Brand Advocacy Begins at Home

Much has been written lately about getting your customers and/or end-users to be advocates for your brand – that is, generating enough excitement among members of your target market so they spread the word of your greatness among their friends by all available means. But what about you and your other team members? If you don’t project the passion for your business to your market, you can’t expect customers/consumers to take up promoting your brand as their personal cause.

Whether you’re a manufacturer or a single installation shop, your business is built upon a certain set of core values. Identify those values, and be sure that everyone in your organization keeps them foremost in mind in every dealing with customers, vendors, etc.

One client of ours has a branding campaign based around its core values, each of which is described by a single word. The first letter of each word is used to form an acronym that is featured on lapel buttons, t-shirts and corporate letterhead, among other clothing and collateral items. Employees wear the buttons and/or t-shirts while at work, whether in the office or in the field. In this way, everyone who comes into contact with the company at any level immediately learns the values it puts into practice on a daily basis.

The secondary – but also very important – result of this campaign is that it eliminates the idea that advocating the brand is the job of only a few people within the organization. With every team member taking ownership of promoting the business and its core values, each has a greater stake in its success. Regardless which approach or combination of approaches you choose in turning everyone in your business into brand advocates, it all comes down to focusing on a shared vision and getting your target market to see it, too.