2. TABLE
CONTENTS
of
Introduction: What can save B2B content
marketing from itself?
Ideation: Ask advocates to help drive
your content strategy
Creation: Put advocates at the heart
of your stories
Distribution: Extend your brand’s
organic reach with advocates
Validation: Make your brand more
trustworthy with UGC
Recommended resources and next steps
03
07
13
19
25
31
4. 4
The pressure to create increasingly more content at a faster clip has
resulted in a state of ‘content shock’—meaning there’s more content
being published than buyers can ever possibly consume.
Plus, when brands do manage to get content in front of prospects, all they
have to offer is self-referential drivel, and its only goal is to push products.
This would explain why a CMO Council survey found that only 9% of B2B
buyers trusted vendor-created content like white papers.
But there’s one thing people do trust: the raw, unedited opinions of their
peers. According to a Demand Gen Report survey, 97% of B2B buyers say that
user-generated content (UGC), like peer reviews, is more credible than other
types of content. And B2B buyers are scouring social networks, online reviews
and third-party sources (just like they do in their lives as consumers) for
content that will help them make sound purchasing decisions.
Disguising your marketing messages as helpful “how to” articles isn’t going
to cut it anymore. You need a new approach to your content; one where other
people deliver your messages to buyers so it’s trustworthy and authentic.
B2B
brokenis
content marketing
5. 5
Thebestpeopleforthisjob?Your customer advocates.Thispassionategroup
is predisposed to talking about your brand. They’re also eager to share their
knowledge of your product with their peers—your prospects. When you ask
advocates for help and recognize them in meaningful ways, you can produce
more engaging, effective, and trustworthy content—while building stronger
relationships between those advocates and your business at the same time.
The key to doing this is establishing a formal advocate
marketing strategy that empowers customers to generate
content for and with you. Advocate marketing programs
offer advocates exclusive access to resources, networking
opportunities, contests and recognition in exchange
for acts of brand advocacy. By systematizing the way you develop, track and
reward customer advocacy, you’ll inspire your advocates to lend their voices
to your own content and produce valuable UGC on third-party properties you
don’t own.
But rather than telling you how to do this ourselves, we are going to step aside
and let Influitive’s advocates do the talking. They’re the real experts.
The best people
for this job? Your
customer advocates.
5
6. 6
In this eBook, you’ll learn how successful B2B marketers engage their
advocates at every stage of the content creation process—from ideation all the
way to distribution—to:
Uncover engaging content ideas and improve their overall strategy
Save time and resources by getting advocates to create more (and better)
content
Increase the reach and effectiveness of their content through their
advocate’s social networks
Produce valuable user-generated content (UGC) on third-party websites
INSIGHT
Expert
“Advocate marketing multiplies the number and reach of voices talking about
you—at a much lower cost than traditional print and paid online channels. Beyond
quantity, advocate content and interactions are more valuable because buyers see
them as authentic validation, not paid promotion.”
-Laura Ramos, Forrester’s Vice President and Principal Analyst, B2B Customer
Relationships That Last A Lifetime
6
8. 8
Moore
Taylor
“Many brands’ content strategies are heavily based on their value props
and product features. However, when companies don’t go outside their
own four walls when it comes to creating their content, they won’t produce truly
engaging or valuable stories for their prospects and customers.
At TouchBistro, we sell to restaurant owners and managers. Our content team’s
goal is to be the thought leaders in our space. There’s just one problem: no
one on our marketing team has ever owned a restaurant.
That’s why we consult our customer advocates before we start creating content.
Werelyonthemtoknowthatwe’reprovidingtrulyvaluableinsightstoouraudience.
Normally, we’d ask our customer-facing teams for customer insights, or research
what others in the industry are writing about. We’ve also conducted external
market research in the past to gain this knowledge. However, we usually get
a lower response rate than we do from our advocate community. They’re a
passionate group that’s ready and willing to answer our questions quickly.
CONTENT MARKETING
MANAGER TOUCHBISTRO
at
9. 9
Within one or two business days, we can identify and write about relevant topics
that none of our competitors are covering. Without our advocates’ help, we’d
be missing half of the content that we currently create.
Forexample,bypollingouradvocates,welearnedthatthey
were hungry for content about recruiting, training and
retainingstaff.Eventhoughit’snotatopicdirectlyrelatedto
ourproduct,ourstaffingcontenthasbecomesomeofourbest-
performingassets.Sometimes,we’llaskfortheiropinionson
specifictopics,orfortheirbiggestpainpoints,toinspireour
contentcalendar.We’llalsoquicklyaskadvocatestorankour
value propositions for new website
contentortellustheirstories—which
oftenbecomecasestudieslater.
