What you speak turns into what you do, and this is what sets leaders apart from bosses. True leaders are followed as they are a motivational force rather than a driving force. They focus on their external and internal customers and use their strengths to leverage them.
If you’re excited to start the concept, here are the steps you can take to “convert” yourself, customers, and even employees into evangelists:
1. Research and Envision
Knowledge is power, and in creating a path for evangelists to take it is also a necessity. Have you asked yourself what your vision and mission means to you? Have you made it a point of focus for your stakeholders and associates? If not, then it is your first priority. Find out what are problems or wishes you can solve through your products and services. See what people need and want.
Once you have a solid image of what your company is, it’s time to make it a “who.”
Open up your mind and envision your brand as a personified set of ideals. Can people identify with your brand? Can you identify yourself with your brand? If your answer is no, then you should rethink how you can better relate to the brand, and live with it as its “partner.”
If your answer is yes, then congratulations. All you need to do now is live the ideals you and the company share. Afterwards, it’s time to make “friends.”
2. Create a board of model Evangelist Personas
What kind of people does your brand want to be associated with first?
We’re not talking about endorsers – that’s the other way around. Evangelists can have different personas, albeit being aligned to your brand. Take for example athletes for sports brands – they differ in profession and personality, and yet can still be the living, breathing models of your brand come to life.
Write down the kind of people you are willing to support and build up. Evangelists can come from various walks of life, and are determined to show their peers, loved ones and colleagues how your brand is part of their life.
A board that identifies the possible outcomes can help serve as a compass for your marketing and leadership to tap and maximise.
3. Empower People and Be Relatable
The last step is to forge strong relationships with your brand evangelists. Give them value, recognition, and appreciation. Invite them to your events. Feature them in social media. Ignite their passions by creating campaigns that forward their advocacy or platform.
See how Unilever brought about monumental impact to the world – not just its consumers – with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Despite their leaders changing hands in various places, their successful use of evangelists from different sectors and organisation created the image of Unilever itself as an evangelist of sustainable development.
Likewise, the community you serve and the community at large should be able to see your brand and vision as entities they can trust. Creating this relatable persona in the age of omni-channel presence is a must.
You may play around the steps a bit, but what’s important is to understand the gist of what brand evangelism can do for your brand. It starts by becoming an embodiment of your company’s ideals.
When you are empowering people in a forward-thinking manner, you should also empower your organisation with progressive technology.