Driving value through Customer Advocacy for your SaaS Business

A customer advocacy program is a marketing strategy. The Customer Success (CS) department should co-own advocacy with marketing for the following reasons:

• They can get more dollars from a customer through renewals, upsells, etc.
• To increase LTC.
• To reduce the dollar acquisition cost.

The marketing team can get more leads from video testimonials, case studies, reviews, referrals, etc. People tend to check out the social proofs, not your website. So the higher the number of advocates, the higher the number of leads for acquisition.

• Develop a customer-centric attitude: Top management should promote a customer-first approach.
• Identify customer advocates: Ensure to build and maintain a good relationship with your customers. Involve them in various processes when it is suitable. This ensures that they will be happy with you and your brand.
• Know your campaign's purpose: Reflect on your brand's purpose. Knowing what, why, and how you want to build the campaign ensures better results.

• Create a customer-centric campaign. It helps you to know your customer advocates better.
• Build a loyalty or a referral program. Use quantitative analytics to identify your loyal customer. Then approach them directly or offer rewards or bonuses for promoting your brand.
• Social community helps. Build a community using social media platforms. Promote a shared sense of belonging, shared goals, and shared responsibility.
• Gather social proof. Get your case studies from a decision-maker, not a user. It will encourage your advocates to recommend the product to potential customers.