Advocateswanttobeperceivedbytheirpeersasthought
leaders. They also naturally like sharing ideas and
feedback—if they feel you’re listening to them. The best
way to keep them engaged is to close the feedback
loop and let advocates know when their content
contributionsgolive.Seeingtheirnamesandinsights
featuredinyourcontentmakesthemfeelvalued—laying
thefoundationforongoingadvocacylaterinthecontent
creationprocess.(Forthefewadvocatesthatdon’twanttoseetheirnameinlights,
easethemintotheprocessbypresentingtheirideaswithoutdirectlyquotingthem.)
The best way to keep
advocates engaged
is to close the
feedback loop and
let advocates know
when their content
contributions go live.
B2B marketers say their content
strategy is only moderately effective
at achieving marketing goals.
(CMI 2017 B2B Marketing Benchmarks,
Budgets and Trends)
9
“
10. 10
1. Poll advocates to uncover new ideas
and insights before setting your
content calendar
2. Request tips and opinions before
making a bigger content ask
3. Close the feedback loop so advocates
know their insights were used (and
appreciated!)
TAYLOR’S TOP TIPS
INVOLVING ADVOCATES
CONTENT STRATEGIES
for
in your
10
11. 11
OTHER
DO IT
MARKETERS
How
“I’ve asked our advocates what sort of resources would’ve been helpful to them
during the buying process to come up with relevant content for prospects. I’ve
also used an advocate marketing program to collect survey responses, which
was then repurposed into a ‘State of the Industry’ report that was very successful.
Providing your clients with opportunities to demonstrate expertise can
serve the dual purpose of reinforcing your product/service as a skill
and creating unique content that’s better than just general reactions or
ruminations on your space.”
-Pierce Smith, Director of Business Development at Big Orange Lab
“I use the WileyPLUS Studio program to uncover customer stories and generate
new content ideas. For instance, I’ll follow up on Studio members’ insights or
discussion responses with more questions to see if they’d be great contributors to
our blog, podcast, etc.
Good case studies have the same structure as a typical hero story: there’s change,
conflict and a resolution. The interesting part for readers isn’t how a product
saved the day; it’s the human trials between point A and B that resonate. With
our advocate marketing program, I can easily uncover our ‘heroes’ and
collaborate with them to create more emotional stories.”
-Christopher Ruel, Social and Community Marketer for Knowledge and
Learning at Wiley
11
12. 12
Ask for opinions, pain points and insights on their industry/
role to generate content ideas
Get them to vote on or vet story ideas and value propositions
Uncover potential success stories through community
discussions and feedback
Survey them to generate original research
Give them content previews and ask for feedback before
publishing
INSIGHT
Expert
STAGE
ADVOCATE ACTIVITY
IDEATION
checklist:
“We stand to save a boatload of time, effort, and even cash, if we’d only involve
customers in our process. It’s far better to draft something, show someone, get
feedback, and sprint in a better direction than build for 6 months and release
somethingnobodywants.Andratherthanjumprighttotheexpensivetoolsand
research,whynottalktocustomersfor20minutesinamonthandsimplyrespond
towhatyouhear?Itsoundssotriteandsimple,oreven‘notstatisticallysignificant,’
butIpromiseyou,bettercreativityisunlockedwhenyouhaveactualconversation
withactualpeople.”
-Jay Acunzo, NextView VP, Marketing & Creativity Keynote Speaker,
Podcast Host, Writer
12
14. 14
“
Peltz
Chris
Content teams need to stop making all of their content in a vacuum. Creating
all of your content yourself is a huge time and resource investment—and it’s
not the most effective way to reach buyers.
Prospects put more weight on social proof from their peers than they do
anything else. When our customers say, ‘I’ve used this product and I saved X
amount of money or time,’ it lends a lot more credibility to our brand. This is why
advocate-authored content is critical to reach buyers today.
It’salsothereasonweactivelymotivateourcustomerstobecomecontentcreators
forandwithus.Thiscanbeassimpleasrequestingaquoteortestimonialforour
website,tosomethingmoreinvolved,likeaskingthemtowriteentireblogsoreBooks
withus.Thekeyisstartingsmallandnurturingthemtowardbiggerasks.
Before we make a content request, we’ll ask our advocates something easy, like
“Do you want your name in lights? If so, which topics and which formats (e.g.,
blogs, videos, etc.) are you most comfortable with?” Once they’ve expressed an
interest in a topic or medium, we’ll screen further by asking: “If you were to write
about this topic, what best practices would you recommend?”
