Customer Advocacy in Action: 4 Success Stories and 6 Proven Growth Lessons

1. Introduction: Why Customer Advocacy Wins

In an era where buyers are trusting customer reviews over marketing messages, customer advocacy has become one of the highest value forms of marketing. Instead of hoping that your happy customers advocate for you by writing a review or recommending you to peers, turn them into brand champions who can influence prospects throughout your marketing campaigns. Whether it’s a quote, success story, case study or referral, using customer voice can scale your business through authenticity and trust. Customer advocacy isn’t just about testimonials anymore, it’s about building scalable systems that turn real voices into real growth. But don’t just take our word for it, check out some of our standout customer advocacy success stories, what made them work, and how you can create your own.

2. How to Write Customer Success Stories

The first step in creating your own customer success stories is collecting customer advocate data from your clients. Reach out to some of your strongest customers, those that have seen the most positive improvement, are enthusiastic about your brand, and represent your ideal customer profile whether that’s in a specific industry, a diverse range of industries, large or small companies, or product use case. 

Once you have an idea of which customers you’d like to reach out to, ask them if they would be willing to publicly share some of their successes. Make sure to include how the stories will be used, where they will be shared, and any benefits they might receive such as exposure to their brand or mutual promotion. You can either write an email to your client suggesting the idea, or if possible, have your client lead ask them on their regularly scheduled check-ins. Here’s a sample email you can send:

“We’re thrilled with the success you’ve had using [Product]. We’d love to feature your story to inspire others. This will showcase your company’s innovation and success — are you open to a short interview?”

Now that you have permission and your client is on board, it’s time to set up the interview. Plan questions that cover both the story and the data. Some questions you should ask include: 

• What problem or challenge were you facing?
• What led you to choose our solution?
• How did implementation go?
• What results have you achieved (metrics, time saved, revenue gained, etc.)?
• What’s been the biggest impact on your business/team?

Once you have your customer’s story, structure it into the template we use below. Always get approval from your client before publishing the story as a show of good faith and to build trust with your customers. Finally, publish and promote your story across multiple channels including social media, email, blogs, or even directly on your website.  

3. The Success Stories 

Story #1: Clarivate

• Who they are: Clarivate is a leading global provider of transformative intelligence. They offer enriched data, insights & analytics, workflow solutions and expert services in the areas of Academia & Government, Intellectual Property and Life Sciences & Healthcare.
  
• The challenge: Yariv, the SVP and General Manager at Clarivate, faced a critical challenge. The company needed a more effective way to expand its pool of references and gather authentic customer feedback & testimonials across their broad user base. Furthermore, they sought to engage customers better without putting undue pressure on them.
• The solution: By leveraging Deeto’s intuitive Reference Management and Prospect-Reference Engagement features, the Clarivate team transformed how they engaged with customers, recruited references, and collected authentic feedback. With Deeto, inviting customers to share their experiences became effortless. The platform’s low-touch workflows allowed Clarivate to generate content at scale while gaining meaningful insights into customer sentiment over time which had previously been a major challenge.

According to Yariv, “Our marketing team has found it incredibly easy to invite users to share their experiences, and the content we’ve generated has been a real asset. What I love most is how much our customers enjoy participating—they genuinely appreciate being heard.”

The benefits extended beyond marketing. Deeto’s Prospect-Reference Engagement capability helped sales build trust and shorten deal cycles, while upcoming adoption of the Referral Module promises even greater cost-effective lead generation through Clarivate’s existing advocates.

• The results: Within weeks, the team produced 50+ new customer stories and reference assets, achieving a 75% increase in productivity through automated collection and streamlined approvals. Even more impressive, they realized time to value in just 2–4 weeks, transforming customer voice into a consistent, scalable engine for engagement and growth.
  
• Why it worked:
  
  • Centralized reference management: Replaced manual tracking with Deeto’s organized database to easily identify, tag, and activate customer advocates.
  • Streamlined outreach: Used automated, personalized invitations to collect authentic customer stories and feedback at scale.
  • Integrated advocacy into sales: Leveraged Prospect-Reference Engagement to connect prospects with relevant references, accelerating trust and closing deals.
  • Captured stories from live events: Invited participants at user group sessions to share success stories through Deeto, fueling a steady pipeline of new content.
  • Measured real impact: Tracked engagement and sentiment data to see which stories resonated most and informed future marketing decisions.

