Angela Higgins - How Customer Advocacy Can Take Your Online Reviews from Second-Rate to First-Class

How Customer Advocacy Can Take Your Online Reviews from Second-Rate to First-

Class

Beyond Expectations

Business is always personal.

A lifetime of memories…

…continuing a tradition.

Even big business is personal.

• Human experiences are what sets companies apart• Engagement/advocacy goes beyond the brand relationship• Companies can overcome the cold “virtual” relationship• Engagement and advocacy can help you cut through the noise

Who is Code42?

• Founded in 2001, HQ in Minneapolis, MN

• 430+ employees• Global, enterprise SaaS company• Protect data on employee laptops and

desktops• More than 37,000 business customers,

including HBO, Adobe, Salesforce, MIT, Stanford University, National Geographic, etc.

• Poised for engagement/advocacy success

The dark ages

Resulted in: • Slow, manual process with many

disparate spreadsheets• Unenthusiastic sales people• Customers without an avenue for

advocacy• Lackluster case studies• Frequent fliers

Securing customer references for sales and marketing activities was a struggle.

Reviews, please

The B2B tech buyer:• Skeptical • Suspicious of marketing, trusts

peers• Likes to share opinions and

expertise• Often cannot publicly endorse a

product

60% of tech buyers look for reviews during the buying process. Reviews allow customers to be honest Reviews help companies overcome the testimonial problem

Customer Validation• Case studies/testimonials/logo usage• Customer bylines/PR placements• TechValidate—customer data points, identify potential

evangelists

Customer Engagement• Code42 AdvocateHub (Influitive platform) • Code42 global user groups• Customer Advisory Council • Communications—newsletter, release/maintenance

notifications, nurturing programs

Launching our engagement/advocacy program

To highlight the quality and breadth of Code42 customer base

To keep current customers connected and engaged with Code42

Who are the Code42 advocates?

Who are the Code42 advocates?

• IT manager, sys admin, desktop manager• Enterprise or mid-market account• Technical contact at organization• Happy CrashPlan user• Participated, or has shown interest in, engagement

activities with Code42

Want reviews? Just ask!

Implemented a customer engagement platform to create a community engaged advocates• Allow us to use gamification to make it fun

and to keep them coming back• Issued challenges to advocates, pointing

them to review opportunities online• Gave them points for their reviews, which

they could redeem for gift cards, Code42 swag, etc.

• Keep the ask simple – don’t lead advocates or tell them what to say

Spiceworks: 69 reviews

G2 Crowd: 47 reviews

IT Central Station: 20 reviews

Glowing reviews for days

Engagement/advocacy program results

AdvocateHub stats after 1 year: • 262 advocates from 178 companies• Over 10,000 challenges completed• 136 online reviews completed• 443 referrals submitted• 2,291 tweets sharing Code42 content• Customer contributions to blog posts, presentations, news releases, bylines, etc.

Engagement/advocacy program results

Tech Validate• Three surveys completed, 2,439 respondents• 522 reference volunteers identified• 244 TechFacts, 19 charts, 354 case studies, 12 portals created

Beyond the numbers

Beyond the numbers

Benefits we didn’t expect:

•Increased visibility in our organization

•Content/testimonials/challenges from our engagement programs have been used in executive presentations, highlighted to the entire company and featured online

•An army to mobilize to combat online trolling or genuine questions

•Additional headcount for the advocacy/engagement team

•Personal career growth!

“It’s possibly the best example I’ve seen of a company engagement with its customers in a way that is informative, fun and rewarding for all parties involved.”

– Jim, Code42 Advocate

Beyond expectations