Share While you can boast about your own product and service, social media advocacy is a better way to spread the word. It involves using third-party cheerleaders, known as brand advocates, to promote you through their own social media channels.

Medical software provider Kareo is an excellent customer advocacy example. Kareo started a project called ”Friends of Kareo” that engages with their software users to collect valuable feedback. Through the program, Kareo quickly increased their sales references as well as other KPIs, such as software reviews, case studies and testimonials.

It’s an extension of that age-old tactic: word-of-mouth marketing, and it’s a great way to generate those all important. Building your own social media advocacy program and recruiting brand advocates doesn’t happen overnight.

We’ve put together a guide to getting started with using social media for advocacy, including some brand advocacy examples and best practices. Bonus: Download our free guide that shows you how to 10X your social media performance and beat your competitors. Includes the tools, tricks, and daily routines used by three world-class social media experts. What is social media advocacy? Serpentine Living And Dying In High Definition Rapidshare Lehigh Valley Pumpkin Patch. there. Social media advocacy means leveraging the social networks of the people who like you and/or are invested in your continued success: your customers and employees. For many companies, these two groups are their biggest untapped resources as well as their biggest fans. By turning as many of these people as possible into brand advocates—people who proactively talk up and advocate for your company to their own networks—you can extend your reach and generate greater brand affinity.

That’s because brand advocates will work for your brand and share positive sentiments with their community. This can be more credible than company-led advertising methods, including. Because the best brand advocates either work for you or are already customers, they generally have a deeper connection with your brand than brand influencers, who are often for hire to the highest bidder. In fact, while trust brand influencers, 92 percent trust brand advocates.

And say recommendations from friends and family members are their most trusted form of advertising worldwide, while only two out of 10 trust online ads.” A social media advocacy program is a structured strategy for building a network of brand advocates. Instead of simply taking advantage of the free exposure and marketing potential of these advocates, a social media advocacy strategy involves taking their feedback and engaging with them in a mutually beneficial relationship. Why do brands need social media advocacy programs?

A social media advocacy program is much more effective than relying on traditional advertising methods. In the digital age, peer-to-peer recommendations are the most powerful advertising tools available. By leveraging existing fans, and employees, you can increase brand awareness, develop strong customer loyalties, and facilitate valuable customer feedback loops.

Google found that rely on the reviews and testimonials of other consumers when making purchasing decisions. Brand advocacy is ranked even higher than influencer marketing. According to the previously mentioned Forrester Research Inc. Study, trust influencers while a whopping 92 percent trust brand advocates. Deciding to launch a social media brand advocacy program involves activating advocates all over the globe.