CUSTOMER SUCCESS OPERATIONS MANAGER
HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE
at
15. 15
Basedonhowsubstantialtheirresponseis,we’lleitherget
themtocontributetoarelatedprojectwe’reworkingon,
orhavethemwriteanentireblogposttoexpandontheir
ideas(orfeaturetheminavideoorwebinar,forexample).
This nurturing strategy has allowed us to publish two
new eBooks with advocate contributors: one on IT
service management best practices that was written
100% by advocates, and another on DevOps that was
written in large part by our ITOM
Insiders advocate community. Our
advocates also write 50% of our
blogs, and we encourage them to
read and comment on other posts to spark a dialogue.
Advocatesmakeyourcontentbetterbecausetheirwordsand
examples add more color and authenticity to your stories.
Just make sure your content requests ask advocates to
share best practices and valuable insights—not just talk
about how much they love your products.
Nine times out of ten, advocates will jump at the chance to build their personal
brand through content creation. But we like to go beyond just featuring them in
our content. We also incentivize them by giving them kudos in front of our entire
advocate community (a little recognition from their peers goes a long way!). The
best part is this strategy can inspire other advocates to participate—which can
help generate more content, even faster, over time.
Nine times out of ten,
advocates will jump
at the chance to build
their personal brand
through content
creation.
of B2B buyers consider case studies
to be the second most valuable
content type they viewed during the
decision-making process. (Third-party/
analyst reports were the most valued at 77%.)
(2016 Content Preferences Survey Report)
15
“
16. 16
1. Figure out what media and topics your
advocates are most passionate about
2. Mix easy content co-creation
opportunities with more involved ones
to appeal to all of your advocate types
3. Formally recognize them in front of
their peers for their contributions so
they feel like stars
CHRIS’ BEST ADVICE
CONTENT
CREATING BETTER
ADVOCATES
for
with your
Learn how HP personally engaged 1,000+ of their advocates to drive content
creation, social amplification, and community engagement.
16
17. 17
OTHER
DO IT
MARKETERS
How
“We involve our advocates in our content as much as possible. For example, we
aim to have at least one advocate a month participate in a webinar. They key
is creating space for advocate content in your calendar. Their stories may
already fit into your calendar, but if they don’t, invest in making a space so you
can strengthen your partnerships with them and take a little risk—it could yield
surprising results!”
-Laura O’Neill, Customer Marketing Associate at Gainsight
“We sent video kits to our top advocates so they could easily film their
own video. Each kit included an explainer about the project, a camera, a
window mount, and starter questions on what they should start to think
about when making the testimonial video. As a result, we generated 30 new
video testimonials to use for different sales and marketing purposes. Make
advocates feel special and make your requests as easy to execute as
possible if you want to boost participation.”
-Kevin Lau, Sr. Marketing Manager, Customer Retention & Advocacy at NetBase
17
18. 18
Get them to submit short quotes or testimonials for content
Ask them to co-write eBooks and success stories in their own
words
Train them to write guest blog posts
Offer to let them star in how-to videos or podcasts
Ask them for questions or content for webinars
Crowdsource tips and insights from them for content round-ups
Allow them to re-write your product page copy or value
propositions in their own words
INSIGHT
Expert
ADVOCATE ACTIVITY
CONTENT CREATION
checklist:
“These are the two biggest challenges in content marketing: creating enough
content (quantity) and creating great content (quality). Content created in
collaboration with your audience addresses both. When you leverage your
audience in the sourcing of topics and creation of content, it helps you hit your
publishing deadlines more easily. And because they lent a hand, you know it’s
relevant. That’s quality.”
-Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder / Strategic Director of Orbit Media Studios,
Speaker, Author
18
21. 21
We are dedicated to making the experience fun. Just a couple of months ago,
we ran an Olympic-themed contest where each social share request was tied to
a sport.Aroundsynchronizedswimming,weaskedour
advocates to ‘Share how you keep in sync with your
database on social.’
To encourage organic conversation, we motivate our
advocates to talk about us in their own words through
a ‘Tweet of the Week’ contest. There, advocates have
the opportunity to share self-authored tweets about MongoDB with our content
team. We pick a favorite at the end of each week and highlight the winner in our
advocate community.
No matter the medium, our advocates organically help spread our reach and
validate our messaging. In fact, their help on social media drove over 50,000 new
visits to our website site in just four months.
True advocates love being a part of your story. If being associated with your
brand increases your advocates’ online profiles, sense of belonging or
industryknowledge,theywillbehappytohelpoutonsocialmedia.(Ifyou’ve
involvedadvocatesinthecontentcreationfromthestart,itshouldbeeveneasier!)
