Hey all,
Happy Sunday from NYC.
Here's a fun data point from July: “customer creator program” was the single most requested build we got at Knight Vision. Founders and marketers gearing up for the “great fall push” are ready to pour gas on their growth engines.
What we build: a growth pillar that turns your customers into a content + distribution engine. In other words, we turn the people who already use and understand your product into the people who create content about it and distribute that content to everyone else online.
Every creator in a KV program (minus meme accounts) is already a customer or user of the product. And if someone we want to work with isn't already using the tool, migrating them onto it is a requirement before we ever talk content.
High-volume authenticity is the goal, especially in B2B, where your buyer can smell a creator who's never touched your product from a mile away.
So the split in this program isn't “customers vs. paid outside creators.” The focus is inside your customer base itself: creators who bring big reach (a following that puts your product in front of new eyes) and creators who bring none at all and are normal customers who are active, honest, and willing to talk.
You need both.
A program built entirely on people with big followings feels like an ad campaign. A program built entirely on normies has no reach.
The mix is the unlock.
Important: You’ll incenvize these people with cash compensation, usage credits, insider perks, publicity and more to become “customer creators”. Relationship building is key here, which is why most high-growth startups want to outsource this build (its a lot of work and communication).
Here's exactly why startups are pouring firepower into building this right now, before Q4 hits, and how to do it.
Why This Growth Engine is Hot
A customer creator program does four super net-positive things simultaneously:
Hands you distribution through the customers who already have reach
Gives you social proof that feels organic and is real
Builds you a group of super users to work with closely (example: can A/B test new products with them)
Becomes another always-on content engine
Smart operators are building for all four with the same core group of customers.
Let's break each one down.
1. Distribution
Find your customers who already have a following inside your exact ICP (it could be under 10k, that’s still something for most B2B verticals)
When one of these customers posts about your product, the audience is already filtered by industry, role, and budget, because that's who they work.
This is the same principle behind why B2B creators compress the funnel fast, except here it's baked in twice over: they already trust the product, and their audience already trusts them.
Not every customer has followers, that's 100% fine. This is the smaller half of the mix. You're looking for people who are deep in your industry, showing early signs of being a power user or someone you just want to build with.
What to do:
Pull your list of customers who are active on LinkedIn, X, or a niche community your ICP lives in, flag who already has a noteworthy following
Ask the ones already posting organically if they want to build together
If someone outside your customer base has the reach you want, migrate them onto the product first. No exceptions, even for a big account!!
People want to hear from others who have used + love your product.
This is the same logic behind good customer features in startup launch videos. But now you're building a pipeline of customer videos vs chasing one or two stories per quarter as a side project.
Build your pipeline of content:
Set up a rolling ask: every time a customer hits a real milestone (renewal, expansion, a big win using your product), set up an automation that flags it to you + ask them to participate in a customer creator post
Turn these into video, posts that are boosted or long-form content for YouTube (great for LLMs)
Feed these into paid, organic, a section on your website that auto updates, and even sales decks. Customer stories should never be one-and-done.
3. Your Elite Beta Group
Every company needs a group of customers who will try out your product and tell you the truth before you ship something to everyone.
What to do:
Pick 15-25 customers who are power users (not just big accounts)
Give them first access to anything new, in exchange for direct feedback before public launch
Treat this like a real program (not a Slack channel that ppl don’t write in). Set a cadence: monthly calls, a private feed, whatever keeps them close. I literally text top creators at our portcos, people are most responsive this way.
This group becomes your fastest, cheapest way to validate a pivot or a new feature. It also makes them super sticky, engaged customers who will ride or die for your company.
4. The Power is in VOLUME
The volume problem in content never goes away. UGC is a pillar example that solved this for B2C. Customer creator programs is a similar solve for B2B.
This is where the normie half of your mix earns its keep! You don't need a following to be valuable here, you just need to be real and within the ICP. FYI: the combo of a good product + strong customer will inevitably grow their following if you test enough content.
Once you have a group of activated customers, you have a supply of content that lives and breathes alongside your produce roadmap: screen recordings, workflow walkthroughs, wins, feedback you can throw into your growth engine.
This is completely different from a UGC engine where you're briefing paid creators with a script. These are your customers!!!
Well, How'd I Do?
Customer creator programs are hot hot hot. This build turns existing customers (big followings and normies), into distribution, proof, product feedback, and content, all at once.
They prove over and over your product is alive, growing and servicing a legit need in the market.
Make a list of your top 20-200 customers this week. That list is a new content pillar and staple in your fall growth engine.
I hope you have an incredible week ahead.
Julia
