Happy customers are people who are satisfied with your product or service. Yes, they like your brand and yes, they will probably recommend your business to another if asked. Brand evangelists, on the other hand, are not just happy with their purchase; they are euphoric about it. These people are so delighted with your brand that they are ready to proclaim the virtues of your product to anyone who’d care enough to listen.

Brand evangelists aren’t born, they are cultivated. They could be integral cogs to any business’ marketing campaign. How do you turn happy customers into brand evangelists? And keep them preaching the good news of your brand.

Engage your community with contests. There hardly is any other better way to promote your brand within the community than contests. It is human nature to be fascinated with and excited by the thought of competition and winning. Use your products as prizes. Discount coupons or premium items bearing your logo are good prize ideas, too. Contests are proven instruments in building rapport with any target market. There are hundreds of creative ways to produce and promote contests online or offline. You just need to find a contest format most suited to your product.

Go the extra mile to interact. We are wired to crave recognition. People love to be acknowledged and appreciated because getting noticed feeds the ego. One of the best ways to get on a customer’s good side is simply to recognize them. Highlight their contributions to and importance in successfully achieving your business goals and vision. Offer to feature a customer on your product blog, profile them in a case study, or maybe even just send your loyal customers a personal thank you email for their investment in your brand. Even a simple retweet or reply to a Facebook comment goes a long way with followers.

Encourage your team to promote evangelism. Your very best brand evangelists are hidden in plain sight: your employees. Motivate your employees to be positive about your brand in all communications with customers. When employees are genuinely enthusiastic about the brand they represent, some of that excitement is organically passed on to the customers they come in contact with. The value and ROI potential of employee engagement should never be underestimated. Your employees are very powerful testimonies of your brand values, thus converting more happy customers into brand evangelists.

Beyond just acquiring happy customers in quantity, strive to cultivate brand evangelists in these happy customers. This way, you are surely setting yourself up for more lasting marketing success.