How can you use brand advocates and influencers to attract new customers?

I've had the privilege of witnessing firsthand how brand advocates and influencers can play pivotal roles in elevating SMS businesses. Brand Advocates are often best for building long-term customer loyalty and trust. Encourage them to share their positive experiences and provide feedback. Influencers can help generate immediate buzz and visibility for your SMB services. When selecting influencers, ensure their audience aligns with your target demographic. A well-balanced approach that involves both brand advocates and influencers can be effective in promoting an SMB business, catering to both long-term reputation-building and short-term visibility goals.

For me choice of brand advocates and influencers would be the first step to define the process , a brand advocate who is trustworthy and can connect to your audience is a must, he should not be ideally taking about some other brand In your category, his reputation should be of a genuine content creator and not just an influencer ( there is a difference between the two :)) . I am also very heavy on localisation of your content so if the influencer can communicate in the language in which your audience communicates will be a bonus.

Also, people tend to trust other people better and more than they trust brands. The right advocates and influencers will be closer to the new people the company attracts than a business can ever be. It is a simple line of thinking: who do you prefer to tell you the product is good: a friend figure (ambassador or influencer) or a business that made that product? Surely enough, we all trust friend figures way more

Brand advocates and influencers are essential for your brand. They bring authenticity, credibility, and reach. Advocates offer genuine, unpaid endorsements, building trust and providing social proof. Influencers tap into diverse audiences, expanding your brand's reach. Both generate user-generated content, foster a community, and amplify marketing efforts. Collaborating with influencers is cost-effective and offers immediate impact. Advocates ensure long-term loyalty, and together, they diversify your marketing strategy, making your brand resilient and poised for growth.

For influencers, don't look only at people who have large following. Micro influencers tend to work better because they are closer to the audience when it comes to building trust. Influencers with large following are only good to make the name more known, but not to actually attract customers. So, when looking for influencers, consider how alligned they are to your brand values, how their public is similar to yours, how consistent their work is and how engaged they are with their audience and community.

Engaging with brand influencers, specially social media influencers is a fine science. There are two things I personally find annoying. 1. When a brand influencer talks of the merit of say a shampoo today & how wonderful it was. And a week or two later says almost the same about another shampoo brand. 2. When influencers write exactly what the brand has asked them to. So suddenly your social media feed is filled with beauty influencers who are saying the same thing about a brand. The best way is for brand owners to spend time identifying the right influencer, and not just by their follower count, but also on content. And share with them about the brand and let them share it in their own words! You will see the difference.

While communicating with influencers, it’s important for brands to keep a balance between flexibility and what they can offer the influencers/ambassadors. There may be times where a brand doesn’t have the budget to offer extravagant PR kits, so they have to come up with different yet engaging options to attract influencers (e.g. providing free product coupons). This becomes evident when scoping out the right influencers that fit your brand, and your budget. Brands should share the relevant information about themselves to the influencers by providing a couple of talking points (in Laymen’s terms). This allows the influencers understand the brand’s messaging, and then correctly communicate it to their audiences.

Actually, it doesn't matter whether they are brand advocates or influencers. The first question you must ask yourself, even before you start,.is "what is my goal?" If the goal is to attract more customers, you will then analyze metrics that show you you are moving towards this goal. Metrics and KPIs must always be aligned first and foremost with the objective and goals.

By harnessing the potential of brand advocates and influencers can significantly benefit your brand in terms of growth and customer acquisition. By building authentic relationships and measuring their impact effectively, you can create a dynamic marketing strategy that capitalizes on word-of-mouth marketing and influencer endorsements.