, Mooney loves the flexibility and convenience
of being able to reserve a professional office or meeting space in the
major cities where he travels. He also notes that the staff at Office
Evolution is always extremely accommodating and always goes out
of their way. “Whether I need a conference room or meeting space
at the last minute, or need them to run something to the mail for me
at 5:00 p.m., they’ve always been super accommodating and helpful
with any request I have. As such, I end up recommending them to my
business friends all the time!”
192 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Dan Montoya is an advocate of TaylorMade golf clubs. He likes

the quality of their products and variety of their club choices. He also
likes that they continue to offer new products regularly with the latest
golf technology. “I have never had a bad experience with their prod-
uct...other than my own golf swing!” Montoya says.

Endnote
1. Demand Metric, Customer Marketing Benchmark Report, September 2014,
http://www.demandmetric.com/content/customer-marketing-benchmark-
report.
 19
Epilogue: What’s Next?
Using What You Have Learned

At this point, you have heard from the experts. So the next logical
question is, “What does this mean for me? What can I do with this
information to build a terrific advocate marketing program for my
organization?”
The road map in this chapter pulls together the wisdom of the
experts in a way that gives you, the professional, solid direction to
build such a program. This list is not exhaustive, but using your own
creativity, this guidance can be fine-tuned to fit your organization.
Don’t forget, the experts are also mentors and are available for con-
sultation and advice; their contact information is the “Interviewees’
Contact Information” chapter near the end of this book.

1. Identify the activities that are valuable to you and your organi-
zation. For example, you may need several customers to pro-
vide testimonials or case studies. On the other hand, you might
need to produce three webinars that include customers, or you
might need five customers to participate in speaking engage-
ments. You’ll include these types of activities in your survey.
Determine a score for each of these activities. As an example,
a testimonial earns 5 points, a webinar earns 15 points, but a
speaking engagement earns 25 points.
2. Consult your corporate attorneys to develop a release form for
customers to sign that gives permission for public use of their
company’s name and logo on advocates’ testimonials.

193
194 ADVOCATE MARKETING

3. Build the customer engagement survey. Include the five basic

questions that the customers will complete (listed below). When
you build the survey (using an online survey tool), remember
that each question leads to the next based on the customer’s
response. You may want to include a text box on the survey so
that customers who (for example) indicate that they will pro-
vide a testimonial can immediately do so. When finished, the
survey results help you assess their willingness to engage in the
different activities. The questions include:
a. How satisfied are you?
b. Are you willing to recommend?
c. Would you be a reference?
d. Are you willing to engage?
e. Which of these activities would you be willing to do?
(sample activities)
i. Provide a testimonial
ii. Speak at a webinar
iii. Speak at an event
iv. Provide a case study

4. Contact all of your customers. Send them a link to your cus-

tomer engagement survey.
5. Identify a tool—a spreadsheet, a database, etc.—that you will
use to track and manage the results. Using software, rather than
pen and paper, makes tracking and analyzing the responses and
results much more manageable, less prone to human error
and bias, and allows you to objectively analyze the results to
make good determinations. An online tool also saves you a huge
amount of time and gives much more flexibility and mobility.
The contributors to this book have made several suggestions
for reliable online tools, and they can be contacted for further
advice.
CHAPTER 19 • EPILOGUE: WHAT’S NEXT? USING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED 195

6. Assess and qualify your advocates.

a. Perform the survey. Customers take the customer
engagement survey.
b. Identify your advocates who score 9 and 10. To do so,
categorize the customers based on the activities they are
willing to perform. An automated tool may do this for
you.
c. Assess the results. Group the results by the following:
i. Viability as an advocate
ii. Geographic location
iii. Activities they’re willing to perform

7. Put your advocates to work. Lock in their commitment and date

to accomplish the activities they’ve agreed to. For example, for
the customers who agree to write a testimonial, ask them to give
you that testimonial right on the survey. For the customers who
agree to participate in webinars, set up a date, time, and subject
(e.g., the implementation of your product, the experience of
implementation, the successful results of the implementation,
etc.).
8. Once customers have performed the activity, you or your
employees log that the activity has been completed. This can
be done in a spreadsheet or software. At this point, points are
assigned to the advocate based on the assigned value of the
activity. For the organization, the score denotes the value of
each advocate to the organization. The advocate also benefits
by increased influence and esteem as a thought leader in the
industry.
9. Leverage the activity. For example, if an advocate has written a
case study, identify and use the pieces within the case study (or
group components with other content pieces) to create content
for social media, new collateral, testimonial for Web sites, webi-
nars, speaking events, and the like.
196 ADVOCATE MARKETING

