TRANSFORM YOUR CUSTOMER MARKETING Improve engagement, reach, and advocacy with online community

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Customer marketers have a tough job. They’re tasked with keeping customers interested after the initial sales push, opening the door for sales to convince customers to buy more from the company, and finding customers who are happy enough to advocate for the organization.

All of this requires you to be in tune with your customers' needs, which

is a monumental task. The organizations who win at engagement make

those customers feel like next-door neighbors. How can you reach the right

customers when they're spread out across devices, interests, and locations?

CUSTOMER MARKETERS, MEET ONLINE COMMUNITIES

When so much of the world is digital, it should be easy to reach customers,

and online community software makes that a reality. You can bring your

customers together, all in one place online, where they can talk and

exchange ideas. Engagement is its natural outcome. And even more than

that, you can use online community to help, curate, and create.

INTRODUCTION

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HOW CAN AN ONLINE COMMUNITY TRANSFORM THE CUSTOMER MARKETER'S ROLE?

Transformation is a big concept, but online communities can

deliver. They’re a growing channel for customer marketing

teams because they can transform your day-to-day, no matter

the size of your team.

With an online community, customer marketers have a

comprehensive platform to engage customers, with multiple

tools at their disposal, such as:

» Automation rules to encourage participation

» User-generated content promoting upsell opportunities

» Gamification to pique interest and keep interactions both fun

and organic

Customer marketers can use a myriad of online community

tools to get customers more engaged, reach customers for

upsell opportunities, and scale advocacy programs.

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THE MAIN POINT: ONLINE COMMUNITY GIVES CUSTOMERS A PARTICIPATORY WAY TO FIND EXCLUSIVE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES.

Engaged customers should be your team’s goal. These customers are

the ones that will help you achieve marketing goals year over year. If

you look around on the web for ‘customer engagement,’ you’ll find

advice about “how to better engage your customers” or “strategies

you absolutely have to try.” People are talking about engagement

because it’s both very difficult and very rewarding. Engaged customers

are more likely to increase spending, recommend your products or

services to your peers, or even participate in a case study for you.

GET YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE ENGAGEDSO HOW DO WE GET “ENGAGEMENT”?

The foundation of customer engagement is great relationships with

customers. The methods you use to create relationships are entwined

in a few departments, including yours (customer marketing), customer

service, and customer success. Customers might be engaging by

leaving complaints on your Twitter account, which can be useful to

spot and resolve issues, but it's not an ideal way to communicate with

your customers on a personal level. You want a place where meaningful

dialogue can happen between your brand and your customer base.

When customers join your online community, they get access to an

exclusive portal you created to help them be successful, which is a great

start toward building a positive relationship.

Instead of emailing faceless customers, interact with customers in real

time, building meaningful relationships with them as you provide them

with resources they need to succeed. And it’s not just you+customer

relationships that grow. Customer+customer relationships grow as

well, especially with access to a platform that makes it simple to start

discussions and learn from one another.

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THE NITTY-GRITTYEmploy these three tactics to engage customers.

Provide real value to your customers by helping them be

successful with your product or service. They’ve invested in your

stuff, so help them to use it well!

When you use an online community, there are a few things you can

do to encourage customer success through engagement.

SHARE RESOURCESThe opportunities you have in an online community to provide

resources to customers are almost endless. Compiling your resources

in this online space makes the process of finding answers faster and

easier for customers.

HERE ARE A FEW WAYS YOU CAN DO THIS:

File Libraries: One of the simplest things to do is to create a file

library with useful documents that customers request often, including

resources you wouldn’t want to share on your public website.

Webinars: Create webinars exclusively for customers that inform

them about a complicated feature of your product, give them

insight into your shared field, or promote an additional product

they could purchase.

Events: Use your community to promote events where customers

can get to know your staff, learn more about your industry or

product, or network with each other.

Knowledge Base: You probably develop educational resources

for your product – why not develop a space where customers can

access trainings and product information at their own leisure?

Courses: Use a learning management system integration in your

community to offer trainings or courses to your customers.

Classes could range from training on how to be a community

ambassador to extra education in your field.

A customer who is fully engaged represents an average 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth compared with the average customer.

(Source: Gallup, 2014)

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ENCOURAGE ACCESS TO PEERSCommunities are a natural place for customers to connect with

likeminded people. You should expect to see discussions ranging

from questions about best practices for using your product,

networking, to just small talk. The community you set up for

them is likely to become more than just a place to discuss your

product, and be a place where they’ll find friends and make

valuable professional connections.

Whether your department or another will own the community,

make sure someone is responsible for community management.

It’s likely customers will strike up discussions on their own, but if

discussion wanes, you’ll need someone to spark conversation.

ENCOURAGE STAFF PARTICIPATIONEmployees from all sectors at your company should be active in your

online community. Customers get to see the human face of your

organization when they interact with your employees – you’re doing

a little person-to-person marketing, especially if your staff is helpful

and respectful. A company where customers can rub shoulders with

your staff is going to look a lot more collaborative than a company

where customers’ only link to you is a “contact us” page. This direct

channel to your staff will lead customers to be more successful, and

help them feel connected.

