We’ve talked about the 8 Places to Find Advocates for Your Business, and that’s really  important. We found that a HUGE number of our customers come to us through word of mouth referrals and I’m sure you’re getting a bunch too. So once we do find these people how do we get them talking more about us? We’ve concocted a nice list of 5 things to do now to help those advocates help your business.

1. Create a Fan Club – Formalize an official fan club where you send your fan club “Fans Only” offers or even send them gifts. As frequent customers of Expedia, we once got a great folio  that we can keep our tickets, passports and travel information in, and it’s a big yellow format so we’ll always be able to find it in our clutter.

2. Bring them to Your Shop or Place of Business– Get to know them! Why not have a mixer where you invite them to your work to meet employees that work for you. People want to get to know who they are advocating so it’s important to put faces with names.

3. Early Deals – If you know you will be having a huge sale, why not reach out to your advocates a week or two earlier and give your deals to your VIP’s? I’m told that swanky retailer Gucci puts a sticker with a number on their merchandise. If you are in the “know”, you add a zero to the number which is the discounted price (of course, Gucci right?) and tell the sales associate you’d like to buy it. They sell it to you and keep it in their shop until the real sale is announced. Then you can pick it up.

4. Give them Schwag – Your advocates are going to likely use or better yet wear things with your logo that you give them. So if you got it, send it.

5. Thank Them – When an advocate has said something nice about you, why not send them an email marketing campaign thanking them for what they said. You can even personalize the exact words they published right in your email so that they remember. Sometimes a simple thank you goes a long way.

So once you’ve collected your list of people who are you best supporters, let’s treat them with the respect they deserve for talking favorably about you. Are you doing anything with your advocates?

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