Ioncereadaquotethatsaid,‘Twitterisaplaceforpeopletobebrandsandbrands
to be people.’ I think it’s true on all social media platforms! Your advocates get to
useyourbrandtoboosttheirsocialcapitalwhentheyshareyourcontent—andyour
companyishumanizedwhenadvocatessupportyourmessaging.
True advocates love
being a part of your
story.
21
“
22. 22
1. Find out what drives your advocates
to engage on social media (Is it
knowledge, clout, or networking?)
2. Make it easy and fun for advocates to
share your content
3. Track sharing so you can thank
advocates for their help later
FRANCESCA’S TOP
RECOMMENDATIONS
INCREASING ADVOCATE
for
social sharing
Learn more about MongoDB’s advocate marketing strategy in this episode of the
Inspired Marketing Podcast
22
23. 23
OTHER
DO IT
MARKETERS
How
“We rolled out a ‘Social Ambassadors’ program with employees to grow social
reach and engagement around social content we create using a well-established
hashtag in our industry called #GivingTuesday. We hand-picked 50 employees
across departments and invited them to an educational meeting on social media
best practices. By mobilizing both our customer and employee advocates,
we saw a 101% increase YOY in favorites on Twitter and a 57% increase in
retweets of @Blackbaud on Twitter.”
-Michael Beahm, Senior Marketing Manager at Blackbaud
“We share Genesys news and content along with industry news to keep
our advocates informed and help them position themselves as customer
experiencethought-leaderswithintheirsocialnetworks.Furthermore,we
promotean‘AdvocateoftheMonth,’andshareitacrossoursocialchannelstoshow
ourappreciationfortheirefforts.Otheradvocatesareenticedtobefeatured,which
propagatestheadvocacychain.”
-Nicole Granucci, Head of Global Customer Marketing at Genesys
23
24. 24
Ask them to follow and promote your social handles
Ask them to share your content on social media
Run campaigns or contests to generate discussion around your
brand
Point them to blogs of yours they may want to comment on
Curate shareable content lists for and with them
INSIGHT
Expert
ADVOCATE ACTIVITY
CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
checklist:
“The social web has made it possible for any voice to be heard...to be truly
heard you have to be authentic. You have no choice but to be authentic to be
successful long-term. If not, you will be discovered, you will be exposed, and
you will be derided.”
-Hank Barnes, Research Vice President at Gartner
24
26. 26
“
wilfrid
Davin
If you’re already finding success with advocate-created content, you may not
see the point in encouraging your advocates to write comments, reviews
or testimonials on third-party websites you don’t own.
Butyoucan’tcontrolabuyer’sjourneyanymorethanyoucancontroltheweather.
Buyers want to hear from people with the same needs and fears they have. And
they’regoingtoseekoutthisinformationontheirtermsandintheplacestheyliketo
visit,likeindustryforumsorprivatesocialnetworks—allplacesyourbrand(likely)
isn’t welcome. That’s why we rely on user-generated content (UGC) to drive
positivewordofmouthforourbrand—especiallywhereitisn’tappropriatefor
ustostepinanddoit.
Nomatterwhereacustomerisinthesalescycle,user-generatedcontentcanhelpto
move them forward. Getting your customers to do media interviews or leave
commentsonrelevantblogshelpsbuildtopoffunnelbrandawareness.Positiveuser
reviewshelpyourtargetbuyersfindandvalidateyoursolutionduringtheresearch
phase.Publiccommunitydiscussionsanswerquestionsandspeedupthedecision-
makingprocess.
YoumaythinkUGCisoutofyourcontrol.Butyourteamcaninfluenceit;youjust
needtoempowerandinspireyouradvocatesfirst.
SENIOR
MANAGER
MARKETING
QUICKBASE, INC.at
27. 27
At QuickBase, we do this by engaging with our advocates on a daily basis in
meaningfulways,likesharingasneakpeekatproductswe’reworkingonordelivering
contentthatmakestheirjobseasier.Thisconstantcommunicationmakesiteasyto
askouradvocatesforareview,ortakeonaPRrequest,whenevertheneedarises.
Nurturing our advocates has helped us generate more than
300 reviews across technology review websites—which
made us the top-ranked solution in our product category
on G2 Crowd and IT Central Station. We’ve also quickly
sourced customers to participate in media interviews,
combat competitor’s claims in blog comments on third-
party websites, and answer questions on Quora, Reddit,
StackOverflowandotherproperties.There’snotellinghow
far an advocate who believes in your product will go to be
a champion for your brand.