10. Thank the advocates through public acknowledgment of their

achievements just as they have publicly shared their success
with you.
11. Evaluate and analyze the impact of the advocates and their
activities. Key performance indicators include (but are not lim-
ited to):
a. The influence advocate marketing has on a sale. Don’t
forget that third-party endorsements have much more
influence on sales than any endorsements that come from
within the organization itself. Advocates help shorten the
timeline of a sale.
b. Whether a customer reference was involved in the sales
process, and did that sale close as a win or a loss. This
helps to tie the advocate’s work to revenue.
c. Quantify the amount of press (including social media buzz,
press releases, and the like) the organization gets from the
content created by the advocate.
d. Evaluate the prestige of the advocate. For example, what
percentage of Fortune 500 companies or Dow Jones Sus-
tainable Index companies can you include as advocates?
Endorsement by such respected organizations enhances
your third-party validation, positive relevance, and brand
recognition.
e. Identify the geographic distribution of your advocates to
know who they are, where they are, and what they will do
to help you determine where more focus is needed, where
you can expect greater return, and where there are oppor-
tunities to grow.
f. Evaluate your organization’s products and business lines
in terms of which have more advocates than others.
CHAPTER 19 • EPILOGUE: WHAT’S NEXT? USING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED 197

12. Let your organization know just who your real advocates are
based on their successful completion of engagement, and how
they benefit the organization. This is information to be broad-
cast, not kept sequestered in the advocacy marketing program’s
team and database. This is a key point in an organization’s goal
to keep the customer first. Let the world know that your cus-
tomer advocates love you. In other words, advocate for your
advocates.

To sustain your program, repeat these steps. Reexamine your

policies. Reevaluate your advocates (an advocate today might not be
your advocate tomorrow). Review the engagement activities that are
important to your organization that only an advocate can perform. In
other words, like your advocates, your advocate marketing program
requires nurturing and attention.
This page intentionally left blank
 Interviewees’ Contact Information
Nichole Auston
Marketing Director
1624 Market Street, Suite 202
Denver, CO 80202
nauston@roinnovation.com
Phone: 888.731.4002 x 706
Cell: 303.241.4451

Greg Coticchia
Director, “The Blast Furnace” Student Accelerator, University of Pittsburgh
CEO, ENTRA Inc.
246 Cedar Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
gcoticchia@innovation.pitt.edu
greg@entrainc.com
Phone: 412.401.5423
Twitter: @GregCott

Lawrence D. Dietz
General Counsel and Managing Director, Information Security
TAL Global Corporation
1 Almaden Blvd., Suite 750
San Jose, CA 95113
ldietz@talglobal.net
Phone: 408.993.1300

Brian Gladstein
briangladstein@gmail.com
Twitter: @briangladstein

Neil Hartley
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilhartley

Reid Hawkins
3608 Summer Leaf Ct.
Raleigh, NC 27615
reidhawkins@nc.rr.com
Phone: 919.841.1555
Cell: 919.349.9399

Evan Jacobs
https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanjacobsprofile
Twitter: @EvanJ2011

199
200 ADVOCATE MARKETING

Scott Jaworski
www.linkedin.com/in/scottjaworski
Twitter: @scott_jaworski

Pamela Kiecker Royall, PhD

Head of Research
Royall & Company
pkiecker@royall.com
Phone: 804.741.6337 x 1254

Sandra Lopez
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lopezsandra
Twitter: @NYCSF

Dan Montoya
Vice President of Professional Services
1624 Market Street, Suite 202
Denver, CO 80202
dmontoya@roinnovation.com

Jim Mooney
Chief Executive Officer
1624 Market Street, Suite 202
Denver, CO 80202
jmooney@roinnovation.com

Lee Rubin
Senior Manager, Global Reference Programs
Citrix Systems, Inc.
lee.rubin@citrix.com

Sylvia E. Salazar-Botero
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviaesalazar
Twitter: @theGeekyBird