Story #2: Ada

• Who they are:
  Ada is a leader in customer experience and automation technology, helping businesses deliver personalized customer support at scale. 
• The challenge:
  Perri Chaikof, Director of Customer and Partner Marketing at Ada, needed to strengthen the company’s brand trust through authentic customer stories and references. Her advocacy efforts, however, were stuck in spreadsheets, manual scheduling, and untracked reference calls, making it difficult to scale or prove impact.
• The solution:
  With Deeto, Perri built a fully structured and automated customer advocacy program in just weeks. Using Deeto’s Reference Management feature, Ada centralized all advocate data and simplified the process of inviting customers to share their experiences. Automated outreach replaced ad hoc coordination, freeing up countless hours and ensuring every customer interaction became an opportunity for engagement.

“I love Deeto. It has totally replaced spreadsheets for me. In just a month I’ve been able to stand up an entirely new customer advocacy program that has helped us scale our reference calls and capture a ton of new social proof for our sales and marketing teams.”
— Perri Chaikof, Director of Customer and Partner Marketing at Ada

The Deeto platform not only streamlined reference management but also enabled Ada to capture and activate social proof faster than ever. Perri began using Deeto’s organized repository of advocates to create dynamic, real-world content that supported sales, marketing, and brand storytelling alike.

The results:

• 11–20 new content pieces created in the first phase
• >$10,000 in measurable social proof value
• 50–75% growth in the reference pool within weeks
  

These results reflected not just efficiency, but a deeper cultural shift — from chasing references to celebrating customer voices as a strategic growth driver.

Why it worked:

• Replaced manual spreadsheets with a centralized, AI-powered reference hub.
  
• Launched a structured advocacy program in under a month, powered by automation.
  
• Activated authentic social proof across sales and marketing touchpoints.
  
• Empowered customers to share their stories, increasing engagement and satisfaction.
  
• Freed up time for strategic work, enabling the marketing team to focus on growth initiatives and storytelling.

Story #3: Surgimate

Who they are:
Surgimate is a healthcare technology company that streamlines surgical coordination and communication for medical practices and hospitals.

The challenge:
As the organization continued to grow, maintaining centralized customer references and testimonials became increasingly complex and created inefficiencies that limited how customer success could be shared across teams. The marketing team needed a better way to organize customer feedback, capture authentic testimonials, and make them easily accessible for both sales and marketing efforts. 

The solution:
By adopting Deeto, Surgimate gained a powerful, intuitive system for managing customer references and testimonials. The platform’s AI-driven automation simplified how the team gathered, organized, and distributed authentic customer experiences by replacing fragmented workflows with a unified, scalable approach.

“Deeto has a disruptive vision for how to manage all customer reference material, and I’ve been a believer since day one. Another reason I really appreciate Deeto is their commitment to continuous product improvements and customer support.”
— Laura Eakes, VP of Marketing at Surgimate

Deeto helped Surgimate achieve new levels of operational efficiency while enabling customers to share their experiences more easily. Although the team hadn’t set formal social proof goals, they quickly noticed that customer-generated content provided meaningful, indirect credibility that enhanced the brand’s authenticity and supported future pipeline growth.

The results:

• <$2,500 in social proof value captured early in adoption
  
• <25% growth in the reference pool, creating a stronger base of advocates
  
• 11–20 hours saved per month through automation and simplified workflows
  

With Deeto’s customer-centric platform and ongoing product innovation, Surgimate transformed its approach to advocacy management by turning satisfied customers into credible voices and strengthening internal collaboration between marketing and sales.

Why it worked:

• Centralized reference management: Organized all customer testimonials and materials into one searchable system.
  
• AI-driven efficiency: Automated feedback and review collection, saving hours of manual effort.
  
• Enhanced credibility: Customer-generated reviews provided authentic, organic validation of Surgimate’s value.
  
• Continuous improvement: Regular product enhancements and hands-on customer support sustained engagement.
  
• Operational impact: Freed up time for strategic marketing while maintaining consistent advocacy activity.

Story #4: Wrike

Who they are:
Wrike is a leading collaborative work management platform trusted by enterprises worldwide to streamline workflows and enhance productivity. 

The challenge:
Karilla Dyer, Senior Customer Advocacy & References Manager at Wrike, felt that managing the company’s customer reference program had become cumbersome and inefficient. Sales reps struggled with manual reference matching and relied on spreadsheets that made it difficult to respond to requests quickly or scale campaigns. The lack of structure led to lost opportunities, slower deal cycles, and rising customer fatigue from overused advocates.

The solution:
When Wrike adopted Deeto, the transformation was immediate. The platform’s intuitive design replaced chaotic spreadsheets with a centralized, self-service reference database. Sales reps could now independently source, match, and schedule reference calls without constant involvement from the advocacy team.

