Integrating Customer Marketing and Advocacy into Your Marketing Organization

Customer marketing and advocacy, the “new kids in town” relative to other marketing functions like demand generation and brand, have emerged as pivotal functions that not only enhance customer lifecycle management but also contribute significantly to sustainable business growth. As marketing leaders, understanding how to effectively integrate these functions can set your organization apart and foster a mutually beneficial relationship with your customers.

The Role of Customer Marketing in Customer Lifecycle Management

Customer marketing is not just another channel; it's a strategic approach that focuses on maximizing customer satisfaction and loyalty through personalized engagement. It plays a critical role in the customer lifecycle by ensuring that customers are not only retained but are also turned into vocal advocates for your brand. This strategy is particularly effective in extending the customer lifecycle beyond the initial purchase phase, supporting onboarding, adoption, retention, and expansion. A big part of this function is the ability to understand the customer lifecycle from the customer’s point of view. Whereas models like LAER (land, adopt, expand, renew) are how a company (typically the sales function) views the customer journey, interviews and conversations between customer marketers and customers (especially from critical accounts) can help a company better understand the pain points throughout the customer journey; where in the product customers get stuck, where they may be challenged with showing value, where interest drops off, and all the other indicators of potential churn. This customer-centric PIMO model (purchase, implement, maintain, optimize) helps a company not only triage existing problems, but be able to proactively solve for customer needs.

Essential Technology Stack for Customer Marketing Success

Implementing a robust tech stack is crucial for the success of customer marketing and advocacy programs. Key components should include:

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: Platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot that provide insights into customer interactions and history.
2. Marketing Automation Tools: Solutions like Marketo or Pardot that enable personalized customer communications at scale.
3. Advocacy or Community Platforms: Tools like Base, SlapFive, Influitive, PeerSpot, Champion, and community platforms like Gainsight Communities, Vanilla and Bevy, which help in nurturing customer advocates and leveraging their potential to influence other prospects.
4. Analytics and Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): Technologies such as Segment or Tableau that offer a unified view of customer data and enable targeted marketing strategies.

Collaborative Synergy Across Marketing Teams

Integrating customer marketing and advocacy requires a collaborative effort across various marketing teams:

• Demand Generation: Can use advocacy insights to refine lead scoring and prioritize leads that resemble high-engagement customers.
• Brand Marketing: Leverages customer stories and testimonials to enhance brand credibility and authenticity.
• Account-Based Marketing (ABM): Integrates customer advocates into targeted campaigns, personalizing the buyer's journey for high-value accounts.

This synergy not only amplifies the impact of individual teams but also aligns them towards a common goal of enhancing customer value and satisfaction.

Setting KPIs and Timelines

To measure the success of customer marketing and advocacy programs, consider the following KPIs:

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Gauges customer loyalty and the likelihood of recommending your brand.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Measures the total value a customer brings over their relationship with the company.
• Advocacy Participation Rate: Tracks how actively customers engage in advocacy programs.
• Customer Retention Rate: Indicates the percentage of customers who remain active over a given period.

Notice that there aren’t any bullets here with direct revenue increases or percentages? That’s not an oversight. When setting timelines, it's essential to acknowledge that building strong customer relationships and advocacy takes time. Typically, you should expect to see preliminary results within the first six months, with more significant impacts emerging after a year as your programs gain momentum. Treat your customers right, make sure they are seeing value from your product, and the revenue WILL come organically; not just from your customers, but also from the prospects they influence!

The Mutual Exchange of Value

At the heart of customer marketing and advocacy is the principle of mutual value exchange. Focus on nurturing a reciprocal relationship where both parties benefit. Treating customer marketing and advocacy solely as avenues for upselling or cross-selling can lead to several negative outcomes, including:

• Customer Burnout: Constant sales pitches without delivering something of value to customers can overwhelm and alienate them; much like yelling at a plant to grow instead of watering it.
• Decreased Trust: When customers feel exploited for sales opportunities, their trust in your brand can diminish, similar to how one might feel if every invitation to a friend’s house turned out to be a veiled sales pitch for candles, leggings, nail decals, or any other popular MLM scheme (We get it, Linda– You’re a Girl Boss?--but sometimes we just want book club to be a fun hangout with no ulterior motive, m’kay?)
• Lower Engagement: Over-pushing sales can make customers pull away, much like overwatering a plant causes its roots to rot, stunting its growth instead of nurturing it.

Delivering value to customers as part of an exchange (or even, occasionally, selflessly) enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty but also encourages customers to become active participants in your marketing efforts through their advocacy.?

Leveraging Real-World Data

Studies have shown that companies with strong customer advocacy programs see higher customer satisfaction rates, improved retention, and increased cross-sell and upsell opportunities. According to a report by IDC, businesses implementing formal customer advocacy programs realized a 400% return on investment over three years, underscoring the significant impact of nurturing customer advocates on overall business performance.

Integrating customer marketing and advocacy into your marketing strategy is not just a trend; it's a forward-thinking approach to deepening customer relationships and driving sustainable growth. By focusing on the entire customer lifecycle, leveraging the right technology, and fostering collaboration across teams, your organization can not only meet but exceed the expectations of modern consumers. Remember, the goal is to create a thriving ecosystem where every interaction with a customer adds value to their experience and to your brand.??

Ready to add customer marketing and advocacy to your company’s core functions, but need a little guidance?? Reach out at [email protected] – we’ll be happy to set up a custom consulting project for you.