Zócalo Group town square blog

A new eMarketer report published this week highlights the impact and influence of brand advocates – those consumers that go beyond “Liking” a brand and who actively share their opinions and recommendations about a company’s products and services.

Zócalo Group president/CEO, Paul M. Rand, is featured in the article, alongside clients Subway, Nissan and Frito-Lay.

“When the internet and then social media came into the picture, brand advocacy, which used to be a one-on-one thing, ended up becoming supercharged and the megaphone became much larger.”

Knowing that within social networks, consumers create 500 billion impressions on one another by talking about products and services each year¹, it becomes apparent that authentic engagement among fans is vital.

And with only 16% of the US population responsible for 80% of those impressions¹, it’s important to start thinking about brand advocacy as a critical part of the social media marketing mix.

To create a great program, a good social media campaign can help. A 2011 survey from Chief Marketer recaps some of the key reasons to focus on social media as a way to develop brand advocacy among consumers.

eMarketer subscribers can download the full report, “Brand Advocates: Scaling Social Media and Word of Mouth” by clicking here.

¹ Forrester, Peer Influence Analysis, April 20, 2010.