Loyalty Register glossary
Advocacy program
A program that rewards customers for promoting a brand: referring friends, writing reviews, sharing on social media or giving feedback.
A customer advocacy program rewards customers for promoting a brand: referring friends, writing reviews, creating content, sharing on social media, talking to prospects or giving product feedback. Unlike points for purchases, the reward is for something the customer does on the brand’s behalf with other people. Searches for “advocacy program” alone often mean legal or social-service advocacy; in marketing and loyalty, the term means this customer version, also called a brand advocacy program.
Updated · By Loyalty Register Editorial TeamRelated terms
What does a customer advocacy program reward?
Consumer brands usually reward referrals, ratings and reviews, photos and posts, answers to other customers’ questions, and product testing. B2B programs add reference calls with prospects, case studies, speaking at events, reviews on software review sites and seats on a customer advisory board.
Many programs arrange these as a ladder: easy actions first, such as a rating or a share, and demanding ones, such as a case study, for members who have already shown commitment. Rewards range from points and discounts to early access, merchandise, status and public recognition. B2B programs often lean on recognition and access rather than cash, since some employers limit what staff may accept from suppliers.
How is it different from a referral program?
A referral program pays for one action: a referred person joins or buys. An advocacy program is broader. It can include referrals, but also reviews, content, feedback, community participation and events, and it often tracks each advocate’s activity over time instead of paying per conversion.
What do US rules say about rewarding reviews and posts?
Two FTC positions matter. The Endorsement Guides say that a connection between an endorser and the marketer that a significant minority of consumers would not expect, and that would affect how they judge the endorsement, should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, and that this is usually true when the endorser received something of value. A member who posts about you for points should say so.
The FTC’s consumer reviews rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, does not ban incentives for reviews, as long as there is no express or implied requirement that the review be positive. Reward every review, whatever the rating, and never ask for five stars. Rules differ outside the US, so check with counsel before rewarding reviews or posts.
What else can go wrong?
Rewarding volume can attract low-quality referrals: people who join for a bonus and never buy again. Fraud is common, such as self-referrals with new email addresses. And advocacy rewards that also count toward status can pay the same member twice for the same behavior.
How do you measure a customer advocacy program?
Judge it on the customers it brings in and what they do next, not on points issued or posts made. In a hypothetical program that pays 500 points per successful referral, with points worth half a cent, each referral costs $2.50 in points. Compare that with the cost of acquiring a customer through other channels, and with the referred customers’ repeat purchases. Check whether referred customers are still active in their second and third months, track how many advocates stay active over time, cap rewards per member to limit abuse, and keep advocacy rewards out of status qualification unless there is a clear reason to include them.