HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Turn Influential Customers Into Champions

Turn Influential Customers Into Champions is a partnerships & affiliates tactic for getting your first users: Identify the people who already carry weight with your target community, partner with them deeply, and amplify the credibility they generate. This includes power users, marquee customers, and aligned brands.

It's a strong fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, and Newsletters / media teams, and works especially well for consumer mobile apps, B2B SaaS, creator brands. As a partnerships & affiliates play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 5 linked primary sources.

Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effortSlow

Why does partnerships & affiliates work for this?

Endorsements from real, identifiable people are far more credible than anonymous testimonials, and a co-created asset that reflects a respected partner can go viral and keep working for years.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

Unlock the steps · $29 oncePlus all 3,000+ tactics and the new ones we add weekly.

Sources

Works for
B2B SaaSConsumer / mobile appsNewsletters / media

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Turn Influential Customers Into Champions" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for B2B SaaS, Consumer / mobile apps, and Newsletters / media — pick it when your product looks like one of those, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Turn Influential Customers Into Champions" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 5 primary sources — real founder write-ups and interviews, not generic advice. They are linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original accounts yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Reddit Marketing Blueprint and Tezza $33M/Year with Zero Ads, is in the paid library.

Related tactics

Partnerships & affiliatesLow effort· Slow

Sponsor Niche Podcasts and Newsletters

Place paid reads and sponsorships in tightly-targeted shows and newsletters to plant your brand with high-intent audiences, even when clicks don't track cleanly.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Bake A Two-Sided Referral Into Onboarding

A referral mechanic wired directly into the product experience that rewards both the existing customer and the friend they bring, triggered automatically once a user is happy.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Turn Creators Into Co-Founders and Distribution Partners

Aligning incentives so a creator (or audience aggregator) is bonded to your outcome, either as a revenue/profit-sharing content co-founder or as a partner who already owns your buyers.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Slow

Gift Product Instead of Buying Ads

Seed your product free to a wide pyramid of creators so their authentic posts do the selling, often a better use of money than paid media.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesMedium effort· Medium

Recruit Affiliates to Post Authentic Demo Reels

Partner with creators and affiliates who use the product and post their own experience as Reels, some of which went viral with over a million views each.

Read the steps →
Partnerships & affiliatesHigh effort· Medium

Pay Bounties Only for Verified Active Users

Recruited outside growth hackers and affiliates and paid them per result, but only once a referred user crossed a real in-product engagement bar, not on raw signup.

Read the steps →

Get all 3,000+ tactics in one place

Filter by your product and channel, follow the exact steps, and get the new tactics we add every week. One payment, yours for good.

Unlock for $29 onceBrowse by channel