Barbara Thomas, CDM, CeM

Creative Tactics, LLC
bt@creativetactics.com
Phone: 301.728.2503
Twitter: @creativetactics
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/barbaraannthomas

Jim Williams
Vice President of Marketing
Influitive
Phone: 781.718.1435
Twitter: @jimcwilliams, @influitive

Steven Wyer
Phone: 615.224.6610
Twitter: swyer@3Ci.agency
 Index

Numbers as emerging marketing approach,

55-56
1001 Ways to Reward Employees, importance of, 13-14
9, 37
Intel, 84-85
2013 Hub Prize, 82
measuring, 174-176
2013 Marketers That Matter
metrics, 9
award, 82
overview of, 3-4, 62
2015 Summit on Customer
Engagement, 165 strategies for success, 4-6
technologies, 56-58
value of, 167-168
A Advocate Recognition Engagement
achievements (ARE) program, 37-39
marketing, 82-84 actionable analytics stage, 162-163
promotion, 139 advocate outreach stage, 161
actionable analytics stage, 162-163 asset development stage, 161
adoption, user, 183 award gala stage, 161-162
advocacy awards, 44-46
business-to-business (B2B), case studies, 41-44
165-166 creating, 155-159
company policies, 128-129 customers, identifying, 39-40
customers, 57 e-mail and phone strategies, 40-41
demand, 185 external audit and infrastructure
open support tickets, 65-66 stage, 160-161
regulations, 127 internal audit and infrastructure
strategies, 112-113 stage, 159-160
AdvocateHub, 122 interviews, 41-44
advocate marketing post-production promotion, 46-47
applying, 193-197 renewal stage, 163
benefits of, 18-21 revenue-generating alliances,
47-49

201
202 INDEX

advocates awards
award engagement programs, Advocate Recognition
110-111 Engagement (ARE) programs,
benefits of, 118-122 44-46
customer references, comparing Excellence Award program, 38
to, 100 gala stage, 161-162
outreach stage, 161 awareness, program, 182
overview of, 6-8
partnerships. See partnerships B
performance, measuring, 117
Bain & Company, 25
power of one, 53-55
Baker Technologies, 14
product launches, 73-74
benchmarks, 113
roles of, 65
benefits of advocates, 118-122
value, 8-10
best practices
Alcoa, 109
business-to-business (B2B)
American Advertising Award, 82
advocacy, 165-172
analyst relations (AR), 93
measurability, 173-188
Angie’s List, 144
project management plans,
AOL, 4 155-164
Apple, 102 Better Business Bureau (BBB), 148
applying advocate marketing, bill of materials (BOMs), 93
193-197
blogging, 75
assets
brands
development stage, 161
building, 18
growth, 184-185
feedback, 121
utilization and development,
BrightLocal, 144
177, 181
budgets, 14
attitudes, transforming, 108
business impact, 178-181
auditing marketing, 175
business practices, 129-130
Auston, Nichole, 174, 188
business-to-business (B2B), 14,
automating marketing, 101
22, 56
award engagement programs,
advocacy, 165-166
107-108
open communications, 74-75
advocacy strategies, 112-113
business-to-consumer (B2C), 22
advocates, 110-111
buyers, processes, 100-102
client attitudes, transforming
with, 108 buzz, 21
endorsements, 109-110 product launches, 79. See also
product launches
promotion incentives, 113
spreading, 19
sales performance, elevation of,
111-112
 INDEX 203

C The Content Factory, 94

core beliefs, 103
calculating Net Advocate Scores
Corporate Executive Board
(NASs), 27-29
(CEB), 14
case studies, 113, 129
cost per acquisition (CPA), 179-180
Advocate Recognition
Coticchia, Greg, 53, 55-60
Engagement (ARE) programs,
41-44 Creative Tactics, 26. See also Net
Advocate Score (NAS)
categories of advocates, 7
crisis management, 45
chief marketing officers (CMOs),
173, 175 critical insights, lack of, 122
Choate Hall & Stewart LLP, 54 Customer Advocacy and
Engagement Survey, 165-171
Cialdini, Robert, 103
customer-centric approach, 72-73
Citrix, 8
customer relationship management
Community and Customer
(CRM), 4, 20, 99
Marketing team, 93
customers
content showrooms, 95-96
advocacy, 57
Customer Reference Forum, 94
e-mail and phone strategies, 40-41
customer references, 91-92
endorsements, 113
marketing infrastructures, 92-94
identifying, 39-40
Sales IQ, 95
loyalty, 62
clients
marketing infrastructures, 92-94
connections, 19
obsession, 123
retention rates, 140
participation rates, 183
closed-door speaking opportunities,
75 reference pipelines, 177
cold calls, 104 references, 91-92, 99
commitments, confirming, 28 referrals, 113
communications, 71. See also open relationships, 16
communications renewal rates, 179
with stakeholders, 40 roles as advocates, 63
communities satisfaction, 20
marketing infrastructures, 92-94 satisfaction surveys, 147
programs, 92 upsell rates, 179
company policies, advocacy, value of, 13
128-129 Customer Success approach, 72
company size, importance of, 16
content
creating, 19
marketing, 92
showrooms, 95-96
204 INDEX

