All brands should aim to leverage positive endorsements from customers to give other people confidence in the brand, but some brands put advocacy at the heart of their marketing strategy - e.g. via customer referral schemes. These offer customers cash, discounts, or free products in return for recruiting new users. Brands including Uber, Grubhub, Airbnb, Tesla, HelloFresh and Blue Apron have all leveraged schemes of this sort.

Other brands aim to deliver an exceptional user experience that customers will spontaneously tell their friends about. Athletic clothing company Lululemon offers free yoga classes in their stores. Cosmetics brand Lush has basins in its stores to show their fizzy bath bombs in action. These activities generate lots of earned media that help to spread the word about the brand.

If your brand is aligned with a societal cause that your customers care about, this can provide inspiration for marketing content your fans are likely to share. Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and Dove are famous examples. The success of direct-to-consumer cosmetics company Glossier highlights how a marketing strategy leveraging the power of earned media can be effective.

Glossier reps:
Customers can receive free products if they publicise the brand to their network of friends and followers.

Instagrammability:
Glossier develops products, packaging and social media posts that their fans want to share with their followers. This helps Glossier reach a large audience via word of mouth (earned media).

Community values:
Glossier celebrates inclusivity, individuality and natural beauty – values that resonate with many of its customers. This helps mobilise existing fans to advocate for the brand and to attract new, like-minded customers.

"Brands can't grow by trying to create lots of fans who buy the brand more often/for longer, but building a community of fans can be hugely valuable if you mobilise this mini army to help with your marketing!"

​Zappos is a brand that has flourished thanks to sound business strategy and customer service excellence - an example of the 'customer intimacy’ strategy within the 'Value Disciplines’ framework.

One of the ways Zappos created this competitive advantage is by only employing people who were passionate about customer care. In recruitment interviews, candidates were typically asked: 'when was the last time you broke the rules or policy to get the job done?’. Famously, one call with a customer lasted nearly 6 hours and involved ordering pizzas because the issue took much longer than usual to resolve. Zappos is so proud of their customer-centric approach that they offer training for other companies seeking to excel in this area.

What to learn more? Try asking Virtual Dan White.