Brand advocacy and influencer marketing are becoming increasingly popular with brands ranging from small mom-and-pop shops to major corporations. Both have merits, but what exactly is the difference?
Custom Think provides two solid definitions:
“Influencers are driven by growing their audience. They are not driven by promoting a brand or its products. And, as such, influencers drive awareness, not specific actions or more importantly, behaviors.”
“Brand advocates, on the other hand, can be a satisfied employee, customer, or vendor and they recommend because they had a great experience and they want to help others have that same great experience.”
As a health club, which should you focus on? In my opinion, brand advocacy is where the most value lies.
And I’m not alone in this thinking. According to Jay Baer, the president of Convince & Convert, “Advocacy is driven by the depth of conviction, and influencers typically are less committed to the product or company than are actual customer advocates.”
With this in mind, check out this graphic Baer created in partnership with Zuberance that provides an overview of the main differences between brand advocates and influencers, and why influencer marketing may be overrated.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
