Brand advocates may fare better outside social marketing

According to the report, nearly one-quarter of brand advocates spend more time online researching and purchasing products than spreading the word about their favorite products. The most important factors in their purchasing decisions? Value, cost and reliability of a product.

"[Brand advocates] are actually more traditional in their manner of research," said Emily Riley, Analyst at JupiterResearch. "This group is more likely to read a blog for information rather than create their own; advocacy toward a product or service is most likely to be generated by word-of-mouth."

Still, these influencers are a highly sought after target. So, how do marketers get these brand advocates to actually recommend a product or service?

The right targeting method is a good first start. Both behavioral and contextual targeting are methods that appeal to brand advocates. By studying the habits of these users and then targeting them accordingly, marketers will have a good head start on converting them from happy customer to a customer who happily spreads the word about products.

Tags: brand advocates, social marketing, social networks