Product Evangelism: How to Evangelize and Create Advocates

Want to create an intensely loyal fan base for your product?

Wondering how a product evangelist can help?

To explore how product evangelism supports the sales process, I interview Guy Kawasaki.
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The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers, business owners, and creators discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I interview Guy Kawasaki, the chief evangelist at Canva, a brand ambassador for Mercedes, and formerly the evangelist for Apple Computer. He's written many books including The Art of the Start and Enchantment. His new course is called The Art of Evangelism: How to Promote Your Product, Service, Company, or Idea.

Guy explains the benefits of evangelism.

You'll discover the most powerful tool for an evangelist.

Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below.
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Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
Product Evangelism
Evangelizing for Apple

Guy started working for Apple around 1983 or 1984, during the introduction of the Macintosh computer. As a software evangelist, his job was to convince developers to write Macintosh software and peripherals.

Apple used the term evangelism because the company viewed Macintosh as not merely another personal computer platform, but as good news. "Evangelism" comes from Greek, meaning "bringing the good news," so Guy brought the good news of Macintosh to developers and explained how it would, in the words of Steve Jobs, "dent the universe."

Initially, the response was enthusiastic because Macintosh was so different from the Apple II and the IBM PC. Macintosh offered a way for many developers to write the software they always wished they could use. The graphic user interface and color provided a brand-new palette.

After the positive initial reaction, the honeymoon period wore off. Developers found writing Macintosh software difficult because they lacked tools and documentation. Anyone who was used to developing 80x24 column-based software had to work with MacPaint and MacWrite. Also, developing for a graphical user interface required a completely different mindset.

Guy explains how his background in jewelry sales (an intensely personal business) helped him with evangelism for Macintosh. Because Macintosh was new technology, it required the suspension of disbelief. People needed to believe this new personal computer platform could succeed. Instilling developers with that belief is also a very personal interaction.

Today, the concept of evangelism is similar to how it was back then, whether you're creating graphics with Canva or computing with Macintosh. The difference is a product evangelist has so many more tools now. There's social media, video conferencing, all kinds of things that break down distance, barriers, and costs.

Listen to the show to learn what tools Guy had for evangelism back in the day.

Benefits of Evangelism

The difference between evangelism and sales is an evangelist typically has the other person's best interest at heart. It's not about fulfilling a sales quota and earning commission.

When Guy worked for Apple and asked people to support Macintosh, he believed it would empower them and add a new line of revenue to their businesses. Today, as the evangelist for Canva, when Guy asks people to use it, he truly believes it will make them better graphic designers and enable them to create graphics that will increase their effectiveness as a communicator.

If someone uses Canva, bought a Macintosh, or wrote Macintosh software, it was good for him, Guy adds. However, it was also good for the other party. That's the crucial difference between evangelism and sales. Guy also emphasizes that evangelism requires a great product.

Today, social media makes product evangelism fast, free, and easy.