Building customer advocacy in B2B

BUILDING CUSTOMER ADVOCACY IN B2B

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The Thought Leadership Partners customer advocacy Manifesto

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Getting started: The four pillars of

customer advocacy

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THERE’S FOUR PILLARS TO TURNING YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO PASSIONATE ADVOCATES

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ONE: RADICAL TRANSPARENCY TO BUILD A REAL HUMAN RELATIONSHIP WHERE THEY ARE INVESTED IN THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS

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TWO: CASE STUDIES THAT MAKE YOUR CLIENTS LOOK LIKE SUPERSTARS

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THREE: SAYING THANKYOU, JUST BECAUSE

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FOUR: BRINGING YOUR CLIENTS INSIDE THE CONTENT CREATION PROCESS AND PRESENTING THEM AS RECOGNISED INDUSTRY LEADERS

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Pillar one: Radical transparency (it’s radical because it’s so uncommon from

corporates)

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YOU’RE LOOKING TO DEVELOP A REAL HUMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS YOU CAN ONLY DO THAT IF YOU’RE HONEST

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YOU HAVE TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE GREAT, THE GOOD (AND THE UGLY)

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IF YOU’RE NOT TRUTHFUL ABOUT THE BAD, PEOPLE WILL NEVER BELIEVE THE GOOD

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YOU WANT YOUR CUSTOMERS HEAVILY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN MAKING YOUR BUSINESS A HOME GROWN, GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY

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BUILDING A TRANSPARENT RELATIONSHIP

•  You want your customers to be heavily emotionally invested in making your business a global success story

•  You can only get emotional investment if you build a real human connection

•  To build a deeply human connection you have to tell the truth. You’ve got to be transparent about your successes (and your failures)

•  Sometimes you will fuck up. Your clients know this. They will forgive you as long as you’re honest

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Pillar two: Case studies that make your clients look like

superstars

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“I’M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO READING

THIS CASE STUDY ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT”

- NOBODY, EVER

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CASE STUDIES AREN’T ABOUT YOU, OR YOUR PRODUCT. THEY’RE ABOUT MAKING THE CLIENT LOOK LIKE SUPERSTARS. YOU BENEFIT SOLELY BY ASSOCIATION.

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FUNDAMENTALLY, YOUR CASE STUDIES ARE ABOUT YOUR CLIENTS’ BUSINESS (NOT YOUR PRODUCT). YOU ARE BUILDING THE CLIENT’S BRAND (AND YOU WIN BY ASSOCIATION).

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Pillar three: Saying thankyou, just

because

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BY SHOWING YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE APPRECIATION, THEY’LL SHOW YOU MORE IN RETURN

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“THANKS, JUST BECAUSE” - YOUR BUSINESS

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OUR CUSTOMERS ARE JUST A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO FEEL SPECIAL AS MUCH AS EVERYONE ELSE YOU DO THAT BY JUST SAYING THANKS. YOU DO IT UNPROMPTED AND WITHOUT A CATCH

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SAYING THANKS TO CUSTOMERS MEANINGFULLY AND REGULARLY

Ways to say thankyou (just because):

•  Send a handwritten note from the client manager and CEO once per year with a small but meaningful gift. Not at Christmas – this is a “just because”.

•  Monthly email update about the product and the company (designed to make sure they’re on the journey with us).

•  Remember your client’s birthdays. Send a handwritten note

•  Take note and celebrate each client’s anniversary date (the day on which they first started using your product).

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Pillar four: Bringing clients inside the content creation process

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CLIENTS WILL CREATE YOUR MOST VALUABLE CONTENT BECAUSE IT’S VIEWED AS BRAND IMPARTIAL

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YOUR CONTENT MUST CONSTANTLY HIGHLIGHT THE SUCCESS OF YOUR CLIENTS WITHOUT ANY BENEFIT TO YOUR BRAND (OTHER THAN ASSOCIATION)

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YOU WANT THEM TO SHARE YOUR CONTENT AND INCREASE YOUR REACH SO YOU NEED TO START BY DOING THE SAME FOR THEM

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WE’RE TARGETING BOTH EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT ENDORSEMENT

You want both explicit and implicit endorsement from clients:

Explicit endorsement:•  Case studies, participation in marketing

activities•  Use of logos and testimonials on your

website

Implicit endorsement:•  Actively engaged and 2-way

rebroadcasting on social media•  Word of mouth conversation about the

extra-ordinary things you do for them•  Content generation

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GETTING STARTED WITH CLIENT CONTENT

•  Start your customers on a journey to content development for us by asking them to review your content

•  Involve them in case studies

•  Actively promote them and their thought leadership on social media

•  Over time, you will show them the benefits of publishing content on your platform

•  At that stage it makes sense to formally invite them to co-produce content – first for a test piece and then an ongoing commitment

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START BY RANKING YOUR CLIENT BASE IN ORDER OF BRAND ADVOCACY (AND FILLING OUT THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY SHEET)

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CLIENT FOCUSED SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTION

•  It’s important to track individual clients social media accounts – not just the corporate account

•  Monitor, follow and like their posts, tweets, photos, comments, blogs. If you want them to share your content, you must start by sharing and liking theirs

CLIENT FOCUSED SOCIAL MEDIA:

© 2014 Thought Leadership Partners. This Thought Leadership Framework is proprietary to Thought Leadership Partners and may not be reused or shared without explicit written permission.

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Client name: Active corporate Twitter :Active corporate LinkedIn:Active corporate Facebook:Active corporate Youtube:Active corporate blog:

Contact name:Active on Twitter :Active on LinkedIn:Blog presence:



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C O N F I D E N T I A L 32

Marketing

Building customer advocacy in B2B