Andy Cockburn on Why Advocacy Should Be the Core of your Business Growth Strategy

Creating Superfans

On this episode of the Creating Superfans podcast, I'm joined by Andy Cockburn, the co-founder and CEO of Mention Me. Mention Me is an award-winning referral marketing platform that helps brands harness the exponential power of their fans through referrals.

Since 2013, Mention Me has delivered more than 6m referrals totaling $1.8b in revenue for 500 brands, including Puma, Charlotte Tilbury, and Michael Kors. Andy shares fascinating insights on the psychology behind advocacy and why your highly satisfied customers may not be telling their friends about you. We also chat about the importance of measuring the extended lifetime value of your customers and the steps any brand can take to make advocacy the center of their business growth.

Show Notes
[00:03:41] How does Andy define an advocate and why are they important for every business
[00:05:18] The three challenges to customer advocacy
[00:07:04] The difference between intention and action when it comes to referrals
[00:08:34] How social capital and social risk influence a customer's willingness to refer
[00:012:32] What might hold a customer back from promoting a brand on social media?
[00:13:08] How younger and older generations differ when it comes to the psychology of advocacy
[00:14:38] The origin story of Mention Me
[00:16:32] The crucial difference between a customer's lifetime value and extended lifetime value
[00:18:46] Andy shares an example of an online florist who was blown away at the referral data they discovered through Mention Me
[00:20:08] How can a business owner get started on tracking extended lifetime value and building a referral network?
[00:21:25] What is earned growth rate and why should your business be tracking it?
[00:23:42] What is a "good" earned growth rate?
[00:25:44] Brittany shares an anecdote about a charity she worked with and the most effective method for asking for donations
[00:26:55] How to tell your story to boost your referrals
[00:28:39] The best time to ask for a review or referral
[00:29:02] How to stay connected to your customers even if your industry has very unpredictable purchasing cycles
[00:30:10] The genius way that Mention Me enables customers to refer each other
[00:35:06] What is a brand that Andy is a superfan of and why?
Visit Mention Me's website
Brittany's blog post on Earned Growth Rate
The Ruckraft that Andy is a superfan of

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