A well-designed advocate marketing program is built around the needs of the advocate. Remember, you are developing a program that continually asks your customers and other constituents to take time out of their day to help you market and sell. That's a big ask.
Start by carefully considering what the program provides the advocate. Do they want recognition? Access? Social capital? These are common motivators for fans and the entire program should be oriented towards delivering on these needs.
There's a good chance that your Advocate Marketing Manager already exists somewhere within your company.
When designing your advocate marketing program, think about breaking it down into its fundamental pieces. First, you'll need to identify likely advocates and invite them into your program. Second, you'll need to engage advocates in a variety of different campaigns that match their interests. Third, you'll want to make sure that you can measure the impact of the program.
A well-designed advocate marketing program has five core components:
1. The advocate marketing plan
This is a strategic plan that specifies the program's objectives, process, organization, technology and metrics. It's a living document that can be updated as you learn more about who your advocates are and what they want.
2. The advocate marketing process
The advocate marketing process defines how you recruit, engage and recognize your advocates. It also includes recommendations on how to plan and analyze advocacy efforts. The steps can vary - what's important is that there is a standard process so that the program can scale.
3. The advocate marketing organization
Advocate marketing is not a people-intensive effort. In fact, the advocate marketing organization really only needs two people: an executive sponsor (typically the CMO) and a functional owner of advocate marketing (the Advocate Marketing Manager).
There's a good chance that your Advocate Marketing Manager already exists somewhere within your company, either in a community management or customer marketing capacity. They should be creative communicators who can also plan strategically with the help of their executive sponsor and analyze the results of their work.
4. Supporting technology
Technology can act as a "force multiplier" for the program. Some companies may use email, spreadsheets or a CRM application (or a combination of all three), but others will want a dedicated application or platform that allows a single marketer to organize, communicate with and mobilize advocates at scale.
5. Advocate marketing metrics
You should measure your program to determine its business impact. Use a combination of tactical metrics, like the number of advocates currently engaged in the program, as well as strategic metrics that show how the program impacts your company, like revenue sourced and influenced by advocacy.