Hootsuite Success Story - Copywriter Toronto

HOW HOOTSUITEGREW ITS ADVOCATEPROGRAM SEVEN-FOLDIN LESS THAN A YEAR

1700EnterpriseCustomers10M UsersWorldwide800 out of theFortune 1000For Hootsuite – the most widely usedplatform for managing social media– sparking online conversationsand building brand love go hand inhand. Peer-to-peer connections havebeen the cornerstone of Hootsuite’sgrowth, helping the companyattract more than 10 million globalcustomers since its launch in 2008.Dee Anna McPherson“Hootsuite is a community-poweredVice President of Marketing at Hootsuitebrand,” says Dee Anna McPherson,Vice President of Marketing atHootsuite. “We are fortunate to have a passionate group ofcustomers and fans who we want to nurture and empower.”2

Mobilize globaladvocates and boostsocial engagementIn early 2014, Hootsuite had a small butmighty contingent of 84 loyal brand fansscattered across the globe without a unifiedplatform to connect to one another. “Aspassionate as our Ambassadors were, we knewwe could do more to facilitate their engagementon social. We wanted a single platform toempower them,” says Justine Velcich, GlobalCommunity Programs Manager at Hootsuite.The Hootsuite community team surveyed theAmbassadors to ask what they liked and didn’t likeabout the program. The team learned that Ambassadorswanted more opportunities to connect with each otherand the Hootsuite team.Based on this feedback, Hootsuite set a goal to increase theprogram’s social engagement by 30%. This would help Hootsuiteretain more Ambassadors, attract other social media experts tothe flock and boost customer advocacy.3

HOOTSUITE’S CUSTOMERADVOCACY GOALS Boost social engagementby connecting a communityof global Ambassadors Generate buzz in specificregions through localHootups Ask advocates to createcontent about Hootsuite Improve customer supportby asking Ambassadorsto answer questions insupport forums Collect feedback on newproduct releases andfeatures“Advocates were eager to support all aspects of thebusiness – from marketing to product developmentto customer support.”— Dee Anna McPhersonVice President of MarketingHootsuite’s secret sauce: Getting internalbuy-in to boost advocate engagementThe Community team knew that the program’s success hingedon getting internal buy-in. So, they rebranded how theircolleagues perceived the Ambassador program internally.4

Prior to the re-launch, the Community team independentlymanaged the Ambassador program. Wanting Hootsuite’scompany culture to be reflected in the rebrand in order to ensuresuccess, they opened the floor to the larger organization to createactivities and challenges for Ambassadors. Seeing such a positiveresponse from the Ambassadors created a sense of involvement,and Hootsuite employees became invested in the program.The result? “Hootsuite now has the best Ambassadorprogram hands down,” says Dee Anna.5

ADVOCATE RELATIONSHIPSARE A TWO-WAY STREETHootsuite re-launched the Ambassador program in February 2014.A few months later, the team started using Influitive’s AdvocateHubto mobilize Ambassadors more efficiently and at a greater scale.Hootsuite offers Ambassadors a numberof perks for joining, such as: Free access to Hootsuite UniversityA Hootsuite Pro subscriptionA discount towards the Newhouse Advance SocialMedia Strategy CertificateExclusive Hootsuite swagEarly access to Hootsuite’s latest featuresAn official “Hootsuite Ambassador” title that they canshare in their LinkedIn profiles and resumes6

One key to Hootsuite’s success is that the companycares about its Ambassadors and their personalgrowth. It’s not just about asking them to promoteHootsuite’s product and content.The Hootsuite team puts Ambassadors first and believes theyare part of their global family. For example, the communityteam will ask Ambassadors to publicly welcome the newestmembers each week on Twitter. They also encourageAmbassadors to interact, learn from one another and shareeach other’s content. They use the #HootAmb hashtag to stayin touch and track these conversations.“Building a global advocacy program is a marathon, nota sprint,” says Dee Anna. “But Influitive has allowed us tomobilize our Ambassadors quickly and at a much greaterscale. We have seen a huge increase in the number ofadvocates that we recruit, the activities they participate inand how they directly impact our business.”7

UNCOVERINGCUSTOMER ADVOCACY:Influitive AdvocateHub appfor HootsuiteThe Hootsuite community team was also able to utilize the newInfluitive AdvocateHub app for Hootsuite to help drive morereferrals, references, reviews and ambassadors. The communityteam received early access to the integration and providedinvaluable feedback on development of the app integration.The ability to have everything in one dashboard made thecommunity team more efficient and allowed them to: View a feed of recent events that have occurred in theHootsuite your Ambassador program AdvocateHub Nominate new advocates to the your AdvocateHub programfrom their profile picture in Hootsuite Create a reply-to-tweet challenges in the HootsuiteAmbassador hub your AdvocateHub directly from a tweets inHootsuiteLearn more about the InfluitiveAdvocateHub app for Hootsuite in theHootsuite app directory.8

A single piece of advocate-createdcontent gets 16,000 views on SlideShareOne of Hootsuite’s top goals was to get advocates to writearticles about its features. In 2014, they wanted Ambassadorsto publish 100 articles in a variety of languages.To achieve this goal, Hootsuite shared inside informationon their product roadmap, and added challenges in the Hubbased on creating content about their product.“Most of our Ambassadors were excited about the ideabecause they’re always looking for new topics to writeabout and felt privileged to be the first to share ournew releases,” says Justine.9

