Turning Your Customers into Die-Hard Brand Advocates

Are you a brand spokesperson? Is there a brand you cannot live without?

If so, you're part of that 1% of consumers that will bend over backwards for your brand.

Think about Lady Gaga's "little monsters" evolution. She has fans that are willing to go above and beyond to support her.

The same concept can apply to your company and brand.

I don't know about you, but I won't be doing any back flips soon. However, I will tell everyone I know about this product, band, service, or brand that I absolutely love.

It's all about word of mouth. According to new research by Jack Morton, 49% of U.S. consumers say friends and family are their top sources of brand awareness, up from 43% in 2009.

With 65% of new business actually comes from referrals, there’s no better resource than your clients. You might want to ask yourself if your customers are die-hard fans and advocates.

If not, it all starts with delighting your customers, ensuring that they're satisfied.

Turning Your Customers into Brand Advocates

Are They Satisfied?

It all starts with your net promoter score. Now let me take a few steps back and explain what the net promoter score (NPS) means.

For those of you that have never heard of a net promoter score before, it can be used to gauge how satisfied your customers are with your product, service, and company. Based on the responses from your customers, you can receive a score somewhere between 0 and 10.

Based on your score, it can be broken into three categories; promoters, passives, and detractors.

• Promoters: Are those customers with a score of 9 or 10. They are loyal enthusiasts who will continue to buy from you and actively refer you to their family and friends.

• Passives: These tend to be customers with a score of 7 or 8. Just because someone is satisfied with your company, doesn't mean that they will be watching your back. Passives tend to be vulnerable to the offerings of your competitors. Meaning that they'll quickly switch to a competitor simply based on cost.

• Detractors: Unfortunately, every company will come across customers that receive a score of 0 to 6. These individuals are unhappy customers who can possibly damage your brand through negative word of mouth.

Now that you know what an NPS is, you might be wondering how you can determine yours. It's actually fairly simple. It starts with asking your customers one question, would you recommend us to a friend or family member?

To calculate your overall score, simply take the percentage of customers who are promoters and subtract the percentage of those that are detractors.

What's your score?

If you didn't score so well, see how you can turn your customers into die-hard brand advocates. No one wants a low promoter score. Satisfied customers are your secret weapon. They can help you company raise above your competitors.

Developing Brand Advocates

You won't be able to form brand advocates if you aren't creating a deeper consumer understanding and personalizing your marketing strategy.

Did you know that nearly 70% of promoters actually recommend brands? Many of those promoters are likely to recommend the company to four or more people.

It starts with making your customers happy. The whole idea behind turning your customers into brand advocates could rely solely on your ability to understand, implement and address four key factors. Those four factors include:

• Your ability to address issues.

• Customizing your product or service to fit the needs and wants of your customer. Your ability to create a personalized experience.

• Is there a great user experience? It's not just about you, your product or service. It's about your customers.

• Are you able to deliver what you promise? You might want to take into consideration the concept of under promise, over deliver.

Building a Community

Customer satisfaction however, doesn't just come from those four factors. It's about being able to create a relationship with your customers; forming a connection with them.

That's where building a community comes into play. It should be about making them feel special. Now we know that you have more than one customer, but make them feel as if they are the only one. Your most important customer. If order for them to bend over backwards for you, you need to do the same for them.

Participating in Social Media

As I mentioned before, it all starts with making a connection. Social media is one of the best places to get the conversation started.

Use your social media profile to not only showcase your expertise but as a medium to resolve customer service issues and to monitor your brand mentions. It's about being a part of the conversation.

I don't want to hear, I cannot participate in social media, my industry is too boring. There's nothing to talk about.

You're wrong. Just check out Old Spice. There are hundreds of other soap brands out there and they're creating a unique experience for their users.

That brings me to my next point; create an awesome experience.

User Experience

Take a moment to think about your favorite brand. What comes to mind when you think about it?

Are you thinking about price? Probably not. You're most likely thinking about how it makes you feel, the idea behind using the product. You probably cannot image yourself buying or using another product.

Make your marketing lovable and engaging. Even the smallest detail can change the experience your customers have with your product or service. Ensure that is a good one.

User experience can be dictated by brand personality, a quality product, the ability to customize your product, to having a brand that is responsive and engaging on social media.

I don't know about you, but I want there to be people that love my companies product or service as much as I do. Those are going to be the people that are actively spreading the word about you.

Every once and a while, you might come across a promoter you talks about you every chance they can get. Those are the people you want to build relationships with. Word of mouth marketing can make a big impact in expanding the reach of your company.