D Excellence Award program, 38

executive sponsors, 5
data points, tracking, 5
external audit and infrastructure
demand, 21 stage, 160-161
advocacy, 185 external program costs, 180
Demand Metric survey, 175, 178
Design Partner Program, 73
Dietz, Lawrence, 129-130, 133-134
F
disruptive marketing, 123 Facebook, 4, 85
do as I say, not as I do, 127 face-to-face meetings, 16
advocacy regulations, 127 Federal Emergency Management
business practices, 129-130 Agency (FEMA), 134
employees, monitoring, 131-132 Federal Trade Commission
(FTC), 81
nuances of marketing, 130-131
feedback
DocuSign, 120
brands, 121
Duke Energy, 109
importance of, 143-144
focus groups, 138. See also research
E techniques
earned advocates, 7 Forstall, Scott, 143
ease of use, 182 forums, Customer Reference
eBillingHub, 53 Forum, 94
education, 64-65 Foursquare, 144
Eisenberg, Meagen, 120 frequency of measurements, 185
e-mail strategies, 40-41 fulfillment, request, 177
employees, monitoring, 131-132 future decisions, 187
endorsements, 63, 109-110, 113
engagement strategies, 5, 17, 31 G
Advocate Recognition Giga Information Group, 130
Engagement (ARE)
Gladstein, Brian, 62, 67, 69-70
programs, 37-39
Global Reference Programs, 8
Ensing, David, 145
goals, 5
enthusiasm, customers, 62
program, 177-178
environmental health and safety
(EHS), 45, 107 GoDaddy, 149
ESS Excellence Awards, 108, Golden Circle program, 102-103
110. See also award engagement Google+, 149
programs Google Ad Word, 18
Ethos, 95 Google+ Local, 144, 146
events, attendance, 20 Gridstore, Inc., 131
gross rating points (GRPs), 85
 INDEX 205

growth, asset, 184-185 key performance indicators (KPIs),

Gruehl, Douglas, 130-131, 134 31, 185-186
guest blogging, 75 Klout scores, 19, 58
GYK Antler, 22, 62 Kodak, 14

H-I L
Hartley, Neil, 100, 105 leadership. See also management
Harvard Business School, 145 do as I say, not as I do, 127
Hawkins, Reid, 107, 114 top-down internal advocate
Heuer, Megan, 165 cultures, 66-67
identities, online, 149-150 lead generation, 179
incentives, promotions, 113 LinkedIn, 4, 85, 149
Incubatus, LLC, 100. See also listening skills, 21
Hartley, Neil Lopez, Sandra, 79-82, 87-88. See
Industrial Safety & Hygiene also Smart Squad teams
News, 48 loyalty, customers, 62
influencers, 8, 57
Influitive, 22, 117 M
Infographic Journal, 9
management
Information Operations and
Advocate Recognition
Psychological Operations
Engagement (ARE)
(PSYOP), 133
programs, 155-159
infrastructures, marketing, 92-94
crisis, 45
Institute of Public Relations, 62
do as I say, not as I do, 127
Intel, 22
measuring, 68-69
advocate marketing, 84-85
references, 100-102
product launches, 79
reputation, 143. See also
Smart Squad teams, 82-84 reputation management
internal audit and infrastructure top-down internal advocate
stage, 159-160 cultures, 66-67
internal metrics, 68 margins, 111
internal program costs, 181 Maritz Research, 145
internal team organization, 5 marketing
interviews, 41-44 achievements, 82-84
Intuit, 14 auditing, 175
Iron Mountain, 14 automation, 101
budgets, 14
J-K disruptive, 123
Jacobs, Evan, 71-72, 74, 76-77 importance of, 13-14
infrastructures, 92-94
Jaworski, Scott, 79-82, 88-89. See
also Smart Squad teams
206 INDEX

