Definition: Advocacy Marketing is a form of marketing that emphasizes getting existing customers to talk about the company and its products. More than 80% of shoppers research online before buying, and having people publicly advocating for the product gives these researchers something to find and study.

Why advocacy marketing is so effective

In a 2015 report by Nielsen, a global information and research organization, it was found that 83% of consumers placed the most trust in the recommendations of friends and family. Furthermore, 66% trusted the opinions of consumers they found online.

Advocacy works because, as the above studies illustrate, people are more likely to trust their peers than direct advertising. When someone asks a friend about their experiences with a particular product or company, the feedback can be significantly more impactful than any marketing campaign could hope to attain.

Advocacy marketing is also one of the most affordable methods of acquiring new customers because it leverages previous investments in products and customer service. Happy customers tend to talk about products without being prompted to do so, which can lead to new customers at no additional cost.

How to position your business to attract advocates

These simple strategies can help any company encourage advocacy (and improve their business at the same time).

• Be Consistent: The company should strive to be as consistent as possible in all of its dealings. Customer support should answer questions within a set period of time. Products should be shipped within a certain number of days. The website should be available as much as possible. When customers know they can rely on a company to do things in a certain way, they're more likely to advocate for it—customers don't want to suggest things they believe other people won't like.
• Offer An Outstanding Experience: Customers make purchases and expect to get a certain degree of value from that purchase—and they ultimately judge companies by how well the product they get matches their expectations. By making them feel like they received more than they paid for, it's possible to create a better experience for the customer—and satisfied customers are inherently more likely to advocate for the company in the future.
• Build a Brand Narrative: Customers rarely advocate for companies they've forgotten. A strong brand narrative can help the customer remember who the company is and how it helped them—and making customers a part of the narrative encourages them to show loyalty to the brand.