Tempting as it might be to turn to loyal customers to “defend” your company when internal or external forces cause a crisis, just scrambling customer advocates is not a responsible crisis communications strategy.

Don’t get us wrong — your loyal customers can be valuable in a crisis. Advocates will share their own experiences and extend credibility with audiences. When Zoom faced security and privacy concerns after catapulting onto the global main stage in 2020, some longer-term customers took to public forums to set context and contribute their own positive experiences.

But customer praise or defense against a negative incident cannot overwrite genuine problems with your offering, manifest a different market dynamic by sheer force of hope, or paper over a serious security issue.

Activate The Crisis Team, Not Just The Advocacy Team

Forrester emphasizes swift, accurate, and empathetic crisis communications. This applies across many types of crises: product difficulty, operational failure, a security incident, or simply a moment, in or out of the company’s control, where customers lose confidence. Effective crisis communications is a discipline with its own playbooks, decision rights, and operating cadence. Not all companies have a plan in place. Forrester’s research shows three-quarters (77%) of large B2B companies have a crisis communications plan. That figure drops to only 49% of smaller companies.

Attempting to deploy advocates en masse, especially if it’s the centerpiece of your response, is risky for your brand and for your advocates. Why?

    • It’s superficial. Fixing the issue is better than trying to “balance” genuine concerns. Devote resources to the root cause of the problem.
    • It’s rude. Even your most loyal advocates don’t want to be your PR firm. You’ll put advocates in a difficult situation by asking for something that feels inauthentic or uncomfortable. Some might dial back participation overall if they feel used.
    • It’s fake. Discomfort might lead to inauthentic statements. Inauthentic statements are more likely to be flagged, officially by forum moderators and AI, unofficially by other readers and commenters.
    • It’s disconcerting. If customer advocates are your front-and-center tool for crisis communications, advocates may wonder why they, rather than your organization, are in the lead and where your crisis planning fell apart.

Let Loyal Customers Assist On Their Own Terms

Don’t ignore customer advocates in a crisis, though. They have a lot to offer. Successful customers have a vested interest in your joint success. They may see misinformation and become frustrated because they know better. Some enjoy the personal validation of jumping to the rescue or supporting your company publicly. To empower advocates above and beyond communications to the broad customer base:

    • Give loyal customers a heads up. If time and regulations permit, consider giving engaged customer advocates some extra insight. They’ll feel symbolic value from being “in the know,” and they’ll be armed with accurate information that they can choose to share at their own pace and in their own voice.
    • Seek counsel from your councils. Customer advisory boards, customer councils, and your online community are potential sources of solutions. Tap into these groups to understand how an issue is playing out, test crisis response messages, hear how competitors are framing you, and prioritize the biggest concerns. Customers who know you well can give valuable guidance and insight.
    • Manage your timing. Think about putting a pause on advocate activities pending a clear path if you are dealing with a substantial or confusing crisis. For example, a customer seeing impact from an operational issue might not be excited about taking a reference call while the issue is still in play.

Forrester clients can read more in the full report, B2B Companies Lack Adequate Crisis Communications Preparedness. Schedule a guidance session with Karen Tran and Amy Bills to assess your crisis readiness and the role of customer advocates, and join us at Forrester’s B2B Summit for a roundtable on review site strategy.