Build your own brand advocates

Monday’s Promotion Idea for graphic designers

Brand advocates is a concept I just learned about, but does make a lot of sense. We always hear that in marketing, word-of-mouth is key. Well, this is taking it one step further.

Brand advocates are people who recommend your products, services, and companies to their family and friends. These are your raving fans that do the promotion for you — because they like you so much. They will tell everyone how much they love your products / services.

One form of this is in Flickr groups and YouTube. People will post pictures of their latest obsessions or make a video. Heck, some YouTube videos quickly go viral.

It’s all about building a buzz and anticipation for your product or service.

In order to build buzz there are a few things you can do:

1. Create something memorable and funny
2. Offer something that your audience would need (ie. fill a void)
3. Post regularly so that you build anticipation for the next thing you are going to come out with.

So, how can you turn your audience into raving fans for your products and services:

1. Widgets or phone apps: Create a widget or a phone application especially for your target audience. We’ve seen success as even a 10 year old created an application for the iphone that went viral.
2. Newsletters: Newsletters were one of the first things that people used to stay in touch with people and capture their names and email addresses. It’s still a viable model as witnessed by the e-zine queen’s success.
3. Blog: A blog is an easy way of adding personality and building a fan following. If you are posting on subjects that are valuable to your audience and on a regular basis, people will tune in.
4. Videos: Everyone these days is into videos. They search for them on websites and on YouTube. Create a video or a series of videos on a catchy topic.
5. Podcast (audio / video): Many companies or people with huge followings have podcasts. Some have video podcasts (such as GeekBrief.tv) and others have audio podcasts (the Dawn & Drew show come to mind). The key is consistency and keep a schedule.
6. Web shows: These are quite popular nowadays since the cost is no longer prohibitive, but you can host your own show on the web. Again, as you see in normal tv shows, it helps if you maintain a schedule for these and put one out regularly.
   
7. Facebook: Start a group on your subject and link your blog or any other material found online.
8. Twitter: This literally can grow viral. Start a Twitter account and then put in updates of what you’ve worked on, blog posts, etc… Watch your list grow as people join in and retweet your posts.

T A K E A W A Y S :

The easiest way to build buzz is to become known as an “expert” in your field. A second way is to dial into the pulse of your audience and offer them the content that they are looking for.

Have you noticed a lack of something in particular in your field? Then offer a solution to fill that void!

Related posts:

1. Components of your brand (What you should brand)
2. How important is your brand?
3. Should you have a brand?
4. Extend your brand to your emails
5. Elements of a good brand (Have you got the look?)