What Is Customer Advocacy Rate?

Customer Advocacy Rate tracks the percentage of customers who take action to endorse your brand publicly or privately. These actions include:

• Referring peers or colleagues
• Leaving a positive review
• Participating in case studies or testimonials
• Sharing your content or product on social media
• Speaking at events or webinars on your behalf

Unlike passive metrics like NPS, advocacy rate is behavioral—measuring real customer action, not just intent.

Formula: Customer Advocacy Rate = (Number of Advocates ÷ Total Number of Customers) × 100

You can define an “advocate” based on one or more qualifying actions, depending on your model.

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Why Customer Advocacy Rate Matters in SaaS CX

In saturated SaaS markets, advocacy is a strategic growth lever. Here's why it matters:

Trust-Based Growth: Advocates bring in new business through trusted referrals—often with lower acquisition costs and faster sales cycles.

Retention Signal: Customers who promote your product are more likely to stay, renew, and expand—making advocacy a leading indicator of account health.

Feedback Loop: Advocates are often power users. Their feedback is high-signal for product teams and valuable for roadmap validation.

Brand Credibility: Case studies, G2 reviews, and testimonials increase conversion rates, partner trust, and investor confidence.

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How to Measure Customer Advocacy Rate

Customer Advocacy Rate tracks how many of your customers actively promote your brand—through referrals, reviews, testimonials, or public endorsements.

Start by defining what qualifies as “advocacy” in your business context.

Step-by-Step

1.Define Advocate Actions

Common qualifying actions include:

• • Submitting a referral
  • Leaving a public review (e.g., G2, Trustpilot)
  • Participating in a case study or testimonial
  • Mentioning your brand positively on social media or in forums

2.Track Advocacy Activity Use CRM fields, referral software, or customer marketing tools to log these actions over time.

3.Apply the Formula Advocacy Rate = (Number of Advocates ÷ Total Active Customers) × 100

Example

If you have 1,000 active customers and 120 performed qualifying advocacy actions:

 Advocacy Rate = (120 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 12%

Tips

• Monitor advocacy after key moments (e.g., post-onboarding, after a successful renewal, or post-CSAT/NPS survey)
• Segment by plan, industry, or CSM coverage to identify high-advocacy groups
• Offer incentives—but prioritize authenticity. Over-incentivized advocacy can distort quality and trust.