How can you engage customers in Asia?
Here is a perfect illustration of what brand advocacy is all about. A group of friends were out in town having a good time when one spotted a sports store and insisted that they all go inside so he could finally get a specific type of sneakers. He hadn’t just decided out of the blue to buy the sneakers, but he had friends back at home who always talked about how great the sneakers was. He decided that it was finally time to get it as the store wasn’t readily available close to home. This means that he remembered as soon as he had a chance and remembered that it was something he had to try. This is what brand advocacy is about. This story perfectly illustrates the effectiveness of brand advocates. Some of this young man’s friends were actually brand advocates of those shoes, without paying, of course, and they presented him with the brand. He, in turn, became a brand advocate and introduced his other friends to the brand. Here is another angle. That brand has literally won hundreds to thousands of dollars without spending a dime on advertising for any of the customers who spent the money in question. The promotion chain spread by itself and reached many customers. So the point is that brand advocacy is beneficial and; therefore, significant.
How do you establish brand advocacy in Indonesia?
So, how does a start-up company establish brand advocates? Well, let’s take a closer look at what a brand advocate really is. The brand advocates in the story are actually only clients of the brand. The original brand advocates were probably attracted by some kind of publicity or perhaps a promotional deal. They bought the sneakers, they used them, they liked them, and they recommended them to others. So they wanted a product, what’s new? Many people like certain products, but what distinguishes an advocate from another satisfied customer? Well, obviously they like the brand enough to recommend it to others, but they take the recommendation to another level. Like a salesperson, they actually convince other potential customers that they should buy it and love it! As a satisfied customer, the brand advocate basically guarantees the potential customer their own satisfaction. So, in response to the questions, what is a brand advocate? The answer is a fan of the product, service or brand that encourages others to become customers of the brand.
Find your Indonesian brand advocates
If you know you need brand advocates and what they are, the logical next step would be to find your brand advocates. So, how do you do this as a brand in the sports industry? One surprising method is to create a place for customers to upload photos of their unique sneakers. How does it help to upload the images to find brand advocates? Well, the truth is that people who upload photos obviously like their shoes well enough to spend time decorating them, taking attractive pictures of them and posting them online. So there is already the possibility that these people are already dedicating their time to publicise your brand and that you found them. Many other companies have contests for photos, videos and blogs. The forums also open the channels of communication between you and your customers. All these are excellent ways for your brand to communicate with customers that invite them to share their experiences with your brand. The customers who show a lot of enthusiasm about your brand are the ones you should target as advocates. They have already built excitement about your brand, and all you need is something to maintain their passion, which is much easier to do than creating it from scratch.
You have found your brand advocates, what is next?
Rewarding brand advocates for their loyalty can be as simple as providing exclusive information, exclusive membership or ability to purchase unique products and services. There are several options to follow to encourage your advocates to continue spreading information about your brand. Some companies offer private forums or website features for qualified members. Other similar tactics include providing special codes to obtain exclusive discounts on products and services. Have you ever heard of loyalty rewards cards? Have you ever received a discount on the rent for recommending a new client? Other companies encourage loyal customers to become commission-based representatives. This rewards the brand advocate with monetary compensation or in some cases, with products for a job they were already doing. Many advocates will be happy with any other interaction they have with a brand. Other advocates can get a lot of motivation from the company’s exclusive news, such as news about product development, and be notified first of upcoming company events, etc.
The payout
Would you pay $300 to advertise for a company? That’s what some fan shirts cost. Seeing people walking around with a large logo on the back of their sweatshirt or on the front of their baseball cap, promoting their favourite sports team is a common occurrence. If you ask them about why they love the team, they would answer you with an elaborate speech about how that team is the best in your league. The beautiful thing about most professional sports teams is that they not only get great publicity from their brand advocates, they also do not have to pay a dime for it. In fact, they actually make money with their brand advocates. The fans go to sports games and even come back with more paraphernalia that they bought.
With obvious examples in our daily lives, it is easy to see the importance of brand advocates. Imagine how far the politicians would go without the campaign managers and volunteers in the community. Where would many prominent sports teams be without their fans? Now that you know how to find and encourage the brand advocates of your brand, it is time to take the next step in building the brand through brand advocacy. The great news about this is that brand advocacy is instrumental in Indonesia and works very well in the sports industry.
Top 10 brand advocacy improvers in Indonesia
In Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia took the top spot with a score of 88.9. Next was Traveloka which clinched a score of 80.4. Automotive brands also comprised a large proportion of the rankings, with Toyota in third place with a score of 78.8, Honda (motorcycles) and its car brand coming in at fourth and sixth place. According to YouGov, another brand with heavy emphasis on the consumer – Google – came in fifth with a score of 74.6.
The most improved brand for advocacy in Indonesia was found to be AIA