As the social media space becomes increasingly more crowded, it is going to be more important than ever to create brand advocates. Simply defined, brand advocates are people who support your business, share it with their networks, and convince everyone in their networks that they need to connect with your business too.

The concept of lifetime customer value will become even more important- and each business should strive to sustain, and retain, their customer base for as long as possible. This may mean innovating new products and services, and may also require greater participation in social media as a mechanism for enhanced brand management.

This great video from 22squared.com highlights how brand messages can spread through social media. Each of us must find ways to “stand out” from the crowd, and convert customers to raving fans.

There are several ways you can build brand advocates:

1. Offer an unparalleled buying experience
2. Invest in excellent customer service
3. Acknowledge your customers and clients regularly
4. Reward them for referring others

As you will have seen in the video, it doesn’t matter what you sell- BLANK- but exactly how you sell it.