How Cultivating Brand Advocates Can Stretch Your Sales and Marketing Budgets

Fireberry Team

November 20, 2024

Table of contents

Change our minds: Growing businesses can outpace, or at least keep up with, established brands in leadgen, thanks to the power of brand advocacy. Think about the last time you recommended a product or service to your friends - for free. What got you so excited about it, and how did you recommend it to them? Whatever the reason is, it was strong enough to turn YOU into a brand advocate.

What can you do to make your customers that level of excitement about YOUR product?

What is brand advocacy?

The simplest way to define a brand advocate is as a person who shares your product or service with others simply because they like it. They are not formal brand ambassadors, they are not (necessarily) influencers, they aren’t being paid to promote you. They are authentic, real, everyday people who have fallen in love with your product and want other people to enjoy it as well.

Yes, people do this for free.

And while it seems unfathomable in today’s “sponsored social climate” where everyone is (being paid) to sell to you through the illusion of authenticity with UGC (user generated content) like unboxings and recorded product sampling, brand advocates do share unsponsored recommendations and discerning buyers can certainly spot the difference.

How? Because brand advocates have a superpower. Their credibility. Their genuine experiences and honest (and unpaid!) endorsement resonate with colleagues and acquaintances in a way that paid advertisements can’t.

Food for thought:“92 percent of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising” - Nielson

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Why is brand advocacy important?

Brand advocacy is essential because it can significantly reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC) and cost per lead (CPL), allowing businesses to allocate resources more efficiently. Brand advocates can also drive sustainable growth by boosting their own customer lifetime value (LTV) through repeat purchases and loyalty cultivation.

The money don’t lie.

Costs are up across the board, and you can see this clearly reflected in several common marketing metrics

Average CPL is UP

According to Google ads, the average cost per lead in 2024 has gone up by an average of 25% across most industries, while the conversion rate dropped for almost half of them.

Did you know? 81% of customer journeys begin in a search engine.

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Can your business keep up with the costs of paid advertising today? More importantly, given Nielson’s findings shared above, do you want to?

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Average CPL by industry 2024 (FirstPageSage)

Average CAC is UP

While some industries historically have a higher CAC (and a higher LTV to go with it) CAC has been steadily rising in the last 5 years, mostly due to increased competition, higher marketing budgets, and rising costs of various methods of digital advertising.

The rise in marketing and lead acquisition costs can be a natural concern for growing businesses with smaller budgets. And that’s where brand advocacy comes into play. Brand advocacy puts the power back into the hands of a business and gives them an active role in boosting their customer LTV.

How can brand advocacy boost LTV?

Customer LTV, or customer lifetime value, is a metric that quantifies how valuable a customer is to your business throughout their time as your customer. The simplest way that a customer can bring value to your business is by purchasing your product. However, customers can also bring value in other quantifiable ways like through brand engagement, loyalty, upsells, and brand advocacy.

Growing businesses who invest in their customers by constantly improving their customer experience can cultivate a brand advocacy movement that can guarantee them customer loyalty and a steady stream of new customers as well. Just like businesses get insights into customer behavior and market trends from CPL and CAC, they can also gain insights into their own current marketing practices by calculating their LTV.

Important note: 3:1 is a good benchmark for LTV/CAC ratio David Skok.

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What’s the bottom line? LTV measures the value that an acquired customer can bring to your business, and brand advocacy can amplify those numbers to guarantee sustainable growth. Brand advocacy by definition lowers CAC and increases LTV.

So, how do we build brand advocacy?

Now that we’ve determined that building brand advocacy is the right economic move, the “good news” is that there is no secret recipe. The road to successful brand advocacy is a level playing field. The better news is that brand advocacy cultivation is one of those rare instances in which you can see satisfaction, appreciation, and positive feedback from customers from the get-go.

To build brand advocacy, businesses should focus on these 4 areas:

Optimizing customer experience

Optimizing the customer experience is essential to building strong brand advocacy. By focusing on customer journey mapping, businesses can gain a clear understanding of how customers interact with their brand at every stage, from the first point of contact to long-term engagement.

Pro tip: Maximize your customer relationships by identifying pain points, opportunities, and moments that matter most to your customer.

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By addressing these insights, companies can deliver more personalized, seamless experiences that meet customer expectations and drive satisfaction. When customers feel valued and understood, they are more likely to promote the brand through word-of-mouth and social sharing.

Creating unique touchpoints throughout the customer journey is also key to fostering brand loyalty. These touchpoints, whether digital or in-person, allow companies to surprise and delight customers, setting themselves apart from competitors.

Personalized interactions, thoughtful follow-ups, and moments of unexpected value all contribute to creating memorable experiences that stick with customers. In turn, this emotional connection strengthens brand advocacy, as happy customers become passionate advocates who willingly share their positive experiences with others. By continuously optimizing the customer experience, businesses can ensure long-term loyalty and advocacy that fuels growth.

A great way to optimize customer experience is through the use of CRM automations.

CRM automations are an invaluable resource for delivering personalized, thoughtful, and timely follow-ups. They enable you to meet your customers' needs and expectations effortlessly, streamlining communication. With automations, you can easily trigger messages based on a customer's lifecycle stage, specific actions, or even inactivity—ensuring that your customers feel recognized and valued every step of the way.

