Everyday consumers - your target audience - make buying decisions through all kinds of intel, inspiration or emotional connections. It might be an advertisement, news report, a conversation with a friend, a product trial or one-to-one selling. Those triggers are part of the Consumer Path to Purchase. The path is not linear as people can come in and out of the steps but the idea is generally consistent with discovery and engagement, leading to conversion, instilling loyalty and advocacy.

The Path to Consumer consists of the below steps. In today's blog we will focus on Advocacy.

• Discovery
• Engagement
• Trial 
• Conversion
• Loyalty 
• Advocacy 

Brand advocacy is a key benefit of nurturing your loyal fans. Happy customers tell other people how much they love your product through word-of-mouth influence. Testimonials, online reviews, and face-to-face friend recommendations are the most credible and powerful endorsements a brand can receive. Brand influencers are a powerful force for any company. The more influential the influencer, the greater reach your positive brand messaging will have. As your brand advocacy grows, so will the legitimacy of your product and vision.

Your brand’s “Super Fans” can continue to excite your customers by sharing their passion directly with their fans. Referral and Affiliate programs are an excellent tool to offer to your Super Fans. These types of programs will incentivize your Fans to continue to promote your brand in a positive and proactive fashion. Consumer-Generated Content or CGC is another fantastic tool to demonstrate brand advocacy. CGC uses your own loyal fans’ content as a common voice.

Advocacy Tactics Examples

• Consumer-Generated Content (CGC)

  • BazaarVoice, Pixlee

• Testimonials via Website and Social - Social Proof

  • Yotpo, BazaarVoice, Boast, Reviews.io

• Referral Program

  • Smile.io, ReferralCandy, Yotpo

• Affiliate Program

  • CJ Affiliate, LeadDyno, Impact, Tune

The Path to Consumer is an exciting journey for both the brand and the consumer. Your brand vision and messaging ultimately connect with your customer and they, in turn, identify with and support your product or service. Success is right around the corner and the drive is a 360° holistic adventure - Discovery, Engagement, Trial, Conversion, Loyalty, and Advocacy - all connecting to build up the awareness of your brand and the engagement of current and new fans.

The world is changing fast and the Path to Consumer shifts with consumer attitudes, the numerous connected devices, brick and mortar outlets, and direct to consumer shout-outs that happen in our chaotic world. Be sure to know your cu