How do you nurture and reward your existing advocates to keep them motivated and satisfied?

1 Recognize your advocates

One of the simplest and most effective ways to nurture your advocates is to recognize them for their efforts and contributions. This can be done in various ways, such as sending them a thank-you note, featuring them on your website or social media, inviting them to exclusive events or webinars, or giving them a shout-out in your newsletter or podcast. Recognition shows your appreciation and respect for your advocates, and makes them feel valued and special.

2 Solicit feedback from your advocates

Another way to nurture your advocates is to solicit feedback from them on a regular basis. This can help you understand their needs, preferences, challenges, and suggestions, and improve your products, services, and customer experience accordingly. Feedback can also help you identify your most engaged and satisfied advocates, and segment them for further nurturing and rewarding. You can solicit feedback from your advocates through surveys, polls, interviews, reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content.

3 Incentivize your advocates

While recognition and feedback are important, they may not be enough to keep your advocates motivated and satisfied in the long run. That's why you should also consider incentivizing your advocates with rewards that are relevant, valuable, and appealing to them. Rewards can be monetary, such as discounts, coupons, cash-backs, or gift cards, or non-monetary, such as points, badges, free trials, upgrades, or access to premium features or content. Rewards can also be tailored to your advocates' interests, goals, or personalities, to make them more personalized and meaningful.

4 Experiment with different types of rewards

To keep your rewards program fresh and exciting, you should experiment with different types of rewards and see what works best for your advocates and your business. For example, you can try gamifying your rewards program by adding elements of fun, competition, and achievement, such as leaderboards, levels, missions, or challenges. You can also try creating a referral tier system, where your advocates can unlock higher rewards as they refer more customers or achieve certain milestones.

5 Track and measure your rewards program

To ensure that your rewards program is effective and efficient, you should track and measure its performance and impact on your business goals and metrics. For example, you can track how many referrals your advocates generate, how many of them convert into customers, how much revenue they bring in, and how loyal and satisfied they are. You can also measure the return on investment (ROI) of your rewards program by comparing the cost of rewards with the value of referrals. Tracking and measuring your rewards program can help you optimize it and make it more appealing and rewarding for your advocates.

6 Communicate with your advocates

Finally, one of the most important ways to nurture and reward your advocates is to communicate with them regularly and consistently. Communication can help you build trust, rapport, and loyalty with your advocates, and keep them informed, engaged, and inspired. You can communicate with your advocates through various channels, such as email, social media, SMS, chat, or phone, and use different types of messages, such as updates, reminders, tips, stories, or invitations. Communication can also help you reinforce your brand values, mission, and vision, and show your advocates how they are making a difference by referring your business.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?