Understanding the Customer Lifecycle: Brand Advocacy

Alright, alright, alriiiight. You’re making some serious progress, now.

You have dedicated followers that you guided all the way here. As of right now, they’re satisfied with your product and want to stick around for… well… ever.

What you have to think about now: that your customers won’t keep buying if you don’t keep treating them well. 

We’ve likened this to leaving them stranded at the top of a mountain (“K, thanks for coming, see ya later!”)

Here’s a recap before we get into the nitty-gritty:

• Awareness
• Education
• Conversion
• Onboarding
• Retention
• Brand Advocacy 
• Word of Mouth
  

Each stage cycles into the other, creating the customer lifecycle. Throughout the journey, you’ve been listening, customizing, advertising, and getting new customers. 

Now you want it to show.

Why Care About Brand Advocacy?

All of the customizing you’ve done until this point has really been practice for these customers. Brand advocates are the ones who should get the utmost importance.

They’re now your biggest fan. 

Word of mouth is powerful, so they’ll be able to reach even more people. And apparently, 92% of online consumers trust recs from their social circles.

Here’s a visual:

                                                                                                                   ↗ New Customer (BA)

Fitness Tracker  → Brand Advocate → New Customer (becomes brand advocate) → New Customer (BA)

                                                                                                                   ↘ New Customer (BA)

It just keeps going.

Your brand will grow naturally. Nobody wants to look like they’re trying too hard, you know?

The Royal Treatment

Treatment for Their Royal Highnesses the Brand Advocates is very similar to the retention stage when you start offering rewards programs.

But instead of simply upselling and cross-selling, you go above and beyond. Ultimately, you want them to start spreading the word.

Start a loyalty program.

Loyalty programs are common for a reason. In fact, 68% of customers will join a loyalty program if it’s offered.

They’ll receive something good, and you’ll make more money. Win-win.

You can offer a few different kinds of rewards:

• Member discounts
• Free products after a set number of purchases
• Free shipping
• Birthday rewards
• Points toward future services
• Rewards for referrals
• Points per step toward a purchase (wink wink, Fitness Tracker Exec)
• Badges or tiers (like the “Top Fan” badge of honor on Facebook)

Deepen your relationship with them.

You’ve probably seen your favorite brands posting customer appreciation posts or being the absolute best at communicating with their customers. 

That’s what we call nurturing.

As you go further into this brand-customer relationship, you need to brainstorm ways to make them feel valued. Publicly. (This has gone Facebook official, guys.)

We’ll start:

• Feature their product photos in your feed
• Use their reviews, with permission, on your next post
• Share launches with them before everyone else
• Give them early access

If you’re really dedicated… send them a gift

Continue customizing.

Imagine getting a birthday code when it isn’t your birthday… awkward. 

Or being notified about a new product only to find out that it’s sold out when you click the link. Yikes.

That wouldn’t make us feel valued. You?

Keep customizing your service, nurture campaigns, offers, and any other awesome thing to the customer. It’s arguably more important now than ever. 

These are the ones sticking around and spreading the word.

At this point, you’ve almost come full circle. But the thing about this cycle is you want it to keep flowing. The work you’re doing now will pay off for each new lifecycle.

Need a little guidance on customer guidance? Schedule a call with Jive here. In the meantime, study up on the lifecycle. As we said, it never stops!