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Upholding Product Quality and Innovation

Upholding product quality and driving innovation are crucial to building strong brand advocacy. When businesses consistently deliver high-quality products, they earn customer trust and satisfaction, which forms the foundation for long-term loyalty.

Innovation also plays an important role.

Customers who experience reliable products and see a brand continually innovating and growing are more likely to become advocates. In today’s fast-paced world, balancing quality, innovation and speed, helps brands stand out and foster deep connections with their audience.

Incorporating Customer feedback and Involvement

Incorporating customer feedback and encouraging involvement are vital for building brand advocacy. Businesses who actively listen to their customers are able to kill two birds with one stone: they gain valuable business insights and they foster brand loyalty by making customers feel heard and valued.

According to Forrester Research, 63% of customers will churn after even 1 negative experience.

Read that again.

Engaging customers in the decision-making process—whether through surveys, focus groups, or social media interactions—creates a sense of ownership and connection to the brand.

Research tells us that people are more likely to share negative experiences than positive ones, especially in social outlets. However, when people are personally involved in a positive experience they are more emotionally motivated to share it with others.

When customers see that their feedback leads to real changes or improvements, they’re more likely to become passionate advocates, sharing their positive experiences and promoting the brand within their networks.

Perfecting Business Processes

Streamlining operations not only enhances efficiency but also improves customer experience by ensuring quicker service delivery and consistent quality.

When businesses focus on refining their processes, they can better respond to customer needs, which fosters loyalty and advocacy. For instance, optimizing processes can lead to reduced wait times, personalized customer interactions, and a more seamless overall experience, all of which contribute to positive perceptions of the brand.

A well-optimized business process can allow teams to allocate resources effectively, focusing on what truly matters—customer satisfaction. As a result, customers are more likely to become advocates for brands that demonstrate reliability and responsiveness.

How do we know that brand advocacy really works?

Let’s zero in on 2 brands which are capitalizing on their booming brand advocacy phenomenon. (While this first brand has invested significant resources - both financial and human - into acquiring their customers, the resulting advocacy enables them to maximize and propel their marketing ROI and CLV.)

The Lure of the Forbidden Fruit

Let’s look at Apple. While their annual advertising budget exceeds a billion dollars, with a reported net income of $96.99 billion in 2023, they’re achieving an ROI of nearly 10,000%!

Their success is a result of meticulous customer journey optimization, a thorough understanding of their target audience, and commitment to their mission: “to bring the best user experience to customers through innovative hardware, software and services”.

Let’s be honest though, what really drives iPhone sales? The allure of status, the sense of belonging to a community of trendsetters, and the undeniable cool factor. Apple puts in their 10% (technically maybe even a bit less) and lets their technology sell itself.

And while Apple does have an exceptional product and substantial marketing resources, the true force behind their amazing success is the power of brand advocacy.

Keeping it Real: Hospitality Edition

Let’s explore another brand in a very different industry whose entire mission is founded on authenticity: Airbnb.

What started out as an air mattress on the floor of a small apartment in San Francisco has grown to become more than 5 million hosts in 200+ countries and regions around the world.

Did you know? Airbnb has the strongest brand advocates.

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YouGov, a global market-research company based in the UK, collects information by comparing how likely current and previous customers are to recommend a brand. They conducted research on brand advocacy in 2016 which found Airbnb to have the strongest brand advocacy of any brand at that time.

How did Airbnb build such a strong brand advocacy base? And how exactly did it contribute to their success?

Real experiences feel more credible than traditional ads, no matter how creative.

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Airbnb built its brand advocacy by staying true to a mission that resonates with people on a deep level—connecting travelers with authentic, local experiences. From the start, Airbnb emphasized more than just accommodations; it offered a chance to feel at home in new places, to live like a local rather than a tourist.

This focus on human connection and genuine experiences created a sense of community, which made users more than just customers—they became advocates who felt personally aligned with the brand’s values. The authenticity of the Airbnb experience naturally encouraged word-of-mouth promotion. People were eager to share their unique stories, whether it was staying in a treehouse or hosting a guest in their spare room. This personal storytelling became a powerful marketing tool.

Airbnb shared a milestone this year when they reached 5 million hosts. Remaining true to their authenticity, they shared the announcement with their community in the form of a letter, in which they reiterated that their company was founded to benefit both host and guest, to provide authentic experiences and foster true connections.

Airbnb: We’ve seen firsthand how Airbnb can foster connections between Hosts and guests, and introduce people to new cultures…We are grateful to our Host community for their dedication and commitment to providing exceptional hospitality.

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Airbnb’s success was built on this organic advocacy, where users spread the word not because they were incentivized, but because they believed in the brand's mission to connect and create meaningful experiences.

As these company examples show, building strong brand advocacy can elevate your business to new heights, creating a loyal customer base that champions your brand. In the face of rising acquisition costs, refocusing on existing customers allows businesses to nurture loyalty and advocacy, turning satisfied clients into powerful ambassadors who help drive growth organically.

Building brand advocacy isn’t just about gaining loyal customers; it’s about creating genuine connections that amplify your business’s reach and impact. By focusing on customer experience, innovation, and authenticity, growing businesses can harness the power of brand advocates to drive sustainable growth, reduce costs, and stand out in a competitive market.

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