Your Ultimate Guide to Customer Advocacy: From Basics to Best Practices

Think about the last time you made a major purchase. A comfortable mattress, a dishwasher or perhaps a luxury car? What’s the most important reason you purchased that specific mattress, appliance or car?

If you’re anything like me, reviews might be one of the most significant factors affecting your buying decisions — the opinions of your family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers online.

And that’s not just me. According to research conducted by Brand Rated, 9 in 10 customers read online reviews before purchasing a product, and 58% are willing to pay more for a product with positive reviews.

But what’s in that magic formula that gets customers raving about you? How do they turn into your loyal fans and brand ambassadors?

That’s precisely what we’re going to cover here.

We will explore what customer advocacy means, why it’s so essential, strategies you can adopt, and the best ways to measure the success of your customer advocacy program.

Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• What is Customer Advocacy?
• What Are The Benefits of Customer Advocacy?
• How to Build a Successful Customer Advocacy Program: Strategies and Best Practices
• Bonus: How to Measure the Success of Your Customer Advocacy Program
• Harness the Power of Customer Advocacy

What is Customer Advocacy?

Customer advocacy is a business strategy that puts customers’ needs, experiences, and satisfaction at the core of a company’s organizational objectives. The goal is to foster long-term loyalty and enable customers to become passionate brand advocates. This strategy focuses on developing real connections, fostering trust, and ensuring customers feel heard and cared about.

The result? Brands can foster strong, trust-based relationships, turning customers into loyal “advocates” and enthusiastic brand champions who enthusiastically promote the brand.

Some forms of customer advocacy include social sharing, word-of-mouth marketing, reviews and testimonials, referrals, case studies and customer advisory boards.

What Are The Benefits of Customer Advocacy?

Customer advocacy offers several advantages for businesses. Here’s an overview of its key benefits:

1. Enhances Brand Reputation

We all know that one friend who’s a total Apple fan, right? They can’t stop raving about the brand’s outstanding products and why you NEED to get on board. That’s brand advocacy in action!

Think about the heavyweights like Google, Amazon, and McDonald’s. These brands didn’t just create products—they built reputations that have stood the test of time. How? Because they know the power of a strong brand image backed by loyal advocates.

You might have the most stellar product or service, but that’s not enough in today’s competitive market. Without building brand awareness and a rock-solid reputation, surviving the competition will be a struggle.

That’s where customer advocacy comes in. It’s your ticket to turning loyal customers into brand evangelists. They’ll share their positive experiences, boost your credibility, and help create a thriving community around your brand. The result? A strong, positive reputation that makes your business thrive!

2. Boosts Customer Retention

Modern customers have a lot of options. If your brand doesn’t deliver what they want, they won’t think twice about switching to a competitor. Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely!

But here’s the good news: when you’ve got loyal brand advocates, they’ll stick with you no matter what. In fact, research from Yotpo shows that 56% of customers are willing to spend more on a brand they’re loyal to, even when cheaper alternatives are out there. That’s the power of loyalty.

And that’s where customer advocacy comes in. It’s your secret weapon for building unshakable loyalty. Advocacy strengthens relationships, builds trust, and creates an emotional connection with customers. When you consistently deliver exceptional experiences, satisfied customers turn into lifelong supporters. That means less churn, higher retention, and a brand that stands out in a crowded market.

Loyal customers are your ride-or-die supporters—treat them well, and they’ll stick with you through thick and thin.

3. Drives Organic Growth

Brands today are feeling increasingly uncertain about spending huge sums on marketing.

Still reeling from the pandemic’s aftereffects, Gartner reports that companies’ marketing budgets in 2024 dropped to 7.7% of overall company revenue, a significant decline from the pre-pandemic average of 11% and the lowest level recorded since 2021.

In times of reduced marketing spending, customer advocacy can act as a cost-effective and impactful growth strategy. 

By leveraging loyal customers to spread the word, share their experiences, and refer others, businesses can reduce acquisition costs without spending a hefty sum on marketing campaigns that may or may not work.

4. Lowers Customer Acquisition Costs

Consider this scenario: your company spends $150,000 annually to acquire 1,500 new customers. The average customer acquisition cost (CAC) per customer is $100. However, if your loyal customers generate 300 additional customers through word-of-mouth, the total number of new customers is 1,800, and the CAC will reduce to $83.

If your company had to attract 1,800 customers through its own efforts, it would cost you $180,000. This means word-of-mouth saves $30,000 in acquisition costs while maintaining growth and directly boosting profitability. 

That’s the kind of impact customer advocacy can have on reducing CAC. You can attract new leads through word-of-mouth, referrals, and customer-generated content that prospects tend to value more than mainstream marketing efforts.

