Brand Evangelism Matters

What Are Brand Evangelists?

Defined

Brand evangelists are people that are so excited, such fans of your brand that they share their experience and recommend your products or services without prompting or compensation. Brand evangelists are literally free marketing for your company. Zendesk, the customer service platform, defines brand evangelism as “when someone is so in love with your product quality, style, customer service, or values that they literally spread the good news about you every chance they get.” Sounds pretty great right?

Different Than Brand Ambassadors

Brand evangelists are different from brand ambassadors in that evangelists aren’t compensated for espousing good vibes about your company and products. Ambassadors, on the other hand, are paid for their kind words and positive posts about your brand, products, or services. Influencers make part, if not all, of their money by getting paid to promote a brand’s products or services. And they post on their social profiles and get paid regardless of their feelings about the product or even their use of it.

While there isn’t an issue with paying for positive press, the more brands that follow this rule, the more untrustworthy these reviews become. Instagram recently started requiring influencers to include language that they’re being paid for the promotion of a product in their post, reel, or story. Consumers have a right to know when a review of a product, service, or company is being bought and paid for by the company.

Authenticity In Marketing

There is a time and place for paid promotions using brand ambassadors and influencers if you’re looking at it as part of your marketing ad spend and budget. And if you’re selling the ‘real deal’ your influencers will love your brand and enjoy promoting it. It always feels better when a positive review is authentic.

This is why brand evangelists matter – it’s authentic. In the age of social media, AI, and deep fake, we as consumers crave authenticity. The star reviews of a product are combed through before people make a purchase. Consumers take to Yelp, Twitter, and your brand’s social profiles to espouse their love or hate for your products and services. People actually read these.

“Brand evangelism is everywhere, and it’s the single most important concept to growing a successful brand.”

Let’s try a little exercise. Think about the last meaningful purchase you made. Was it for new shapewear or sneakers? Lawn and garden equipment for your home or a subscription to a new platform for your department to use at work? How did you go about doing research for it? Did you scour G2 or read a handful of reviews on Amazon? Of course you did. We. All. Do. Brand Evangelism is everywhere, and it is the single most important concept to growing your brand.

Free Marketing: Engaged

Marketing is not cheap.

Marketing is not cheap.

One more time for those in the back – MARKETING IS NOT CHEAP.

Marketing shouldn’t be cheap. It’s the lifeblood of your company, besides the actual service or product you provide. If the old adage “you pay for what you get” is at all true, then your marketing budget should reflect what you want to get out of it. With one caveat – brand evangelism. Brand evangelism – on paper – is 100% FREE marketing. You do a good job and people talk about it with one another. It’s that simple.

Let’s be real, brand evangelism is really just a fancy, bloated way of saying word-of-mouth. In this century, word-of-mouth has 1001 places to go. It’s not just chatting up your neighbor when he starts eyeing your new riding lawn mower, or telling your girlfriends where you found THE BEST new bra or hair product. Brand evangelism exists there and in the digital space. It’s their post on social media with fabulous new hair and a post caption that mentions you (even if they don’t @ you). It’s their positive review on Yelp. It’s their positive review ON YOUR WEBSITE. It’s the TikTok with your product in the background, the product they’re using, wearing, or holding.

Whole Team Required

There are a lot of people, coordination, and effort that goes into producing your great products and services. You have entire departments of people working to take something to market and be successful at doing so. Each step determines the success at the end – if the consumer will love, hate, or become apathetic. Each department plays a role in the review the consumer will have of the result. Did the product fall apart or did the app crash? Did everything fit as it was intended? Did they have a smooth exchange process? Was customer service friendly? Did the product live up to the claims in your ad?

From top-of-funnel marketing to your return/cancelation process with customer service, each step affects whether that consumer will become a brand evangelist. This is why Visceral Ore works to help brands uncover their purpose and passion so that everyone, on every team, is on the same page. So that everyone is working for the same goals. It’s when brands achieve that operational harmony that they can build something lasting together.

If your product is awesome, but your customer service team is rude or your exchange process is difficult to navigate, it’s hard to build brand evangelists. If you’re excited about what you provide, your team will be excited about providing it. They will radiate that enthusiasm outward, and the consumer will feel it. When the consumer feels that passion, they will talk about it.

Ready to change your brand reputation? Schedule a consultation with Visceral Ore today.