The First Steps of Becoming an Evangelist for Your Company
Being a brand Evangelist for a brand is not an easy job. It’s not even a job. More likely, it’s a lifestyle.
For me, being a brand Evangelist for a brand like Bannersnack is more than just a few hours/day of work. It’s a constant lifestyle that I choose and I love to do.
I often hear from the people around me “What is a Brand Evangelist?” or “What is Evangelism Marketing?” or “How can I be a Brand Evangelist for my company?”
For the two questions I answered in a blog post:
But for the last question I want to answer you right now also with a blog post and I truly think that after reading this article you will know if you are ready to be a brand Evangelist for your company or not.
Brand evangelism might seem new and innovative, but it’s actually one of the oldest forms of marketing.
I will include the “brand Evangelist” “chief Evangelist” “tech Evangelist” and every Evangelist type out there in the “Evangelist” term.
If you still want to be an Evangelist after reading my tips, you need to know that you’ll have to work hard to figure out on your own what’s working and what doesn’t work for your brand.
1. Use the product everyday
For me, this is the most important principle of an Evangelist. If you are not using your own product, why should you be an Evangelist? If you don’t know how to use the last features of your product and where they fit, can you still call yourself a brand Evangelist?
When we are launching a new update or a new feature at Bannersnack I pause my daily job routine and start working with these new updates or instruments. I use it on my own blog and on my own social media accounts. I want to know how they work, where they can be used and who can use them? I talk with the product manager and ask him lots of questions.
Using the product everyday helps you understand better the product and how the customer can use your product.
2. Be a good Listener
Today is more easier to listen to the consumer. Why? Because the consumer is having the power of information in his own hands, in his own pocket — the smartphone. He can talk with his friends about your product, about the experience he had with your product. And let me tell you something — there is the big secret of a great user experience.
According to this report from Sales Force, 60% of marketers were using social listening strategies in 2013 and 24% planed to do so in 2014. The sad news is that only 31% of marketers think their social listening is fully effective.
Brands are using social media more to talk and less to listen. But the smart brand will know that using social media to hear more and talk less is more successful. Why? Because there is important information and data that they can use.
If listening better leads to better speaking, then it becomes a competitive advantage.
As an Evangelist, I believe you should listen more to your customers voices, even if we talk about social media, blogs, forums or conferences. Ask them questions and let them tell you their stories. Be patient and hear everything they have to say.
Sometimes all customers want is to talk with somebody about their experience.
An Evangelist is a people lover!
3. Be the voice for both sides
An Evangelist knows when to listen, how to listen, who to listen but also it knows when to talk, how to talk and whom to talk to.
Being a voice for the brand is also an important responsibility.
Did you realize that I put this principle before the listen part? Why did I do that? Because I think that listening is more important than talking.
“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said. The art of reading between the lines is a lifelong quest of the wise.”
― Shannon L. Alder
After you heard what people had to say about their experience, about their story with the brand, you need to filter the information, collect the data and then communicate it with the team.
Be the voice of the consumer for the brand
You know the consumers, you understand their needs and what they want. This is why listening is so important. But now you need to communicate to you brand what you heard from the community.
Do they love this feature? Are they interested in an update? Are there any bugs that more consumers from your community found out and the dev. team can resolve it?
Be the voice of the brand for the consumer
Here is the part that most people are thinking that an Evangelist should do. Be the brand voice. Yes, I agree. But do you see we’re only at the third point of this blog post. Why?
Because an Evangelist is not a nagging person who talks too much and everytime about the brand, about the product, about the new feature.
Talking about something is easy. Pointing to a problem and finding the solution in your brand is what an Evangelist should do when he wants to be the voice of the brand for the consumer.
What problem do you solve with your product? Why does your brand fit in this situation?
4. Create Helpful content
I truly believe that content marketing is a great tool for every Evangelist out there to reach the right audience. Maybe you can’t go to every conference out there and talk to everybody about your brand but you can deliver great content to those who are interested in that topic.
Let’s talk about Neil Patel who is creating such a tremendous content to his both blogs neilpatel.com and quicksprout.com/blog. He is the Evangelist of QuickSprout company while he is still managing his blog. He’s doing everything, from creating content, delivering helpful insights and yes…creating a valuable bridge between the consumer and the product.
Even though he is not calling himself an Evangelist, let me tell you something — this is how a truly Evangelist behaves when he talks about the brand and industry he’s representing.
Also we have Rand Fishkin who is one of the most significant influencer in the SEO and content industry out there. What is he doing? He is evangelizing Moz’s product by giving out there tips and tricks, ideas and opinions on how to be the best in the SEO industry.
I’m not saying that you need to create content because I read it somewhere or I heard it on a podcast. I’m a big believer in the content marketing strategy and good social media marketing because I’m practicing every day with everything I’m doing on the web.
Maybe you will create a personal blog and develop your personal brand so you can help your brand to grow more and more. Or maybe you will give more attention to other social media channels where your company is not creating valuable content. I don’t know.
Start practicing it, test it and then find your own strategy that works for your brand.
Conclusion
Now that you know the first 4 steps, go out there and be a good Evangelist for you company! Figure it out what is working or not, what is good and what needs to be changed and how you can help your brand grow!
Originally published at www.robertkatai.com on January 12, 2016.
