Customer Advocates Are Everywhere—You Just Have to Know Where to Look

It’s a common issue for many organizations—leaning on the same handful of enthusiastic customer advocates time and again. They’re reliable, they’ve helped tell your story before, and you know they’ll do a great job.

But over time, you risk burning them out. And once that happens, it’s hard to recover. Worse still, you may overlook fresh voices and new perspectives. The truth is, some of your best advocates are probably hiding in places you’re not even looking. Whether they’re quietly delivering results or haven’t yet had the chance to speak up, it’s time to dig a little deeper and find those untapped champions.

Clarify your customer advocate roles

Before you start searching for customer advocates, you need to define exactly what you want them to do. Not everyone is excited about being in the spotlight or giving product testimonials. Some might prefer sharing feedback behind the scenes, while others might love leading user groups or helping with beta testing. It’s important to lay out a range of ways people can get involved.

Need some ideas to get started? Our webinar with Dana Alvarenga, vice president of CX at SlapFive, and Heather Wendt, community strategist at Higher Logic Vanilla and community manager at Gain Grow Retain, covers how to create a customer advocacy program from the ground up. They walk through the different types of micro-programs—like cohort meetups, speaker opportunities, and product feedback sessions—you can use to build out your program.

Identify your customer advocate pools

One of the easiest ways to find potential advocates is by looking at customer satisfaction. No surprise there. But what might be unexpected is where some of your best advocates can come from.

Start with your “satisfied” customers—those who have already expressed positive feelings about your brand or products. They’re engaged, happy, and have likely shown their support publicly. This group should be your first target because they’re already doing many of the things you’d want from an advocate. Why not formalize that relationship and make it more strategic?

On the flip side, steer clear of “unsatisfied” customers. They’ve had a negative experience, and while your customer success team should work to fix that, these aren’t the people you want in an advocacy program…yet.

Then there’s the “neutral” group, which makes up most of your customer base. This bunch holds a lot of untapped potential. You’ll find customers here who are likely satisfied but haven’t gone out of their way to share it. Your job is to find the most satisfied customers within this group and see if they’re open to becoming advocates.

Now that you know your core advocate groups, it’s time to dive deeper into how to spot them. We’ll start with satisfied customers and then explore the hidden opportunity in neutral customers.

Find your satisfied customers

There are a few straightforward ways to spot your satisfied customers. Here’s where to start:

• Scan review sites for positive feedback: Whether you’re B2B or B2C, your business is likely listed on review sites. For B2B, look at G2, Capterra, or TrustRadius. For B2C, check places like Google reviews, Amazon, Yelp, or the Better Business Bureau. Focus on those leaving 4- or 5-star reviews and reach out via the email they’ve listed.
• Check your social followers: Another easy way to find potential advocates is by looking at who follows your brand on social media. These are people who’ve already shown interest. Also, keep an eye out for those who’ve shared your content.
• Look in your community: Some of your best advocates may not be the most active in the community, but they’ve created valuable content like articles or blogs that touch on your product or brand. Before reaching out, make sure to read their work.
• Talk to your customer success team: CSMs have close relationships with your customers and can point you toward those who’ve had positive experiences and found success with your product. These are the people who are more likely to say “yes” to joining your advocacy program.

Uncover your neutral customers

Identifying advocates in the neutral group can be tricky because you’re essentially starting from scratch. The quickest way to find those with potential is to just ask.

• Survey your customers: Keep it simple. Send a one-question email survey asking, “How likely are you to recommend our products or services to friends and colleagues?” This is a classic NPS question, and anyone who scores you a 9 or 10 has potential to be an advocate.
• Poll your community: Your community can be a goldmine for advocates, even if they haven’t been very vocal. Use a poll or survey with the same NPS question. If your community platform has a poll feature, that’s probably the easiest way to ask. Enable comments to get some qualitative feedback too. Again, focus on those giving you a 9 or 10—they’re the most likely candidates.

You might be surprised by how many potential advocates are sitting in that neutral group. Many of your biggest supporters may be quietly loving your product without ever speaking up. Often, all they need is an invitation to get involved.

Consider an open call

Looking for a broader approach? By extending an open invitation, you can engage a wider range of customers who may be eager to contribute but haven’t had the opportunity to do so.

During our webinar, Heather shared seeing this firsthand: “When I joined a new company, I didn’t know the audience well, but I had to launch a community within my first two months. As a team of one, I needed help getting it off the ground. So, I sent out an email asking if customers wanted to join a beta community. To my surprise, 400 people responded, and 150 joined. I structured it with weekly tasks and point-based rewards. The response was overwhelming—it just took asking.”

Heather used the same approach at Gain Grow Retain, a customer success community she now manages: “I’m still a team of one, and it’s not my only job, so I needed help driving engagement. I had people in mind that I thought would be a good fit. But it wasn’t enough. I sent an email asking if anyone wanted to volunteer. I got 75 responses, and 35 people joined the program. Some of them were brand new to the community, but they dove in and became amazing contributors.”

Heather’s takeaway: “Don’t just go for the obvious, and don’t be afraid to ask. I promise you, there are a lot of people out there that want to help.”

Why every advocate doesn’t need to be your ideal customer

A common mistake in advocacy programs is aiming for perfection—thinking you need only super users to tell your story. When what you really need is a diverse range of voices. It’s perfectly fine to showcase customer stories, even if they’re not picture-perfect, as Heather points out. Your advocates don’t have to be superstars with flawless product usage. They can be everyday users who are getting the job done and using your product effectively, even if it’s not shiny. A larger pool means more perspectives, which is exactly what you want when it comes to references.

Dana adds that it doesn’t always have to be about the big-name logos either. Sure, they’re impressive to leadership, but educating your execs on the value of smaller or mid-sized customers can shift the focus. These companies often have more flexibility and fewer legal hurdles, allowing them to contribute faster and with less red tape. Big logos are great for optics, but they’re not everything.

How long should you wait before asking a customer to become an advocate?

Now that you’ve identified the right customers, one of the next big questions is: when do you ask? Right after onboarding? Six months? A year?

The answer: don’t wait.

Dana encourages asking when customers are happiest—right after they’ve solved that big pain point. “You don’t need to wait for a milestone or for them to finish onboarding. Offer them the opportunity to get involved as a design partner, panelist, or reference right then and there. Just ask.”

Heather echoed that sentiment, adding: “There’s no set timeline. Especially in an online community, you need advocates early on to drive engagement. I can post all day, but when advocates speak up, it’s so much more powerful. The sooner they get involved, the better.”

You don’t need to launch a massive program right away either. Start small—ask for feedback on a product or invite them to participate in your community. Then, build from there.

To ensure long-term success, focus on three key factors to engage your advocates: building capacity, planning for turnover, and offering meaningful recognition. By addressing these early, you’ll keep your advocates consistently involved and steadily grow your program over time.