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Perhaps it goes without saying: the success of your customer activation program hinges on the types of customers who participate (and the quality of their feedback).
You want advocates who are:
- Passionate about your brand
- Knowledgeable about your products
- Engaging and influential within your target market
But you also need their content to be authentic, relevant, and valuable for potential customers.
And that's where things get a little more challenging.
Most companies do customer activation backwards.
Since there's so much pressure around the questions of "Who would best represent our brand?" and "How can we get them to produce content?" most companies prioritize the recruitment of advocates over creating opportunities for them to contribute.
- They pick out their most satisfied customers (or those who fit a specific mold) and ask them directly to participate in the program.
- They create incentives like discounts and free products to entice them to provide feedback.
Sure, this approach nets you a handful of advocates. But it neglects the larger purpose of a customer activation program: to build trust and credibility in your brand through authentic voices.
Filtering out initial invites lowers your chances of building strong relationships with your customer base. And it's based on pre-made assumptions.
There's a better way to find advocates.
Instead of spending so much time in the beginning picking the "right" customers, open your advocacy program to everyone in your customer base.
This means providing all of them with the opportunity to contribute, in a streamlined process that doesn't require too much time and effort.
- Invite them to join your program.
- Onboard them in your customer activation software.
- Set up a system that allows all of your customers to contribute according to their preferences.
This way, they can create content (think: reviews, testimonials, and even case studies) unique to their own experiences. Then, you can decide which of that content is relevant to different sales and marketing initiatives.
With this approach, you're avoiding the time-consuming process of hand-picking advocates. You're also establishing a more authentic and diverse representation of your customer base. And you're encouraging more customers to spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand.
Plus, the feedback you'll get from casting a wider net of customers will give you insights into their pain points and preferences. This can help you improve your products and services and, in turn, attract/retain more customers.
How to select the best advocates and content.
"Don't jump the gun by filtering out customers in the beginning."
That's a bit vague. How can you tell which advocates and content are the "best" for your brand?
Let's dive in.
1. Set up your customer activation platform.
The only way you'll be able to gather the content you need is through a streamlined, automated system.
With a platform like Deeto, you can:
- Onboard new users through a simple, mobile-friendly interface.
- Ask for feedback in a centralized location, making it easy to track and manage the content.
- Auto-generate optimized case studies and other content types based on user inputs using Deeto's generative AI.
For your customers, the workflow is intuitive and fast. For you, the data is easy to access, and the content is optimized for your sales and marketing initiatives.
2. Let your customers choose how they contribute.
There are several different types of social proof. Some customers will be more comfortable with certain types of content over others. For example, some may prefer to write a review while others may want to participate in an interview.
Make sure you have options for customers to choose from, such as:
- Writing a review on third-party platforms like G2
- Providing feedback through surveys or questionnaires
- Participating in case studies or reference calls
By tailoring your advocacy program to the individual customer, you're opening up the possibility for all types of social proof to emerge.
3. Incorporate different types of content into your marketing strategy.
Now that you have a variety of content at your disposal, the question remains: What can you do with it?
Really, the use cases are endless.
- Incorporate customer testimonials into your website and landing pages (with Deeto, you can display dynamic content personalized to the visitor).
- Use case studies in your sales pitches and email campaigns.
- Reinforce your argument in an article with a customer quote.
- Feature customers in your social media posts.
You can also use customer feedback to inform future marketing and product development initiatives. Let's say you get quite a few comments about a feature customers wish you offered. You can use that feedback as a starting point for product development, then update your advocates and the rest of your customer base once you implement it.
4. Match content and customers with prospects in your pipeline.
Since it translates so well to web and social content, companies tend to see customer activation content as a marketing-only tool.
Really, there are several ways it drives B2B sales.
When you integrate Deeto with your CRM, you can use its smart-matching capabilities to connect specific content to individual prospects in your pipeline.
That way, you can personalize your outreach and give potential customers content that actually matters to their use case. And you can find the perfect customer reference for every prospect without having to do any manual digging.
Final thoughts
Cherry-picking a few advocates for your program sounds like a good approach. It's only natural to think that the more "ideal" customers you feature, the better your brand will look.
In reality, that's not the most efficient or effective way to build brand trust and drive sales. By opening up your program to all of your customers and using customer activation software, you can create a more diverse representation of your customer base.
Request a demo with Deeto to see how your customers’ voices fit into your overall marketing and sales strategy.
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