Shaping an Advocacy Program To Fuel Acquisition Efforts

Challenge

Observe.AI, a CCaaS point solution, was a brand new player doing something new (bridging Quality Assurance with Speech Analytics) in a very crowded space. The company hit its first $1M ARR, but we needed a way to accelerate growth, build brand presence and stand out. Turns out, we had a huge untapped differentiator: our raving customer fans.

Solution

As the third marketing hire at a seed stage company, I knew we needed to shift the focus of our go-to-market strategy to what really mattered: our customers’ success stories. The were driving powerful results across sales, efficiency, and fraud prevention through better call insights. I started by identifying the most impactful customer wins and turning them into clear, relatable narratives that highlighted real ROI and outcomes.

From there, I worked closely with our executives, sales, and marketing teams to make sure everyone—from leadership to frontline sellers—was equipped to tell these stories in a way that resonated. I also became the go-to person for bringing the customer’s voice to life, whether that meant hosting panels, moderating events, or championing their perspectives internally.

To make sure this wasn’t just a one-off effort, I built repeatable processes that scaled as we grew. This foundation helped us move confidently from Series A to Series C, always keeping the customer at the center of how we told our story and drove growth.

The customer advocacy program consisted of a number of key initiatives:

• Disruptors Interview Series, in which customers shared specific approaches to common QA challenges

• Customer Exchange Sessions, in which customers applying similar use cases came together to learn from each other

• Advocacy activations in partnership with CS across several key points in the customer journey

• G2 review program

• Customer reference program

Check out more of how I built this program on this Testimonial Hero episode on High-Impact B2B Customer Marketing Strategies >>

I built a customer advocacy program that became a $3M base of loyal advocates, driving trust and credibility in the market. To make this even more impactful, I designed a reference-selling motion that directly influenced 23% in annual revenue by enabling our sales team to leverage happy customers at key points in the buyer journey.

At the same time, I focused on amplifying our voice on review platforms, helping us triple our G2 presence and achieve a 4.7 out of 5 rating, strengthening our reputation and helping accelerate deals.

Observe.AI's growth trajectory went from $1M ARR when I first joined to $28M in ARR three years later. The company was in the 5% of fastest growing AI startups in Silicon Valley during my tenure.