At the end of 2014, the number of articles published byHootsuite Ambassadors tripled, including regular blog posts,podcasts and video tutorials.The top piece of content in 2014 however, wasthe Ambassador Yearbook. Ambassadors jumpedat the challenge to showcase their efforts byuploading their best memories as a HootsuiteAmbassador to a shared Google presentation.“In just five days, the presentation deck organically grewto 57 pages filled with kind words about Hootsuite, ourCommunity team and their experience,” says Justine.Hootsuite published the final presentation on SlideSharein December 2014. To date, the Ambassador Yearbookhas gathered more than 16,000 views and 768 shares.It also motivated over 200 people to express interest injoining the Hootsuite Ambassador program.Advocates educate and convert newcustomers at local eventsUsing an advocate marketing program has helped Hootsuitetarget Ambassadors in specific regions. For example, Hootsuiteencourages Ambassadors to hold “Hootups” in their localcommunities. At these events, attendees learn about Hootsuiteand share social media best practices.10

Hootsuite gives Ambassadors all the training materials and swagthey need to host these events, and reimburses them for theirout-of-pocket expenses.Ambassador-led Hootups have attracted many new customers toHootsuite. Approximately 70% of the people who attend Hootupsaren’t customers and 13% of them convert to become customers.In just 10 months,Hootsuite grew itsadvocate base seven-fold,resulting in 245K clicksAmbassadors are sopassionate and vocal aboutthe program that theirnetworks reach out to learnmore about Hootsuite.By asking Ambassadors towelcome new members onTwitter, Hootsuite decreasedits drop-off rate whilegetting members to connectwith each other and buildrelationships right away.This also helped Hootsuite’s new Ambassadors feel valued andconnected to the program.11

Through the Ambassadorprogram, Hootsuite alsogenerated the following results: 8,000 #HootAmb mentions on Twitter81 million social impressions on Twitter9,000 pieces of content shared3,000 pieces of content – in 15 languages– created by Ambassadors 245,000 clicks Valuable feedback on new product featuresand releases“Hootsuite Ambassadors are highly engaged with eachother, and are always ready to share content andcontribute to online discussions, “ says Justine. “Theymade it easy for us to achieve our goals.”Hootsuite’s Ambassadors also jump in to helpothers solve their support issues. For example,Hootsuite asked its Ambassadors how manyquestions they could answer in their supportforum. Just two months later, Hootsuite increasedits “self-solve” rate from 30% to 65%. Thiseliminated the need for Hootsuite to hire twocustomer advocates.12

“Our Ambassador Hub (powered by Influitive - woot!) helped toevolve the advocate program and is one of the main reasons whyour Ambassador program is successful,” says Justine. “We increasedour number of activities and challenges exponentially, streamlinedour processes and tracked our growth – all through the Hub. TheAmbassadors also love it because they feel more connected to eachother through the Hub’s gamified leaderboard and diverse activities.”In the future, Hootsuite plans to bring influencers into the programto drive thought leadership and inspire other Ambassadors to “uplevel” their personal and professional brands.“Our customer advocacy program has helped us tieour online interactions to regional expansions,” saysDee Anna. “We’ve taken our fans, and turned them intoadvocates to build and sustain our community.”13

WHAT HOOTSUITE AMBASSADORSSAY ABOUT THE PROGRAM“The Hootsuite Ambassador Community is thebest because it provides encouragement, fun andchallenges so we can improve ourselves. Hootsuitealso offers the best service.”— Chantal Bechervaise, Canada“The engagement of the Hootsuitecommunity is like no other – only the bestof the best!”— Carolina Sarria, Spain“I love the HootsuiteAmbassador communityand think it’s the best.Ambassadors get toparticipate in fun challengeswhilst promoting the brand.There’s also loads to learn,as Ambassadors share ideasin the forum. It’s a goodplace to pick up great tips,come up with solutions andjust have fun!”— Rejoice Denhere, United Kingdom5 keys to growing a global advocacy community:Lessons learned from Hootsuite1Building a global advocacy program is a marathon, not asprint. The longer you’re committed, the better your resultswill be.2Deepen relationships with your customers. Always belistening, learning and sharing.3Celebrate your advocates. Treat them like they’re part ofyour family.4Provide education opportunities. Helping your advocatesgrow and advance in their careers can increase yourengagement.5Be welcoming. When a new advocate signs up, welcomethem to your community and introduce them to otheradvocates in their local area.14

HOW ARE YOURCUSTOMERS HELPINGYOU FUEL YOURCOMPANY’S GROWTH?The Hootsuite Ambassadors advocate marketingprogram is powered by Influitive’s AdvocateHub,a complete advocate marketing managementplatform that helps B2B marketers capturecustomer enthusiasm, and use it to turbochargemarketing and sales efforts.With AdvocateHub, B2B marketers buildadvocate communities where customers, fansand evangelists can complete high-impactactivities, such as referrals, reference calls,product reviews or social sharing.VISIT INFLUITIVE.COM TO LEARN MORE

share in their LinkedIn profiles and resumes 6. 7 The Hootsuite team puts Ambassadors first and believes they are part of their global family. For example, the community team will ask Ambassadors to publicly welcome the