“We embraced the transformative power of Deeto, and now our revamped reference program is a game-changer. We’ve evolved from one chaotic spreadsheet to an intuitive, streamlined database of customer references ready for your call. Our reps love the freedom of self-serving references without constant involvement from the advocacy marketing team. We’ve also said goodbye to customer fatigue, as references can now control their contact frequency.”
— Karilla Dyer, Senior Customer Advocacy & References Manager at Wrike

Deeto not only simplified operations but also empowered Karilla’s team to focus on strategic advocacy growth including recruiting standout customers, curating fresh stories, and strengthening relationships. The organized structure enabled the creation of more than 70 concise, impactful customer stories that became vital assets for both sales enablement and marketing campaigns.

The results:

• 50+ new content pieces created within months
  
• >$10,000 in measurable social proof value
  
• 50–75% reference pool growth, expanding across industries and regions
  

Deeto’s automation and AI-driven insights turned Wrike’s reference program into a powerful engine for sales credibility and marketing proof, accelerating both customer engagement and pipeline velocity.

Why it worked:

• Centralized operations: Replaced manual spreadsheets with a structured, searchable reference hub.
  
• Empowered sales teams: Enabled self-service reference matching and scheduling directly within the platform.
  
• Reduced advocate fatigue: Allowed references to manage their participation frequency for sustainable engagement.
  
• Scaled storytelling: Converted 70+ authentic user stories into impactful, ready-to-use sales assets.
  
• Refocused advocacy strategy: Freed Karilla’s team to recruit new advocates and strengthen customer relationships instead of managing admin tasks.

3. 6 Common Threads Across These Success Stories

Throughout these stories, clear patterns emerge that reveal what drives the most successful advocacy programs. 

1. Centralization Fuels Scale

Clarivate and Wrike both replaced spreadsheets with Deeto’s centralized platform, unlocking faster access to advocates, easier tracking, and seamless collaboration between marketing and sales. By consolidating fragmented reference data into one organized system, you’ll be able to generate customer stories, signals and successes at scale.

2. Automation Drives Efficiency and Reach

Manual reference management limits growth because of decentralized processes and time-consuming tasks. Ada and Surgimate saw immediate gains from automating outreach, scheduling, and story collection which saved dozens of hours per month while multiplying social proof and reference pool size. Automation gives you time back for strategy instead of administration.

3. Authenticity Builds Credibility

Across all stories, real customer voices replaced company-generated marketing copy. From Clarivate’s focus on genuine feedback to Surgimate’s organic testimonials, authentic proof resonated more deeply with prospects. Authenticity turns customer stories into trust in your brand.

4. Empowered Customers Become Lifelong Advocates

Deeto’s customer-controlled workflows empowered advocates to share experiences on their terms. Wrike’s advocates could manage contact frequency which reduced fatigue and increased customer satisfaction. Your goal should be to create long-term brand ambassadors instead of one-time references.

5. Measurable Impact Strengthens Advocacy Value

Each program quantified its success. Your KPI’s can be anything from productivity gains to monthly time savings, but it’s important to track these successes so that you can not only see your growth and wins but use the metrics for amplification and to build confidence across your team that advocacy is driving real, measurable impact. Data transforms advocacy from a “nice-to-have” into a measurable growth engine.

6. Continuous Storytelling Keeps Programs Fresh

The most successful teams made storytelling an ongoing process. Clarivate captured stories from live events, Wrike consistently curated new voices, and Ada expanded its reference pool monthly. Fresh content ensures that messaging stays relevant, authentic, and aligned with evolving customer experiences.

4. Lessons for Building Your Own Advocacy Program

The strongest advocacy programs share six common foundations: centralization, automation, authenticity, empowerment, measurement, and continuous storytelling.

Start by centralizing your advocate data. Keep all references, testimonials, and customer stories in one searchable hub so every team can easily access and activate them. Next, automate what can be automated. Use AI-native customer platforms like Deeto to streamline outreach, tagging, and approvals so your team can spend more time nurturing relationships instead of managing logistics. Focus on authenticity by amplifying real customer voices in their own words. A quote, testimonial, or short success story can often be more persuasive than a polished campaign.

Then, empower your advocates by making it effortless for them to share their experiences and giving them visibility when their stories are featured. Recognition keeps engagement high and fosters long-term brand champions. Be sure to measure your impact. Track metrics such as story engagement, reference usage, and influenced pipeline value. These insights help you amplify what’s working and build confidence across your team that advocacy drives real business outcomes.

Finally, keep your storytelling continuous. Refresh your library of customer stories regularly to ensure your content stays relevant, credible, and aligned with how your customers evolve. When you centralize, automate, and humanize advocacy around authentic, empowered voices, and measure their ongoing impact, your program becomes more than a marketing initiative. It becomes a self-sustaining growth engine for your brand.