Turning Your Best Users into Raving Fans and Advocates (Part 5)
Did you know that brand advocates are 50% more likely to influence a purchase? If you’re not investing in turning your loyal users into vocal advocates, you’re missing a massive growth opportunity. In this part of our series on implementing a Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategy, we’ll delve into practical ways to foster true fans and product evangelists.
In our 5-part Product-Led Growth (PLG) series, we’ve discussed:
In Part 1, we demystified the PLG model.
Part 2 walked you through the core steps to execute a PLG strategy.
In Part 3, we took a deep dive into tactics for supercharging awareness, consideration, and conversion stages of the PLG customer journey.
And in Part 4, we explored how to sustain user engagement, retention, and expansion post-signup.
Now, let’s delve into Part 5, exploring tactics for fostering brand advocates. So how can you transform satisfied customers into vocal promoters of your product? Salesforce, for instance, successfully leveraged this power to build a massive community of advocates called “Trailblazers”.
Let’s learn from their strategy as we explore how to turn your users into your strongest promoters.
Identify Your Most Valuable Users
The first step is using data to identify and segment your power users. These are customers exhibiting behaviors like:
- High frequency and volume of product usage
- Repeated or expanded purchases and upgrades
- Organic social mentions and sharing
- Positive reviews and ratings
- Low churn risk
Look for the people who already find tremendous value in your offering. They are primed to become advocates if delighted further.
Spotify is excellent at using data and analytics to identify their most loyal users. They track listening behaviors and activity to determine who their “power users” are.
Common mistakes: Not leveraging usage data enough or having poor analytics to identify top users.
Identifying your power users is crucial to cultivating raving fans.
Spotlight Their Successes
Case studies and testimonials are powerful tools for showcasing real-world success. With the user’s consent, create polished content that demonstrates how your power users are achieving impressive outcomes with your product. Not only does this validate your product, it also provides social proof that encourages others to follow suit.
GoPro features many user-generated videos and photos on their website and social channels. They spotlight the amazing content their customers create.
Common mistakes: Not celebrating user success stories enough or not getting consent to showcase content.
Make Them Insiders
Nothing makes loyal users feel more special than granting them early previews of new features or exclusive beta access. This insider status not only rewards them for their loyalty but also solidifies their investment in your product and brand.
Amazon has their Vine program that gives top reviewers early access to new products to review. This rewards their best customers.
Common mistakes: No special perks or early access given to top engaged users.
So reward top users by giving them early previews of new features or exclusive beta access. Make them feel like VIPs and trusted advisors. This makes them more invested in your product and brand.
Facilitate Sharing
Make it effortless for happy users to share your content on social media, write reviews, refer others, and create authentic user-generated content. User-created stories are incredibly powerful. After all, a recommendation from a trusted friend carries much more weight than a marketing message.
Shopify makes it easy for ecommerce owners to share their stores on social media. They also have an app store with tools to help generate UGC.
Common mistakes: Not having sharing features or UGC creation tools baked into the product experience.
Stay Connected
Build strong relationships with your top users by engaging them in exclusive communities, private events, and personalized communications. Make them feel appreciated and valued with surprise gifts and privileged access.
Tesla owners' clubs and forums provide a space for their biggest fans to connect and engage with the brand. It makes them feel like insiders.
Common mistakes: No efforts to nurture an exclusive community feeling with top users.
Empower Advocacy
Your most loyal fans can become influencers who organically spread awareness. Explicitly empower them to be advocates by highlighting and recognizing their contributions.
Uber empowered riders to easily refer and share free ride credits to new users. This amplified their growth.
Common mistakes: Not making it easy for happy users to share with others or incentivizing referrals.
Cultivating loyal advocates is an ongoing effort, but the dividends are well worth the investment. When your fan base shares their authentic stories, it builds a level of trust and credibility that traditional marketing simply cannot match.
As we wrap up this 5 part series on implementing a PLG strategy, I’d love to hear what other topics you’d like to explore. Your suggestions will help shape future content.
Remember, turning users into advocates doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey, but with the right strategies, you can transform your best users into your biggest fans. Keep experimenting, learning, and iterating, and you’ll see your community of advocates grow.
