The four advocate personality types for brands
What is a person’s motivation to spruik for a brand? According to a study conducted by Laura Ramos from Forrester a person’s (advocate’s) motivation to spruik for a brand falls into one of these four group personalities:
- Educators
Like to share knowledge, tips and tricks. Are outgoing, enthusiastic and always enjoy helping people. - Validators
Are fair, balanced, credible people that are well spoken. Are also willing to go ‘on the record’. - Status Seekers
Ambitious but honest people who are excellent public speakers. They have an extensive network and are looking for the next step in their career. - Collaborators
Are dedicated people who are influential and focused on a long term strategy.
If you were an advocate for a brand and were to present at an event, which of the following would you be most interested in participating in?
Educators
The opportunity to educate others on the brand.
Validators
The opportunity to serve as a reference for the brand to potential buyers.
Status Seekers
The opportunity to give a presentation on a relevant topic of your choosing.
Collaborators
The opportunity to participate in a small, closed door discussion about how to improve the brand.
Customer advocacy is driven by motivations to help and grow themselves, whilst helping brands they advocate for step ahead. But understanding an advocate’s motivation and what form of recognition/reward they would value most is important. A study concluded the following:
Individual personality traits:
Educators would value most a thank you letter as their reward.
Validators would value most a small gift or cash incentive as their reward.
Status Seekers would value most helpful content as their reward.
Collaborators would value most access to new products as their reward.
In total, a small gift or cash incentive rated highly. However, above all, when it comes to advocacy, a brand’s value and benefits have to resonate with its customer.
How do you view and recognise your customer advocates?