5. Improves Crisis Resilience

Back in 2018, KFC chains in the UK ran out of chicken after a communication mishap with their supplier. The brand had to close down almost 900 stores. Customers were furious (rightfully so),and one would imagine that this disaster would’ve been a huge blow to KFC’s reputation. 

But what did KFC do? Gave us a PR masterclass in turning disaster into hilarity.

They placed a full-page ad in major UK newspapers featuring an empty chicken bucket with the letters rearranged to spell “FCK.” Bold, right? The apology was cheeky yet sincere. It acknowledged the hassle for customers, thanked its staff, and even shared a URL for store updates.

Fans loved the honesty, and the internet couldn’t stop laughing. Customer advocacy played a huge role in helping KFC deal with this crisis. The brand’s ability to build trust and foster loyalty over the years turned what could’ve been a reputation hit into a story of resilience and connection. Fans didn’t just forgive—they celebrated the comeback.

That’s what customer advocacy can do.

If you’re a brand hoping to stay in the game for the long haul, you will likely face a crisis at some point. 

It could be due to a defective product, backlash from a controversial campaign, a data breach, etc. Depending on how severe the crisis is, your brand may or may not be able to bounce back strong.

Your customer advocates play a massive role in advocating for your brand and its ethos in times of difficulty. They help you navigate a crisis by defending your brand, amplifying positive messages, and giving you constructive feedback on navigating a dire situation, ensuring faster crisis recovery.

6. Offers Access to Honest Feedback

Ever wonder how top brands stay ahead of the game? It’s not just about collecting customer feedback—it’s about acting on it. And who better to give you those insights than your most engaged advocates? They’re the ones who truly get your brand and aren’t afraid to tell you what’s working—and what’s not.

Your advocates can help you tweak your product to perfection, help you identify and fix pain points before they become problems, and even spot trends that keep you one step ahead of the competition.

How to Build a Successful Customer Advocacy Program: Strategies and Best Practices

Now that we’ve reviewed the many ways customer advocacy can be beneficial for your brand, let’s dive into what it takes to create a successful customer advocacy program:

1. Define Your Objectives

First things first–it’s vital that you figure out what you’re aiming to achieve with your customer advocacy program. Is your goal to increase referrals and new customer acquisitions, or do you hope to build and nurture an engaged community around your brand?

You can certainly have multiple goals for your customer advocacy program, but ensure they’re all SMART goals–specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. 

For example, one objective of your customer advocacy program can be to increase new customer acquisition by 25% through referrals within one year.

2. Identify and Connect With Current and Potential Advocates

The next step is to identify your current and potential customer advocates.

You can find these champions by monitoring their customer journeys, touchpoints, and behaviors using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool.

If email is your business’s primary way of communicating with customers, Hiver, an easy-to-use customer service solution designed for Gmail and Outlook, can give you insight into data about conversations you’ve had with your customers, their journeys with your brand and more.

You can harness metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores and data about your frequent buyers, reviewers, and active customers on social media.

Once you know who your current and potential advocates are, it will be helpful to segment them by level of loyalty, influence, and their preferred communication channel. This allows you to adjust your communication style for each group and boost engagement.

For example, one segment can be of your high-value customers–your brand heroes who have been your long-term loyal customers. Another segment can be social media influencers who have a large social following. You can also target industry experts—the credible voices in your niche.

Once you’ve created segments, you can interact with your customer advocates using various channels, such as surveys, emails, and even personal calls.

Keeping each group apprised of product developments and incentives in your advocacy program is key. You can also encourage them to provide feedback on what they like about your brand or product and what aspects they feel require improvement.

3. Choose the Right Types of Advocacy Program(s)

There are many types of customer advocacy programs. You can choose the kind of brand advocacy programs to roll out based on your objectives and the segment(s) you want to target. You can mix and match multiple approaches for maximum impact but don’t try to do everything at once.

Some popular customer advocacy programs include:

Referral Programs

Encourage your customers to refer your brand to friends and family by offering rewards such as discounts, freebies, and exclusive perks. 

Dropbox’s referral program is an excellent example of how a brand can leverage referrals to drive remarkable growth.

With its referral program, Dropbox achieved 3900% growth in 15 months.

Check out Hiver’s referral program, where customers can earn rewards up to $350 with bonuses and exciting gifts for extra referrals they share.

Loyalty and Rewards Programs

A solid customer loyalty program isn’t just about offering perks—it’s about showing customers you see them and appreciate their support. By creating that sense of value and belonging, you’re giving them a reason to stick with your brand over the competition.

