5 ways to adopt Marketing Evangelism in your company

Have you ever thought that your brand, product, service is so great, that if only more people knew about it or spoke about it, you would grow at an exponential rate? Have you ever come across the term Marketing Evangelist?

Well evangelism marketing is an advanced form of word-of-mouth marketing in which companies develop customers who believe so strongly in a particular product or service that they freely try to convince others to buy and use it. The customers become voluntary advocates, actively spreading the word on behalf of the company. This is no easy feat, but sometimes this happens organically through the product life cycle. However why leave such a crucial part of your business to chance? It will be advantageous for your company to actively ensure that your customers feel compelled to share how great their experience is with your products. Your Evangelist will need to be a key team member, or a select group of people who prioritize strategies to trigger evangelism.

As they act independently, evangelist customers often become key influencers. The fact that evangelists are not paid or associated with any company make their beliefs perceived by others as credible and trustworthy.

In the world of Marketing Evangelism, one name sticks out. Guy Kawasaki


"Evangelism isn't a job title, it's a way of life." - Guy Kawasaki

Forbes highlights the five core themes the Evangelist role must fulfil:

Create a transparent story

Kawasaki described his role at Apple as “to protect and preserve the Macintosh cult by doing whatever I had to do.” He galvanized the company image and its fans at a time when it was seriously flagging. One of his best achievements was the success of EvangeList, a mailing list that was a rally cry to all Apple fans around the World to come together to support and strongly defend its products and brand image. At that time, it was unheard of in marketing and was a complete switch in how organizations handled PR and communication.

Create a real, inspiring story

There is too much noise in the marketplace for a story to succeed without inspiring people both internally and externally. A message has to inspire in order to galvanize both employees and clients into action. Kawasaki championed the masses and listened to what the fans were saying.

Adapt constantly

No longer do marketers have a limited number of channels or devices to target. They constantly need new skills, to manage the proliferation of smart devices and channels through which people communicate (mobile apps and web, social networking, etc). Delivering the brand message requires all kinds of customization, depending on the medium. And that will keep changing.

Be opinionated

Opinions matter, even if they’re controversial, because they help a marketer to evangelize. Without an opinion, there’s very little passion. Both clients and employees will see right through this.

Connect the dots

It’s about taking those stories and using them to connect the various departments within the organization itself. This allows marketing to connect better with pre-sales efforts to deliver a more consistent and concise message. That message feeds back into the product roadmap, allowing for consistent improvement and adaptation to market needs. And those dots connect all the way back to the point of why you exist: your customers.

If you take these themes seriously you will find you will start getting customers selling your products, willingly.