More than ever, the experiences people have of brands are public.
In this TripAdvisor world where customer feedback is instant and has the ability to be seen far and wide, there is no room for spin.
A bad review is more powerful than ever. (The good news is that a good review is too).
People judge a business based on previous consumer experiences. People judge YOUR business based on how YOUR customer experiences it.
And that's why, if your marketing is going to be successful, it needs to be about real experiences that are authentic and human. You want your advocates to be genuinely excited about your brand...like kids in a sweet shop.
But with more and more brands using paid ambassadors rather than real consumers it’s becoming much tougher to deliver an authentic message. But it is possible.
I want to share some advice on using the power of storytelling to connect with audiences and how this can help elicit genuine endorsement and advocacy from even paid ambassadors.
Here’s my advice on creating powerful and persuasive advocacy videos:
1) Don’t force it. It will come. Presumably your advocates aren’t just in it for the money.
Know what you want them to say but don’t show them. Use the information to guide them to speak in their own words. Never put words into their mouths.
2) Keep product advocacy and the story separate unless the two are genuinely connected. Branded content with product placement is not advocacy it’s product placement. We tried to stop that in the 90’s, remember?
3) Keep the camera rolling, it’s all in the off guard moments that you capture actuality gold.
If you’d like to see some advocacy marketing in action, click below and watch a video we put together during a project we did for Casio.