01 · the problem
a mandate with no map, and no budget.
When I joined Splash as Head of Customer Marketing and Community, I was handed a challenge: build an advocacy platform in 90 days. No software budget. Existing tools only. Prove it works with check-ins at 30 and 60 days.
Splash was at $35M ARR at the time. Not a scrappy startup, but a real org with real complexity. The constraint wasn't size. It was assumptions about what it takes to measure advocacy.
Most teams hear that and go hunting for affiliate software. I went in a different direction.
02 · first, visibility
build attribution before you build anything else.
No attribution means no program. You're just doing relationship management with no proof of ROI. I built a free tracking system using UTM parameters and Google Analytics. Every advocate got a unique link. Every lead carried source attribution. Every conversion traced back to a person.
utm_source=advocacy | utm_medium=partner | utm_campaign=advocate_nameNo engineering lift. No new software. Just a disciplined naming convention.
03 · second, the right accounts
not just big accounts. accounts with leverage.
I started sitting in on standups with sales and CS. We didn't just map key accounts. We mapped key accounts where we had leverage: places where I could personally insert myself and deliver value before asking for anything. That changed the nature of every conversation that followed.
04 · third, rethinking incentives
stop giving them swag. ask what's actually invaluable.
I was approved to offer $500 to $1K cash referral rewards. It felt solid. Then I called peers at Qualtrics, Chili Piper, and Gong and asked for their real playbooks. The single most important thing I heard:
“Stop giving them swag and money. Ask them what’s truly invaluable.”
The answer wasn't cash. Advocates wanted 30 minutes with someone on our team who could validate their ideas and save them weeks of trial and error. We shifted our incentive model overnight.
05 · the breakthrough
the hidden use case that unlocked $1M.
I rolled the program out inside our Circle community. A member at Facebook engaged immediately. We shared our whole playbook, asked real questions about how they used the platform, and, critically, who else inside their organization was using it.
Facebook used Splash for one department. But they were quietly doing event work as a service for another team: HR and recruitment events. They were already doing the work. They just hadn't connected the dots to an expansion.
We helped them connect those dots. The result: a $1M expansion contract, approved within 30 days because it landed at end of quarter with available budget.
the lesson
advocacy isn't about asking.
it's about understanding.
Customer marketing isn't about persuading customers to advocate for you. It's about understanding their world deeply enough that the next logical step becomes obvious to both of you. The referral was almost a byproduct.
This playbook worked at $35M ARR with enterprise accounts. The same principles (attribution discipline, leverage mapping, and value-first incentives) apply whether you're at $1M or $100M. The methodology scales. The assumptions don't have to.