Sara Singleton

Any good music suggestions, anyone? I've been struggling to find new, focus-enhancing music to get me through the day. I listen to podcasts on my commute, but I get distracted if I try to listen while working. All suggestions are welcome!

------------------ Sara Singleton Online Community Manager

Jake Barton

Something I've been getting into recently is music with a deep base beat (I guess it's more techno-y stuff). I think that's actually more helpful for focusing than not listening to anything, oddly enough. Check out my focus playlist, lmk what you think!

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THE MAIN POINT: BRING YOUR CUSTOMERS TO YOU WITH ONLINE COMMUNITY.

How do you currently communicate with your customers? Maybe you

send out a weekly newsletter, see them at your tradeshow booth, or do

a webinar once in a while. Whatever methods you use to connect with

them, you probably wish there was a way to make sure they’re really

hearing you. Your communication is key to increasing their business

with you.

With an online community, you have direct access to your customer

base. This is the perfect set-up for customer marketers.

2 EXPAND YOUR CUSTOMER MARKETING REACH

THE NITTY-GRITTY Make use of your customers’ proximity with these two ways to increase upsell.

Since you have a way to easily connect with customers, use the

platform to promote upsell campaigns. Your methods don’t have to be

over-the-top (and probably shouldn’t be): There are natural ways to

create face time for your additional products or services. For example,

you can rely on user-generated content and inbound marketing

methods to increase interest in any additional purchases available to

customers.

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CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR USERS TO HEAR ABOUT UPSELL OPPORTUNITIES

ENCOURAGE USER-GENERATED CONTENT

Create communities within your online community specifically to

promote add-on products and influence purchasing decisions. User-

generated content can work powerfully in your favor, as customers

discuss the pros and cons of additional opportunities, the value

they’ve found, or ways they’re leveraging a product. Customers

appreciate hearing straight from other users who’ve experienced

the product or service already, knowing they’re not getting a sales

pitch. Even if they hear cons, they’ll be informed about what they’re

purchasing. Because customers already know what flaws or pitfalls

they might encounter before they buy, these types of information

exchanges can prevent nasty surprises.

Customers who aren’t actively looking to increase their investment

may stumble across these communities as they browse and read

about the benefits their peers are enjoying from an add-on product.

Again, it’s always convincing to have happy customers praising your

product, so that customers aren’t just hearing it from sales reps.

of global respondents said that recommendations from people they know is the most trustworthy form of advertising.

(Source: Nielsen, 2015)

USE RESOURCES STRATEGICALLY TO PROMOTE UPSELL CAMPAIGNS

Although you’ll want most of your resources to directly support

customer success, you can weave in resources about additional

products or services you’ve got available. Fit these into your customer

success framework by showing how they’ve increased other customers’

success or productivity. The webinars or events you create can

generate interest in additional products across the community.

Try featuring current customers who’ve found success in these webinars.

They’ll add to your user-generated content stash and make your case

more credible.

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GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH THE COMMUNITY

Your community teaches you about your customers. Instead of relying on a couple

surveys or calls with customers, you can read their discussions with others, see what

resources they’re using, or even chat with them yourself. Your online community is

an extensive source of data you can use to tailor your customer marketing efforts.

If you peruse discussions daily, you’ll gain insight into the interests and needs of

customers, which will ultimately teach you to speak their language when you run

upsell campaigns.

INTRODUCE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER OR FEEDBACK PROGRAMS

Using your online community, you can implement a formal or informal voice of the

customer program. Your customers should feel like their opinions matter to you,

and providing them with a place where they can voice concerns or suggest updates

about your product or service will show customers that you do care.

Additionally, their feedback is extremely valuable for your entire organization, especially

if it’s echoed by a large group of customers. Customers offering their feedback can help

sales understand prospects’ desires, and you can use customer feedback to influence

and refine future marketing messaging and drive product improvements.

Customers explaining how they use your product gives your sales team insights in

how to sell it. They’ll be able to discuss the benefits to various types of organization

knowing these different use cases.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SHOWING CUSTOMERS THEY MATTER IN OUR VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER HANDBOOK.

FIND WAYS TO LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

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THE MAIN POINT: ADVOCACY PROGRAMS ARE A NATURAL OUTCOME OF AN ONLINE COMMUNITY.

Companies rely on advocacy from customers but finding customers who are willing to participate can be tiresome and difficult. It’s often hard to know which customers are

happy, which ones are annoyed by your calls, or which customers are eager to share their

story with you.

An online community is the perfect place to develop advocacy programs – you have

access to your customers, incentive mechanisms, and the ability to scale.

