Struggling to scale your marketing without scaling your budget?
Here’s a secret: your most effective growth channel might already be in your corner—they’re your brand advocates. And when activated strategically, they’re more powerful than any ad campaign.

This guide will show you how to identify, cultivate, and leverage brand advocates to drive growth with unmatched authenticity and impact. Whether you're building a community from scratch or amplifying an existing movement, this post provides the structure, tactics, and insights to do it effectively.

What Is Brand Advocacy?

Brand advocacy is when customers, employees, or partners voluntarily promote your brand because they believe in it. It’s not paid. It’s not transactional. It’s personal.

Think of a friend who can’t stop talking about their favorite coffee shop, or a customer who shows off your product in their Instagram story. That’s brand advocacy in action. It allows your brand story to be carried forward organically, amplifying your impact through voices that consumers already trust.

The Value of Brand Advocates

Let’s look at why brand advocates matter more than ever: 

‍Pro Tip: Track metrics tied to advocacy, like referral volume and retention rates, to measure their tangible impact on your business.

Types of Brand Advocacy

Brand advocates come in many forms, each playing a distinct role in your brand ecosystem.

“The best marketing is done by your customers.”

— Jay Baer, customer experience strategist and author 

Brand Advocate vs. Brand Ambassador

These roles can overlap, but are fundamentally different in structure and perception:

‍Pro Tip: Use brand ambassadors for structured visibility, but build your marketing flywheel on the back of organic advocacy.

How to Identify Brand Advocates

Finding your advocates starts with listening. Look for behavioral signals like:

• High NPS Scores: Promoters are statistically more likely to advocate.
• Repeat Purchases: Loyalty is the first step to advocacy.
• Social Engagement: Mentions, tags, and shares are key indicators.
• Referral Activity: Organic referrals speak volumes.
• UGC Creation: Customers who post about you are primed for engagement.

Strategies to Cultivate and Empower Advocates

Brand advocacy must be nurtured, not engineered. Use these strategies:

1. Deliver “Wow” Moments

Every exceptional experience fuels advocacy. Consider:

• Surprise thank-you gifts
• Quick, helpful customer service
• Personalized check-in emails
• Unexpected upgrades or bonuses

2. Build Community

Humans crave belonging. Create:

• Private Facebook or Slack groups
• VIP access to launches
• Customer-led events or meetups

3. Recognize Contributions

Make your fans feel famous:

• Feature them in your newsletter
• Share their UGC on your social feeds
• Offer limited-edition merchandise

4. Co-Create with Customers

Invite advocates into the process:

• Beta test new products
• Participate in customer advisory boards
• Co-author blog content or case studies

5. Reward without Diluting Trust

Offer:

• Early access
• Exclusive insights
• Branded swag (when earned, not promised)

How to Leverage Advocacy in Marketing

Brand advocates bring your marketing to life. Here are the highest-impact tactics:

‍Pro Tip: Create a toolkit with shareable assets (images, links, hashtags) to make advocating effortless.

Measuring the Impact of Advocacy

Quantify your advocacy program with hard and soft metrics:

Pro tip: Combine qualitative feedback (testimonials, reviews) with quantitative metrics to get a full picture.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Advocacy isn’t always easy. One common pitfall is inauthentic advocacy—when brands push people too hard to promote them, the message starts to feel scripted. The solution is to let advocacy emerge naturally and celebrate genuine stories over manufactured ones.

Another challenge is siloed ownership. If your marketing, sales, and customer support teams aren’t aligned, opportunities to empower advocates get lost. Advocacy works best when it’s a shared responsibility.

Internal advocates are also often overlooked. Employees can be powerful voices, but they need encouragement and permission to share. Providing clear guidelines and simple branded assets can make a big difference.

Lastly, there’s the problem of follow-through. It’s not enough to collect praise or user-generated content—you need to respond, share, and acknowledge it. Closing the loop shows advocates that their voices matter.

Pro Tip: Assign an internal "Advocate Manager"—someone who’s responsible for nurturing, tracking, and celebrating advocacy across all touchpoints.

Trends and Future Outlook

A few trends are shaping the future of brand advocacy. First, micro-advocates are becoming more influential than celebrity endorsers. Small, loyal audiences engage more deeply and drive better results.

Second, AI is making it easier to identify potential advocates. Platforms can now analyze behavior and sentiment at scale, enabling brands to identify their most passionate supporters in real-time.

Third, employee advocacy is gaining importance. As remote and hybrid work continues, employees become visible representatives of brand culture. Encouraging their participation strengthens both internal alignment and external perception.

Finally, advocacy is increasingly values-driven. Customers want to support brands that stand for something meaningful. Whether it’s sustainability, diversity, or social impact, clear values attract aligned advocates who help carry your message further.

Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Brand advocacy excels when people care about what you do and feel proud to share it. That kind of support begins with how you present yourself.

Look at who’s already talking about your brand. Support them. Build real relationships, not just transactions. Give people stories and tools they want to share—and make it easy. Track what works, adjust when needed, and keep showing up with consistency and care.

Great brands don't speak the loudest—they're spoken about the most.

Curious where your brand truly stands?

Take the Backstory Brand Assessment to determine which aspects of your brand are defined, being defined or not yet defined. Upon completion, you'll receive a color-coded wheel showing how ready your brand is to scale.