20 Creative Ways to Turn Your Customers Into Brand Advocates in 2025

In a world oversaturated with posts, reels, ads, and AI-generated content, it’s harder than ever to stand out. The internet is louder. Attention spans are shorter. And trust in traditional advertising is at an all-time low.

But one strategy still cuts through the noise: let your customers do the talking for you.

Consumers trust people, not brands. That’s the reality of marketing in 2025. Whether it’s a friend’s story, a TikTok testimonial, or a Reddit comment — what people say about your brand matters more than what you say about yourself. Even AI models like ChatGPT are now factoring in what others are saying about you when deciding who to recommend.

So if you want to get recommended by AI, build trust with your audience, and reduce your reliance on increasingly expensive ad platforms — you need to turn your customers into your marketing team (essentially making them brand advocates).

Here are 20 powerful ways to activate customers as brand advocates:

1. Ask Them to Share Your Content

Make it easy and rewarding for customers to share your best-performing posts, product launches, or videos. Provide templates, captions, or incentives to remove friction.

2. Send Branded Swag

Surprise top users with t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, or stickers. Branded swag = social content. People love showing off gifts, especially when they’re thoughtful or funny.

3. Launch a Referral Program

Give customers a reason to invite friends. Offer rewards they care about (discounts, upgrades, donations). Make it easy to track and share with just one link. These are all features offered by Referral Factory out of the box.

4. Prompt for Reviews

Ask your happiest customers to leave reviews on Google, G2, Trustpilot, or industry-specific platforms. Reviews build credibility — and AI models index them.

5. Encourage User-Generated Content (UGC)

Run monthly UGC contests or create challenges. UGC feels authentic, is algorithm-friendly, and is increasingly favored by both humans and recommendation engines.

6. Award Digital Badges or Certificates

Gamify your customer experience. Recognize loyalty, milestones, or expertise with shareable certificates or badges. LinkedIn is full of people proud to display them.

7. Create ‘Friends & Family’ Discounts

Make your customers look like heroes. Give them a discount code they can share, so their friends benefit — not just them.

8. Feature Your Customers

Highlight them in case studies, Instagram stories, or testimonial reels. When customers feel seen, they’re more likely to share — and become emotionally invested in your brand.

9. Build a VIP Advocacy Group

Create an invite-only community for your top fans. Give them early access, exclusive news, or perks. People love being insiders.

10. Send Personalized Thank You Messages

A heartfelt thank you (bonus if it’s a video or handwritten note) creates emotional loyalty. These often get shared, especially if personalized.

11. Use Leaderboards

Rank customers by referrals, purchases, or activity — and show off the top performers. Competition breeds engagement and visibility.

12. Invite Them Into Product Development

Let customers vote on new features or test beta releases. Co-creation leads to co-promotion.

13. Create Shareable Milestones

Did they just hit 100 rides, 1 year with your product, or $10,000 earned through your platform? Send a shareable graphic to celebrate.

14. Offer Affiliate Commissions

Let fans monetize their word-of-mouth by becoming affiliates. They’ll go the extra mile to promote if there’s cash on the table. You can find affiliates in your niche here.

15. Celebrate Customer Wins

Highlight how your product helped them achieve something. Position them as the hero, and they’ll position you as the enabler.

16. Run Challenges with Social Sharing

Fitness? Finance? Learning? Create challenges that users track and share progress on socially, naturally promoting your brand.

17. Create Shareable Content Featuring Their Name/Brand

Use dynamic personalization to generate mini-reports, shout-outs, or graphics with their name or logo — these are highly shareable.

18. Send Surprise Gifts

Go beyond swag — send something personal or unexpected that shows you’re paying attention. It builds loyalty and often results in public gratitude.

19. Give Social Shoutouts

Tag them in your stories, thank them in comments, or highlight them on your feed. Public recognition is social currency.

20. Host In-Person or Virtual Events

Even small community events build deeper emotional connections. Attendees are highly likely to share photos and shout you out.

✨ Final Thoughts

This strategy isn’t new, but in 2025 it’s becoming critical. Between rising ad costs, declining organic reach, and AI influencing discovery, the best way to grow is through trusted voices talking about you — not you talking about yourself.

At Referral Factory, we’ve helped over 1,000 businesses turn customers into growth engines using these very tactics. The brands winning today are those that understand this: people are the most powerful media channels in the world.

Start using yours. I

P.S. we also have this guide on how customer advocacy really works.