Today, the most important person selling your product or service is no longer you—it’s your customer. What’s important is customer engagement and how it benefits you, your customer, and your prospects. When it comes to customer marketing, you may have heard a few terms - Customer Advocacy, Customer Evidence, and Customer Reference. They all sound similar, and we may think we know what they are, but they are in fact quite different.

There are case studies and there are customer stories. You’d think it’s a similar concept with different names. But what if it’s not?

What are the different formats customer stories take? Let’s review the most popular formats, their benefits, and when to use them.

Among other benefits, Customer Stories show that a brand can accomplish what they say based on real stories and real results, making them a very powerful sales tool.

One of the most common challenges companies will face when looking to make advocacy a strategic function is stakeholder buy-in. It is also the most important aspect of running a successful advocacy program.

So let’s look at the different stakeholders, why their investment is important, and some ideas on how to get it.

Customer Advocacy is a must-have for any company that wants to build trust or strengthen its position in the market. Therefore, most already have at least a few customer stories – or case studies – published on their website.

A question I have seen come up on many occasions: is there a particular number of customers that a B2B company needs to recruit before starting an advocacy program?

There is often a magic number used – especially among large global businesses – and that a customer advocacy program should include 35% of your customer base. However, I believe you can start on a much smaller scale.  And it’s all about ROI.

To develop your advocates and have them become part of your Customer Advocacy Program, you have to pay attention to what your customers’ needs are and be mindful of the fact they will vary from customer to customer.

Your goal is to turn Passives (customers who are happy with your brand or product but won’t actively promote it) and Promoters (the satisfied customers that actively recommend you, even without being part of any program) into Advocates. You do this by climbing the hierarchy of Advocate needs.