How Customer Advocacy Can Take Your Online Reviews from Second-Rate to First-
Class
Beyond Expectations
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?
• 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
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
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