metrics, 68 Microsoft, 79
nuances of, 130-131 monitoring employees, 131-132
overview of, 3-4 Montoya, Dan, 174, 190-192
performance, 117-118. See also Mooney, Jim, 174, 189-190
performance
product launches, 79. See also
product launches
N
program development, 123-124 National Information Management
strategies, 4-6, 13 Systems (NIMS), 134
measuring, 173-188. See also Nelson, Bob, 10, 37, 40
metrics Net Advocate Score (NAS), 25-27
advocate marketing, 174-176 calculating, 27-29
frequency of, 185 organizations, calculating, 29-31
future decisions, 187 strategies, 31-32
key performance indicators net new assets, 184
(KPIs), 185-186 Net Promoter Score (NPS), 25,
management, 68-69 68, 147
operational metrics, 176-185, Network Solutions, 149
182-184
performance, 117 O
references, 180
stakeholder satisfaction, 25 obsession, customers, 123
strategic metrics, 178-181 online identities, 149-150
tactical metrics, 184-185 online reviews, 144
meetings, face-to-face, 16 embracing, 144
metrics reliability of, 147-148
advocate marketing, 9 strategies for, 147
Demand Metric survey, 175 trustworthiness of, 145-146
future decisions, 187 open communications, 71
internal, 68 business-to-business (B2B), 74-75
key performance indicator customer-centric approach, 72-73
(KPI), 31 Customer Success approach, 72
marketing, 68 product launches, 73-74
operational, 176-185 open support tickets, 65-66
performance, 5 OpenTable, 144
sales, 68 operational metrics, 176-185
stakeholder satisfaction, 25 measuring, 182-184
strategic, 178-181 operational tasks, 174
tactical, 176-185 opportunities, 167-168
owned advocates, 7
 INDEX 207

P-Q programs
awareness, 182
paid advocates, 7
celebrating, 186
participation rates, customers, 183
costs, 180. See also return on
partnerships, 135-137 investment (ROI)
achievement promotion, 139 development, marketing, 123-124
client retention rates, 140 goals, 177-178
research techniques, 137-138 project management
PepsiCo, 108-110 actionable analytics stage, 162-163
performance, 117-118 advocate outreach stage, 161
benefits of advocates, 118-122 Advocate Recognition
marketing program development, Engagement (ARE) programs,
123-124 155-159
metrics, 5 asset development stage, 161
sales, elevation of, 111-112 award gala stage, 161-162
phone strategies, 40-41 external audit and infrastructure
Pinterest, 85, 149 stage, 160-161
pipelines, customer reference, 177 internal audit and infrastructure
planning stage, 159-160
advocate marketing programs, 18 renewal stage, 163
Advocate Recognition promotions
Engagement (ARE) achievement, 139
programs, 155-159 incentives, 113
policies, 5 The Psychology of Persuasion, 103
advocacy, 128-129 public relations (PR), 93
Pollution Engineering magazine, 48 Purina, 14
positive experiences, 3
post-production promotion, 46-47
R
press releases, 61-64
proactive programs, managing, Rapid7, 67, 71. See also Jacobs,
100-102 Evan; open communications
proactive strategies, 174 rating platforms, 123
processes, 5 recognition, 37-39
buyers, 100-102 recommendations, 128
engagement strategies, 31 likelihoods, determining, 28
product launches, 73-74 word-of-mouth, 9
Intel, 79 recruitment, 5
Smart Squad teams, 82-84 Reference Engagement Value
(REV), 93
product surveys, 121
profits, 111
208 INDEX

