Advocamp: Bob Peterson

The New Demand Imperative: Customer-Created Content

Advocamp 2016

3/8/16 2

© 2015 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved 3

Key Trends Driving Advocacy’s Impact on Demand

1 2 3 4Customer experience is the largest driver of buying decisions but its impact is often ignored by demand marketers

Demonstrating advocacy’s impact on demand performance justifies future investments

Marketers need to know when to ask for advocacy participation at what stage of the customer lifecycle

More strategic deployment of advocacy supports both the buyer’s journey and customer lifecycle


Customer Experience Is The Key Driver of B-to-B Decisions

+

B-to-B Buying Decision Drivers From 2015 SiriusDecisions Study of 1,005 Decision MakersQuestion: What was most significant driver of decision to select vendor of choice?

Dire

ct 34% Previous experience with the company8% Implementation of customer support services were the best7% Relationship with salesperson

10% Influence of references sourced independently8% Influence of references provided by vendor4% Perception of brand with no previous experienceIn

dire

ct

71% of b-to-b decision drivers are based on direct or indirect customer experience

vs. 18% of decision based on promise of offering to meet needs

vs. 9% of decision based on the price was the best

=

Key Trends That Tie Customer Advocacy to Demand

Percent of CXOs say their perception of a vendor’s brand moderately to significantly influences their short-list creation

Percent of a CXO’s final decision is based on their own or others’ experience with your company

Percent of a CXO’s research is done via personal interactions and viral communication networks

8980

75

Demand Impact Supported By Customer Advocacy

6

Help sales close more dealse.g. Increased probability of

conversion through pipeline, more deals in

key categories

Move deals faster through the

pipelinee.g. Shorter time to

qualify, fewer days to close overall, fewer

days in stage

Drive larger dealsFind the right

dealse.g. Incremental revenue, wider

product/solution breadth in deals, Find

deals in preferred areas


Build Dashboards to Reflect Advocacy’s Contributions

Quantity

Impact

LeadsRetention

Loyalty

Account Management

58% on Quantity of Case Studies53% on Quantity of References

47% on Impact on Wins36% on Impact on Sales Productivity

22% on Leads Generated16% on Customer Retention13% on Customer Loyalty/NPS

1

2

3

Source: SiriusDecisions 2015 Customer Advocacy and Engagement Study

Holding Us Back: We Don’t Know Enough About Buyers


Only 18 percent said they know their buyers journey extremely well, map it and know the roles involved

9

Opportunity: Advocacy That Supports All Stages of Buying

© 2013 SiriusDecisions. All Rights Reserved

33 percent said they believe customers frequently rely on advocacy/references in the education (early) phase vs. 55 percent in solution (mid) and 76 percent in selection (late) phases

23 percent don’t focus at all on advocacy support for education (early) phase.

Customer Advocacy Content: Buyer’s Journey

10

• Logo reference (online, presentation, print)

• Advertising reference (print, online, other)

• Quote reference (online, audio, presentation, print, social media)

• Success story (online, audio, video, live presentation, newsletter, print)

• Press release quote

• Customer co-marketing• Social community participation• Webcast with client co-presenter• Analyst rating participation

• “Why we chose ABC Co.” story• Switching vendors case study• White paper or other long-form

case study based on client success

• Press/influencer interview• Reference audio/video

• Speaking engagement (panel)• Speaking engagement (joint or

solo content)• Event presentation• Social participation

• ROI case study• Early-stage customer experience

story• Joint press release• Partner reference (call, video,

visit, presentation, online, print)

• Reference call access• Reference visit access• Analyst reference/interviews• Customer event participation• Social participation• Event/hospitality access

EDUCATION SOLUTION SELECTIONLoosening of

the status quo

Committing to change

Exploring possible solutions

Committing to a solution

Justifying the decision

Committing to the

selection

Advo

cacy

Opt

ions Co

nten

tIn

tera

ctio

nsBu

yer’

s Jo

urne y

Customer Advocacy Content: Customer Lifecycle

11

FAQs, Tips and TricksEarly deployment stories

Quick win storiesPartner

recommendations

Customer community User Groups

Customer website areas

Answers to FAQs from successful customersLater-stage customer

stories

Customer survey Customer events

Community introductions

Longer-term ROI Case Study

Challenge/solution StoriesAnalyst coverage

Executive briefingsCustomer events

Executive advisory groupsOther advisory groups

DELIVER DEVELOP RETAINFulfill on

Purchase/Use What was Bought

Ensure Adoption, Ongoing Use/ Engage

Where PossibleMaintain

Business/Show ValueBuild

Business/Become promoter

Advo

cacy

Opt

ions Co

nten

tIn

tera

ctio

nsLi

fecy

cle

Stag

e

Innovation case studiesAward case studyROI case study

Speaking engagementEvent/hospitality accessCommunity leadership

rolesExternal community

participation/leadership

GROW


How to Get More From Your Advocacy Program

Understand your buyers journey and where advocacy can help

Understand your customer lifecycle and when it’s ok to ask for advocacy support

Understand your customer lifecycle and define where advocacy should be providing support

Define a measurement strategy that clearly shows how important customer advocacy and engagement are to business results

Make a great case for the resources you need to make an even bigger impact


Marketing

Advocamp: Bob Peterson