Leverage A SocialToaster Agency Partner Program to Win New Business

SocialToaster Agency Partner Program

Check your calendars. We’re only a few months away from the end of 2018. From RFP submissions to 2019 media strategy presentations, these next few months are crunch time for winning new business. This year, set your agency apart from the competition by integrating an advocacy marketing campaign into your client service offerings through our SocialToaster Agency Partner Program.

 

Why Should Your Agency Consider Advocacy Marketing?

Simple. Driving results for clients isn’t getting easier. Between increasing market competition, shrinking margins, and rising media costs, brands are having to spend more money to see fewer results.

On top of rising ad costs, more users are also using ad blockers and taking increased measures to control their data and privacy measures. The bottom line is, marketing strategies that worked (even a year ago) are no longer getting the job done.

Agencies live and die by their campaign performance. Happy clients stick around longer and refer more potential business; unhappy clients are going to find a different partner.

An advocacy marketing program (sometimes referred to as an ambassador marketing program), helps to drive market visibility, content engagement, and sales, without increasing media costs. Instead of passing media dollars straight to ad-buying platforms, your clients can instead leverage the sharing power of their biggest customers and fans.

We’ve worked with dozens of agencies and have helped to drive some amazing results for their clients. The secret is to have an advocacy marketing program that integrates into an existing campaign. Advocacy marketing simply becomes an additional outreach channel that can be used to support your entire marketing strategy, including content marketing, social marketing, sales and discounts, and even new product launches.

 

Advocacy Marketing Supports a Variety of Client Initiatives

As we said above, the best advocacy marketing campaigns are those that are integrated into your client’s overarching marketing efforts:

Support Your Content Marketing Initiatives

If you’re producing any content for your clients (blog posts, product videos, etc.), consider layering on an advocacy marketing program. As Facebook (and other social media platforms) dial back organic reach, most brands turn to sponsoring posts to help get their content seen by their target demographic.

Instead of sending that money to Zuckerberg, you can use advocacy marketing program to help increase organic visibility by having your brand’s advocates share that content to their personal social feeds. The average social media user is connected to 500 – 600 friends and family. On top of that, personal posts (on average) receive a greater organic reach than brand-published posts.

This means that an advocacy marketing program of only 1,000 fans can have a potential reach of 600,000 friends and family! Also keep in mind that once someone has joined your program, they’ll be able to consistently share content pieces on behalf of your client over the long haul.

Lead Generation Via Social Media Contests

Many brands and agencies incorporate a contest or two as part of their year-long marketing strategy. After all, a contest (when properly executed) can be a great tool for helping to drive sales, grow email lists, and increase brand awareness amongst your client’s target demographics.

This year, instead of opting for a simple form/email capture, consider launching a social media contest managed through the SocialToaster platform. Instead of filling out a form, entrants will instead join your client’s advocacy marketing efforts to enter the contest.

Once they become a member, they can earn additional points or entries by sharing client content on their personal feeds. This immediate sharing can help to guarantee a solid contest ROI before the contest even ends.

The initial contest is just the starting point. Once the contest ends, your client can still leverage the program and its members to continue to share content and support your other marketing initiatives.

Drive B2B New Business Opportunities

An advocacy marketing program isn’t just for consumer brands. B2B companies can also get in on the action with a managed employee advocacy program. Instead of leveraging your client’s customers to drive content awareness and engagement, an employee advocacy program relies on your client’s (you guessed it) employees.

A brand’s social messaging is re-shared on average 24 times more frequently when distributed by employees vs. the brand. This includes both gated content (webinars, white papers, Ebooks) and non-gated content like blog posts and even third-party articles.

On top of sharing content, many companies also use their employee advocacy marketing program to support their hiring and recruitment efforts and employee retention practices.

 

How The SocialToaster Agency Partner Program Can Benefit Your Agency

Sure, it’s clear to see how an advocacy marketing program can benefit your clients, but what’s in it for your agency? Here are just a few benefits to becoming a SocialToaster agency partner.

Additional Agency Revenue Stream

Every service offering added by your agency is another potential revenue stream. This includes offering managed advocacy marketing campaign services.

Many agencies are able to increase their per-client revenue by charging fees related to:

  • Advocacy marketing program strategy
  • Advocacy marketing program management
  • Prize fulfillment and purchase
  • Content creation
  • Recruitment management
  • Platform-use fees

Unique Selling Proposition

Every agency can purchase Facebook and Google advertising. Being able to sponsor a post is not a key marketing differentiator. However, not every agency offers brands the opportunity to turn their social media following and customer base into their personal advocacy base.

When responding to agency RFPs or pitching new business, leverage the benefits of the program and show the client how a properly managed advocacy marketing program can help them to increase their ROI without increasing their media budget.

White-Label Platform

To further help distinguish your agency, we are proud to offer our agency partners a white-label platform option. Think about it: your clients on an advocacy marketing platform outfitted with your logo and branding elements.

Managed Services on Your Behalf

We understand, not every agency has the personal resources to learn yet another tool (and properly utilize it). That’s why we’re happy to off our own team members as your outsourced support team for helping to manage your client’s advocacy marketing programs.

We’ll handle the block-and-tackle work, while your agency focuses on strengthening your relationship with your client.

With 2019 approaching fast, now is the perfect time to start winning more new business opportunities by becoming a SocialToaster agency partner. If you’re ready to get started, email or give us a call at 855.62.TOAST or request a free demo today!

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