The community serves as your window into customers’ attitudes towards your company,

and you can glean information just by perusing discussions and taking note of names. On

an even easier level, you’ve got data on which customers are participating in discussion

and which discussions they’re participating in. You can see how they fill out their profile

or if they even fill it out.

3 EXPAND YOUR CUSTOMER ADVOCACY PROGRAMS

Marketing campaigns featuring paid influencers can be fun and can certainly achieve rapid awareness and reach, but they will never be able to counter the lasting value of an authentic advocate, particularly when it comes to countering criticism or improving the perceived status of your brand or industry.

(Source: Moz, 2017)

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These data points provide insight about where the customers are along the journey. They

may be too new to reach out for a case study, or they might be a repeat buyer who wants

to discuss the benefits of an add-on product. These aspects of the community indicate

who and when you should ask, streamlining the customer advocacy journey.

This data also allows you to personalize your engagement.

You know what your customers’ interests are and how they

like to participate. Reaching out to a customer to ask them if

they’d be willing to write a blog post is easier if you can say,

“I noticed in your recent post that you’re very interested in

X issue,” to show you’re listening to them and want them to

share their expertise. Appealing to their interests increases

the chances they will want to participate.

TYPES OF ADVOCACY PROGRAMS

If you don’t have a formal advocacy program or process, get started with a simple campaign to ask customers to review you on websites like Capterra, Yelp, G2 Crowd, or Google reviews. Here are a few easy campaigns you can run:

» Review campaigns

» Event speakers

» Case studies

» References

» Blog posts

» Product advisory board

THE NITTY-GRITTY Use these three built-in community tools to improve your advocacy.

One of the most natural outcomes of helping your customers be successful are customers

who want to talk about their experience. Your online community has built-in tools you can

use to find and incentivize these willing advocates, at scale.

Establish the types of advocacy opportunities you want customers to participate in, and

then determine the qualities you want each segment of customer advocates to have. Use

the three following tools to segment and incentivize participation.

Advocates spend 2x more than average customers on favorite brands.

(Source: Nielsen, 2015)

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AUTOMATIONAutomation rules within your community allow you to scale your customer advocacy

campaigns, which is one of customer engagement’s biggest challenges.1 If you’re

selecting customers and reaching out manually right now, you can make this process

more efficient through automation.

Gauge customers’ interest in supporting your company by how engaged they are in

your online community. You have data on the customer journey, and then you can

optimize and scale customer advocacy programs to reach out with a message that is

personalized, yet automated.

Instead of having to paw through your data to find willing customer advocates,

automation allows you to target small segments of your community based on what

members have or have not done. For example, you could create automation rules

that send an email to a customer when they’ve posted at least X times on your

community that invites them to write a review for your company.

Save your staff time and grow customer advocacy without having to manually ask every time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AUTOMATION IN OUR EBOOK CREATED WITH FEVERBEE - USING AUTOMATION TO SUPPORT MOTIVATION IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES.

1 https://www.inc.com/sujan-patel/customer-engagement-is-the-new-marketing.html

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GAMIFICATIONGamification is not only a great tool for community managers to

increase engagement, but also a useful way for you to encourage

customers to participate in advocacy programs. You can use

gamification to encourage them to get even more involved in the

community, and from there, become customer advocates.

GIFTS/REWARDS Gifts and rewards, known as extrinsic motivators, can encourage

advocacy and engagement. These types of motivators are useful

for reaching short-term advocacy goals, like when you want

customers to leave you a review.

A word of caution: Use gifts and rewards sparingly. When

these are your only motivators, you’re in danger of making your

relationships with customers purely transactional. Your long-

term goal for your community should be to provide value, and

advocacy should naturally flow from that. Ideally, your advocates

are willing to work on your behalf because they see value in your

brand/product.

Establish tiers for community members who participate a

certain number of times, encouraging them to level up (e.g.

bronze for 30 posts, silver for 45 posts, gold for 60 posts).

Award members badges for certain activities, e.g. answering

unanswered questions, starting new threads, and so on.

Set up a point system for members so they receive recognition

or eligibility for programs once they have a certain number of

engagement points.

Take time to recognize your advocates and MVPs in person, too!

You could bring them up on stage at an event and thank them,

and/or present an award.

IDEAS FOR HOW TO USE GAMIFICATION:

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CONCLUSIONExpand your customer marketing program by employing all the features of an online community. As a customer marketer, an online community is a way to expand your capabilities without having to add extra staff or put in more hours. Your community could be transformational to your day-to-day as you increase customers’ satisfaction and engagement, gain a better understanding of their needs and how to meet them, and encourage customers to become your advocates. Work smarter, not harder!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Who Should Own Your Online Community?

How to Triple Your Customer Advocates in One Week

How to Cultivate Customer Advocates in Your Community

Creating an Advocacy Program from Scratch: QA with Higher Logic's Marketing and Community Teams

The Wikipedia Effect: Why People Volunteer

Automation Rules for Beginners

Marketer’s Guide to Customer Community ROI

How Customer Engagement Increases Customer Sales

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