references strategies for online reviews, 147

asset utilization and development, trustworthiness of online reviews,
177 145-146
customer advocates, comparing request for proposal (RFP), 180
to, 100 request fulfillment, 177
customer pipelines, 177 research techniques, 137-138
Customer Reference Forum, 94 resources, 5
customers, 91-92, 99 retention, client retention rates, 140
Golden Circle program, 102-103 return on investment (ROI), 176,
management, 100-102 178-181
measuring, 180 return on marketing investments
pool growth, 184 (ROMI), 173
programs, 92 revenue-generating alliances, 47-49
social selling, 103 revenues, 111
referrals, 63, 113 performance, 117-118. See also
Regulation of Advertising by performance
Investment Advisers, 127 reviews, online, 144. See also online
regulations, advocacy, 127 reviews
Reichheld, Fred, 25 The Review Solution, 148
relationships RipOffReport.com, 151
achievement promotion, 139 roles
customers, 16 of advocates, 65
top-down internal advocate customers as advocates, 63
cultures, 66-67 rollouts. See product launches
reliability of online reviews, 147-148 Royall, Pamela Kiecker, 136,
renewals 141-142. See also Royall &
rates, 179 Company
securing, 18 Royall & Company, 136-137
stages, 163 Rubin, Lee, 8, 91-92, 97. See also
Citrix
reports
rule of 250, 58
State of B-to-B Customer
Advocacy and 2015 Reference
Report, 165 S
representation, 64
Salazar, Sylvia, 83-84, 89-90
Reputation Advocate, Inc., 22
sales, 21
reputation management, 143,
cycle acceleration, 181
150-151
metrics, 68
importance of feedback, 143-144
performance, elevation of,
online identities, 149-150
111-112
online reviews, 144
Salesforce.com, 95
reliability of online reviews,
Samsung, 79
147-148
satisfaction, customers, 20
 INDEX 209

Schudlich, Stephen, 37 strategies, 3

scores advocacy, 112-113
Klout, 19, 58 e-mail, 40-41
Net Advocate Score (NAS), 25-31 engagement, 17, 31
Net Promoter Score (NPS), 147 marketing, 13
search engine optimization (SEO), Net Advocate Score (NAS), 31-32
5, 18, 48, 151 for online reviews, 147
SEC Advertising Rule (17 CFR phone, 40-41
275.206(4)-1), 127 proactive, 174
Secor, Peter, 54 product launches, 79. See also
Securities Exchange Commission product launches
(SEC), 127 for success, 4-6
selling, social, 103 success
sharing knowledge, 65, 72 of Smart Squad teams, 86
showrooms, content, 95-96 strategies for, 4-6
Sinek, Simon, 102 support, 65. See also relationships
SiriusDecisions, 165-166 open support tickets, 65-66
Smart Squad teams, 82 surveys, 135-137
advocate marketing, 84-85 Customer Advocacy and
product launches, 82-84 Engagement Survey, 165-168
success of, 86 customer experiences, 169-171
SMART Technologies, 118 customer satisfaction, 147
social media, 4 Demand Metric, 175, 178
online reviews, 144. See also product, 121
online reviews research techniques, 137-138
social selling, 103
software, 5
speaking opportunities, 75 T
Spectra Energy, 109 tactical metrics, 176-185
stakeholders. See also advocates measuring, 184-185
communication with, 40 TalGlobal Corporation, 129-130
connections, 19 teams
identifying, 14 Citrix Community and Customer
State of B-to-B Customer Advocacy Marketing, 93
and 2015 Reference Report, 165 identifying, 39-40
Statistical Argument for Customer Smart Squad, 82-84
Advocacy, 9 technologies, 5
stories, sharing, 46 advocate marketing, 56-58
strategic customer programs, 92 testimonials, 128
strategic metrics, 178-181 Third Coast Interactive, 144
Thomas, Barbara, 49-50
tools, 5
210 INDEX

top-down internal advocate

cultures, 66-67
tracking
data points, 5
stakeholder satisfaction, 25
traditionalists, 84-85
TripAdvisor, 144
trolls, 150
trust, 66. See also relationships
trustworthiness of online reviews,
145-146
Twitter, 4, 85, 149
types of advocates, 7-8

U-V
users
adoption, 183
conference deadlines, 41-44
feedback. See feedback
value
of advocate marketing, 167-168
of advocates, 8-9
of customers, 13
Reference Engagement Value
(REV), 93
voice of the customer (VOC),
136, 138

W-X-Y-Z
Wallace, Irma, 9
Ward, William, 145
Web banners, 48
webcasts, 75
Williams, Jim, 117-118, 124-125.
See also performance
word-of-mouth recommendations, 9
workshops, attendance, 20
Wyer, Steven, 144, 152-153
Yelp, 144
Zenyk, Deena, 119