Leveraging Customer Advocacy For Demand Creation

There are many inputs into successful demand creation programs: sound go-to-market strategy; integrated program planning; strong business processes; proper infrastructure; and well-managed resources. The most important input, however, is proven customer success. Customer advocates have long been tapped through customer reference programs to validate late-stage buying decisions. Savvy marketers also have tapped customer advocates to tell the stories they want buyers to hear through reusable content in earlier stages of the buying cycle. B2B buyers can now find answers to their questions through online and offline communities, actively sharing ideas and publishing content to their social networks, making them less engaged with outbound promotions. In this era, the voice of the customer is the key to scaling or derailing demand creation effectiveness. In this report, we describe considerations and requirements for integrating customer advocacy into demand creation programs.