For a company that works on a value-driven approach, there is no customer type better than the advocate. The advocate is the customer that not only buys the product and stays loyal to but, but they also go out of their way to promote the product to their friends, or even to strangers. We’ve all dealt with advocates, perhaps you are an advocate yourself. There are the “apple fanboys/girls” who go around telling everyone to get macs and ipods and iphones. There are the “Xbox fanboy/girls” who can’t wait to repeat for the thousandth time that the Playstation and the Wii are inferior choices. There are the Honda enthusiasts who just won’t ever suggest a car that isn’t Honda. The bottom line is, it’s simply impossible to not deal with advocates in at least a weekly basis.
Therefore, it is easily observable that advocates are everywhere. But it is important for marketers to notice that it is much easier for certain products to generate advocates than others. Usually, advocates appear to defend products that are inherently more expensive and that involve larger opportunity costs. An example would be a car, or a computer, since both of them require a relatively large financial investment, when compared to more mundane things, like cereal. It is very hard to see someone arguing over cereal. Another thing that tends to incentivize (i love this word) advocacy is when there is little utility gained from having a second item of that same type. Again, let’s talk about laptops. There is very little to gain from having 2 laptops. Therefore, it is irrational for someone deciding between an HP and an Acer laptop to choose both, because they would gain very little extra utility. Therefore, the choice is more important. Contrast that with shirts, where you can easily buy both shirts you like, since apparently wearing the same shirt everyday is frowned upon.
Nonetheless, it is possible to create reasons for customers to become advocates. If you add a social value to your product, it drives customers to advocacy. For example, if you promote your product as environmentally friendly, and your customers are environment enthusiasts, chances are that there will be some extra advocates popping up, telling their friends to get this new fancy green product.
Go forth and reproduce, advocates!
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