Take Starbucks Rewards, for example. This app-based loyalty program is known for driving repeat purchases and keeping customers engaged with personalized perks and rewards.

Today, over 40% of Starbucks’ U.S. sales come from loyalty members. But it doesn’t stop there—their app doubles as a data goldmine. By tracking user behavior, spending patterns, and even locations, Starbucks fine-tunes its customer targeting strategies.

This program proves that a great loyalty program doesn’t just boost sales—it builds deeper connections and drives more thoughtful business strategies. 

User-Generated Content (UGC) Campaigns

A User-Generated Content (UGC) campaign is a customer advocacy initiative that encourages product users to create brand content through photos, videos, reviews, testimonials, or social media posts. 

UGC campaigns tap into the creativity of actual customers to build engagement and increase the buzz around the brand.

I’m sure you’ve seen several of Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign’s beautiful photos sprawled across magazines and billboards. Launched in 2015, the campaign features user-submitted photos in Apple’s advertising across print, outdoor, and broadcast media.

The campaign was (and continues to be) a huge hit!

TBWA Media Arts Lab reported that the first round of the campaign garnered mentions from 24,000 opinion leaders, generated approximately 6.5 billion media impressions, and achieved 95% positive online mentions.

Feedback and Innovation Programs

Feedback and innovation programs can go a long way in leveraging your advocates’ insights, creativity, and expertise to drive continuous product improvement and innovation. This also helps foster a deeper connection between you and your customers.

Take LEGO Ideas, for example. Launched in 2014, this feedback-based customer advocacy program invites customers into the creative process to pitch product ideas, co-create, and even shape future LEGO sets.

And the results? Incredible! According to MIT Sloan Management Review, LEGO Ideas has grown into a community of over 2.8 million passionate fans who’ve submitted 135,000+ ideas for new sets. Talk about innovation on overdrive! Customers whose ideas make the cut even earn 1% of the product’s top-line revenue—now that’s what we call a win-win.

And this isn’t even the best part.

The community isn’t just active on LEGO’s platforms—it’s buzzing on Reddit and other social media spaces too, driving organic conversations and engagement. That’s the power of turning feedback into a two-way street and giving your customers a voice in your brand’s story.

4. Develop the Program Structure

After you’ve zeroed in on the type of advocacy program you want to implement, the next step is to design the program’s structure. You need to figure out:

• How your customers can join the program – How will customers sign up? Think advocacy portals or apps that let users track their activities and rewards. Keep it simple and user-friendly.

• What rewards or incentives you want to give to your advocates – What’s in it for your advocates? Tangible rewards like discounts, gift cards, or freebies are great, but don’t underestimate the power of intangible perks like public shoutouts, early access to products, or invites to exclusive events. You can even offer tiered rewards based on participation. 

• What platforms you want to use to engage with advocates consistently – You can use a mix of channels to engage with your advocates–advocacy portals or apps (for easy activity tracking),social media groups and online communities (for collaboration),and dedicated email campaigns or newsletters (to communicate major brand updates).

• The guidelines for customers participating in the advocacy program – Tell customers exactly how they can participate in activities, what makes them eligible for rewards, and how to redeem them. 

• Streamline and scale the advocacy program’s processes – Want your advocacy program to run smoothly? Automate the repetitive stuff! Use tools to track referrals, monitor social mentions, send out reward notifications, and manage content submissions. This saves time and ensures your program scales seamlessly as your advocate base grows. Explore referral management platforms like ReferralCandy and Ambassador, loyalty program software like Smile.io and Yotpo and social media listening tools like SproutSocial and BuzzSumo.

5. Promote the Program(s) Across Popular Channels

Here’s the most crucial step: once your advocacy program is ready, you must market it well to get people hyped and engaged. Without a solid push, all that hard work could fall flat.

Start by tapping into your go-to communication channels—your website, emails, social media—anywhere your customers are present. Next, reach out to your most loyal advocates with exclusive invitations and incentives to join the program and spread the word. Since these are your brand’s biggest fans, they’ll happily help spread the word.

Want to create a greater buzz? Partner with influencers and industry experts to get the word out. Their reach and credibility can take your program to the next level. Remember, the better you market your program, the more impact it’ll have. 

Here’s an example of what your program launch and promotion timeline could look like:

Week 1 (Teaser week) – Build anticipation with teaser posts on social media and pre-launch emails. Create mystery with messaging like “Something big is coming… and it’s all about YOU”. You can even share behind-the-scenes content or countdowns to pique customers’ interest.

Check out this fun example of a pre-launch email by British lighting and furniture designer, Tom Raffield.

Week 2 (Program launch) – Announce the program on all key channels, such as email, website, social media, and in-store (if applicable). Share a clear call to action for customers to sign up. Hold webinars and Instagram Live sessions to discuss the program and answer customer questions.