It’s important to position your requests based on your
advocates’ motivations. Many advocates simply want to help
their peers succeed. Presenting opportunities to generate content for your brand
asawaytocontributetothelargercommunitywillappealtothemthemost.Other
advocates want to expand their professional influence, so positioning your ask as
a chance to showcase their expertise and increase clout will work better.
Makesureyourecognizeadvocatesinwaysthataremeaningfultothem.Somewill
appreciate a plug in your content or a speaking slot at a conference, while others
willbesatisfiedwithagestureofgratitude,likeathankyoucardorVIPtreatment
at your next event. In all cases, it’s your job to understand what motivates your
advocates,andtobuildprogramsaroundthat.Itcouldinspireyouradvocatestogo
outandcreateUGCforyourbrandallontheirown.
of B2B buyers say peer reviews were
important for narrowing down
vendors later in the buying process.
(2015 B2B Buyer’s Survey Report)
27
“
28. 28
DAVIN’S TOP INSIGHTS
ADVOCATES
CREATE MORE UGC
INSPIRINGfor
to
1. Give advocates something of value
before asking for favors—think
educational tips or helpful resources
2. Present opportunities as a chance to
help others or grow social capital
3. Surround advocates with your
messaging so they incorporate it into
any UGC they create
Learn Davin’s methods for motivating advocates to write hundreds of high-
quality reviews.
28
29. 29
OTHER
DO IT
MARKETERS
How
“I frequently get requests from editors looking for a customer that does X, Y or
Z. Before we had an advocate marketing platform with Influitive, I would have
to reach out to my sales reps to find out if we have any customers for the editor to
speak with. Now, I have our customers together in one place where I can
put an ask out to all of them at once and get multiple responses quickly
(typically within hours), ultimately saving me lots of time and getting me
exactly what I need to meet my deadline.”
-Jenni Adair, Director of Corporate Communications and Customer Advocacy
at Aerohive Networks
“I encourage our advocates to share their knowledge on relevant discussions
about our space and product on public, third-party communities, like
StackOverflow. Giving them opportunities to grow their profile outside of our
advocate community has lead to a 284% increase in answers to questions about
MuleSoft on StackOverflow. Sometimes your best advocates aren’t your
most knowledgeable, social, or even known ones; they might just be one
your fans waiting to be empowered.”
-Mike Stowe, Developer Relations Manager at MuleSoft Inc.
29
30. 30
Ask advocates to write genuine reviews on third-party websites
Point them to relevant discussions on forums, such Quora,
Reddit, etc.
Ask them to combat competitor claims on third-party content
Create a pool of volunteers for media, PR and analyst requests
Challenge them to post original content about your brand on
UGC content sites like Medium, YouTube, etc.
INSIGHT
Expert
ADVOCATE ACTIVITY
THIRD-PARTY UGC
checklist:
“Involving customers in content creation naturally shifts the focus from your
companyandproductstowhatyourproductssolveandenableforyourcustomers.
Thinkbeyondusecasesfeaturingyourproduct.What’sanissueyourcustomersare
passionate about that complements what your products do? Can you collaborate
with them to produce a content asset that shines the spotlight on them? Help them
buildtheirbrands,alongwithyours.”
-Ardath Albee, B2B marketing strategist, speaker and author
30
31. 31
Next
steps
Now that your fellow marketers have explained how to put advocates at the
heart of your content strategy, it’s time to learn how to start an advocate
marketing program so you can scale the process.
1. Find your advocates. Scour your NPS surveys for promoters,
your reference program, and ask your customer success team for
outstanding customers who could be potential advocates.
2. Invite them to a special space where they can connect with each
other and have access to exclusive resources and perks. You have to
give value before asking for favors from your advocates.
3. Give advocates a variety of ways to help your brand. Starting with
smaller asks will also nurture them towards bigger ones. Offer them
meaningful forms of recognition—here’s a list of ideas.
4. Track and share the influence advocates have on your departmental
goals with your entire company. When every team sees the power of
advocacy, they’ll want to be involved—which will improve the value
your program can give to your advocates.
31
32. 32
Recommended resources
The Messenger Is The Message: Content Marketing In
The Era Of The Social Web
How user-generated content can save content marketing - a short primer for
marketing executives
The Advocate Marketing Playbook
Theultimate,step-by-stepguidetobuildingasuccessfuladvocatemarketingprogram
Influitive EDGE certification
Develop your advocate marketing skills with advice-rich, online courses
33. 33
Amplify your customers’ voices
with Influitive’s advocate
marketing platform.
4.6 / 5
4.69 / 5
4.9 / 5
Createpowerful,advocate-generatedcontentthat
resonateswithbuyersandincreasesyourbrand’sreach
www.influitive.com
Contact Us
