Celebrate your "experiencers"

Turn authentic engagement into authentic advocacy

Your most persuasive advocates may be the people who already experience—and value—your content, events and community.

In casual conversations lately, I’m finding that many of my peers are wary of influencers. Who are they really influencing? And what’s their motivation?

So rather than seeking out influencers, why not cultivate the enthusiasm and energy of the people who already know and value what you do -- and turn that engagement into audience advocacy?

I’m calling these advocates "experiencers."

They’re the readers who regularly consume your content, comment on posts, attend your events and contribute to your community.

Turn your biggest fans into your best advocates

They’re the readers who regularly consume your content, comment on posts, attend your events and contribute to your community. They’ve actually experienced your product and its value. And that makes them pretty credible advocates.

Start by enlisting your editors and sales team to help identify these frequent fans. Then reach out personally to thank them — through LinkedIn or email, with appropriate consent, of course.

Better yet, get your editors involved in the outreach.

I was once involved in a program that asked (OK, required!) editors to call three readers every month. There was some initial resistance. But before long, I learned that many editors were making more than three calls because they were discovering story ideas, cultivating sources and getting valuable feedback.

Give them a few questions to get the conversation started: What topics are most relevant to you? What information is difficult to find? What could we be doing better?

Then encourage those readers to keep commenting and sharing your content. Bonus: You may uncover some terrific testimonials for audience marketing.

Capture authentic experiences

Events are another experiencer gold mine.

Find your fans and capture a quick video testimonial. Equip staff with three questions and let the conversation happen naturally. An authentic, on-the-spot video may need very little editing. Even if someone is camera shy, ask whether they’d be comfortable letting you use a quote instead. With their permission, a single authentic comment can be just as powerful.  

Cultivate advocates from within

And there’s another experiencer group we often overlook: employees.

Who knows your content, your company’s mission and your commitment to serving readers — and advertisers—better?

Editors, sales and marketing may be the obvious advocates, but don’t overlook the unsung heroes behind the scenes: finance, production, operations and IT. They experience your company from an entirely different perspective, and their stories can be just as valuable.

Speaking of those ops folks, include them in your events. Yes, it may involve T&E expense, but it's an investment in employee satisfaction and professional development — as much a training opportunity as sending someone to a course or seminar. Let them see the final product created by all those websites, registration forms, invoices and technology they support behind the scenes. It gives them a better understanding of the business, connects their work to the mission and lets them see firsthand the audience and community they help serve. And having a few extra hands at an event rarely hurts.

Maybe instead of looking for the next influencer, we should spend more time identifying, engaging and celebrating the experiencers we already have.

Let’s start a movement.