The following is cross-posted from the WOMMA Research blog:

The last session I attended was led by Harald Eltvedt from Informative. Harald presented some findings from some research that Informative had conducted related to advocates.

WOM is about people. You can't motivate WOM until the advocates are identified. There is a difference between advocates and customers. Often the largest advocate may not be the largest customer from a revenue perspective.

Advocates are connected, seems like a given, but their research has shown that an advocate on average will know 3x more people than a traditional customer. Advocates of course advocate, but an advocate will provide a greater number of recommendations on a consistent basis. Advocates are usually passionate, 95% of advocates will volunteer their opinion.

A consumer's brand advocacy value is measured by:

1. The ability to reach potential customers (influencer)
2. Willingness to promote your offerings over a competitor's (Promoter)
3. The influence over the purchase decisions of others (Credible)

From their testing along the three items listed above they identify that 10 - 15% of brand customers are advocates.