1. Kelly Caird
Director, Customer Engagement
eBay’s Not-So-Secret Weapon:
How We Discovered and Mobilized B2B Advocates
Marie Langhout-Franklin
Head of Partner Marketing

2. One of eBay’s largest drivers of traffic;
partners earn commissions for driving sales

3. Helpful, positive
content was getting
buried by louder,
negative voices

4. We wanted to build a community to nurture and
reengage natural advocates
How likely are you to share your eBay
partner experiences with others?
Would you be more likely to do this if
incentives were involved?
Unlikely Likely Yes No

5. Launching a formal advocacy program can be
daunting

6. Our initial launch far exceeded our goals and
expectations
We increased the volume of positive mentions x10
0
100
200
300
400
500
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
ADVOCATES
310
ACTS OF ADVOCACY
5,760
PIECES OF SOCIAL CONTENT
1,080
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000

7. What else could we do?
Can we connect with partners at the outset, nurturing them to become advocates?
Can we turn more existing partners into advocates?
Can we even “hug our haters” – and turn negative voices around?
Can we encourage more valuable activities, ultimately driving ROI?

8. This small but mighty
group is an effective
lever in our toolkit for
driving business goals
6 months later:
• 4X more advocates
• 140+ acts of advocacy
annually by engaged
advocates

9. The network effect has increased our joins and
doubled our activation rate in the first 90 days

10. Advocates are a valuable source for innovation
and instant feedback “Amazing, I didn't know about it! There are
times I want to manually create a link and
this is so easy. A good update would be to
let me choose a campaign I want to
‘roverize’ while on the site.”
-Matt D.
Have you used the
bookmarklet tool before?
Will you use it in the future?
Do you have any questions or
feedback about this tool? "I wish it would
integrate with a url
shortener."
-Eric M.
"I like it, but my recommendation is for
it be redesigned like the Bit.ly website
link shortening right-side of the screen
pop-out.”
-Steven E.

11. We can activate our partners at multiple phases in
the customer lifecycle

12. • Tracking attribution on an
individual partner level
• Working closely with analytics
team to track and match activity
• Determining if advocates are
more likely to drive sales to eBay
• Testing to see if specific
challenges can drive revenue
results
We’re measuring the
impact beyond direct
pipeline driven

13. "Insiders has really helped me with my business. I've
applied the advice and my business is really improving. It's
amazing how just doing little stuff that I've learned here
really helps! So just wanted to tell you... THANK YOU!”
- Morgan A. Beauty Blogger, Insider since 4/10/16
Discovering and connecting with our most
valuable advocates has driven measurable ROI
Points:
9,100
NPS:
9
2016 iGMB:
$5,500
2017 iGMB:
$11,400
Sept New
Buyers: 1
Oct New
Buyers: 14

14. We’re improving customer experience at scale
(and our products, too)
“Insiders is what everybody
needs. A great community of
caring people and it is filled
with opportunities to learn.”
- Theo P.
“I have found a great deal of
useful information and a
supportive community.”
- Nigel B.
“This has kept me more up to
date on eBay topics than ever
before. It’s a great platform!”
- Brandy O.
“I’ve been more engaged
since Insiders launched.
Learning lots!”
- Kostas T.
“I’ve learnt a few things that I
would have never come
across otherwise.”
- Carol L.
“It’s a handy resource to
discuss with fellow affiliates,
as well as pick up some useful
tips and insights on EPN.”
- Talia K.
“Not only do we benefit from
information and advice but
we also get rewarded! Win-
win situation.”
- Nathan F.

15. • An advocacy program has
helped us improve the partner
experience in a scalable way.
• Advocates are an effective lever
for us to drive real business
results.
• Integrating advocacy deeply into
our marketing strategy helps us
test, validate and challenge ideas
and assumptions.
3 Key Takeaways