Week 3 (Engage with participants) – Invite and incentivize early adopters to share their experiences on their personal social media (with a branded hashtag) and spotlight their advocacy stories on the brand’s social media and your website.

Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign has 611 K+ Instagram posts. Talk about the power of advocacy.

Week 4 (Expand reach and maintain momentum) – Leverage paid social ads and retargeting campaigns to reach potential advocates who haven’t signed up yet. Follow up with inactive customers by offering them a compelling incentive to join the program. 

Bonus: How to Measure the Success of Your Customer Advocacy Program

Now that you’ve launched your customer advocacy program, you need to measure whether it’s yielding the results you hoped for.

Measuring the success of a customer advocacy program is critical because it helps you demonstrate its value, gauge ROI and optimize it as required. 

Here are some ideas to help you measure the success of your advocacy program:

1. Define and Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Here are some critical KPIs you can track for your customer advocacy initiatives:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) – Check if there’s an uptick in your NPS scores to gauge customers’ likelihood of recommending you.

• Active Participation Rate – Find out the percentage of eligible customers participating in your advocacy initiatives.

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Check if the revenue generated by loyal advocates has increased.

• Retention rates – Compare the retention rate of advocates versus non-advocates to see if your advocacy initiatives foster loyalty.

• Repeat purchases – Track if advocates purchase more frequently or spend more than other customers.

• The number of referrals and conversions – Use tools like ReferralCandy and Ambassador to keep track of the number of referrals generated as a result of your customer advocacy program–and how many convert into paying customers.

• Social listening (sentiment analysis, engagement and content creation) – Use social listening tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite to analyze the impact of user-generated content (UGC),reviews, testimonials, likes, and comments. Evaluate the tone of conversations about your brand and track impressions about your advocacy campaign.

2. Measure the ROI of the Program

You can calculate the ROI of your program using a simple formula:

ROI = (Revenue generated from advocacy – program cost)/program costs×100

For example, if your program costs $10,000 and generates $50,000 in revenue, the ROI is 400%.

But here’s where things get tricky. Measuring the ROI (return on investment) for customer advocacy programs is not as straightforward as it seems. This is simply because the scope of customer advocacy is enormous. 

Great reviews, case studies, referrals, positive brand mentions, and higher customer retention rates are all fruits of the labour you’ve put into your advocacy-building initiatives.

So how do you correctly quantify whether your efforts are working?

Remember the goals you set earlier for your customer advocacy program? Those should be your first reference points for gauging its success or failure. Start by aligning your objectives with your metrics.

Let’s take the same example that we covered in the blog earlier:

Suppose your goal is to increase new customer acquisition by 25% through referrals within one year. Say you started with 1000 customers, and by the end of the year, you are at 3000 customers. 500 of these customers have come in via referrals. 

Here are some ways you can calculate the ROI generated by your referrals:

1. Referral contribution to growth:

New customers acquired during the year: 3000-1000 = 2000

Percentage of new customers from referrals:

500/2000×100 = 25%

2. Compare referral growth against your target:

Your goal was a 25% increase (250 referral customers),but you acquired 500 referral customers.

The percentage of target achieved is: 500/250×100= 200%

3. Gather Customer Feedback

It’s not always easy to quantify how advocacy programs have positively impacted your brand and business. That’s where customer feedback can come into play–it helps you understand the intangible ways your customers have benefited from your advocacy initiatives and whether you need to rethink your customer advocacy strategies.

You can gather customer feedback using a combination of surveys, emails, and interviews. If you’re short on time, make use of templates to collect feedback. 

You can even create a strong (online or offline) customer community where your advocates feel comfortable sharing honest opinions about what’s working and what could be better with your brand. Their input can help refine your approach and ensure your advocacy efforts are as effective as possible.

Harness the Power of Customer Advocacy

Building an impactful customer advocacy program takes effort, but when you nail it, the rewards are surely worth it. Imagine turning happy customers into passionate brand promoters who boost referrals, drive retention, and flood your brand with invaluable social proof. Sounds like a win, doesn’t it?

But here’s the thing: advocacy isn’t just about handing out rewards. It’s about celebrating the voices that define your brand’s story. It starts with genuinely listening to your customers, engaging with them in ways that actually matter, and showing them how much you value their support.

When you do this, your advocacy program becomes an unstoppable, organic growth engine that helps your brand shine in a crowded market.

So, what’s stopping you? Start those conversations, build those connections, and watch your customers take your brand to the next level. They’re not just your audience—they’re your greatest allies. Lean into it and let them help your brand shine!