Customer advisory boards: A marketer's secret weapon

Let me tell you about a time when messaging nearly derailed a tier-one launch at LinkedIn.

I'd just joined the team, and we were rolling out a new product for our talent solutions business. The product had already been rolled out to certain segments, but something was off. Really off. 

After digging around and talking to people internally, the problem became crystal clear: our messaging wasn't landing. And when you're dealing with a tier-one launch in a $3 billion business unit, that's not exactly the kind of problem you can sweep under the rug.

Here's where things got interesting. At LinkedIn, we met with our customer advisory boards (CABs) every quarter. We’d already segmented our CABs into two key groups: staffing agencies and internal recruiters – two very different beasts with very different needs. And marketing had a seat at that table.

So, I jumped on the next agenda, presented different messaging concepts, and got real, unfiltered feedback about what worked and what absolutely didn't. The result? A 20% lift in customer satisfaction scores. 

That's the power of a well-run customer advisory board. If you're not tapping into this resource yet, you're missing out on one of the most valuable tools in your marketing arsenal.

What exactly is a customer advisory board? (And what isn't it?)

Before we dive deeper, let's make sure we’re clear on what exactly a customer advisory board is. A CAB is essentially your top customers meeting with you regularly to provide feedback and help guide your direction. Think of it as having your most valuable customers on speed dial, except better.

Here's what it's not:

• It's not a focus group where you gather target customers for a one-off project.
• It's definitely not a sales pitch. 
• It's not a one-time meeting about a topic you'll never revisit.

Instead, a CAB is a structured forum with a specific cadence and executive presence. It's a genuine two-way dialogue where your customers and management often co-own the agenda. 

It's strategic, it's ongoing, and when done right, it becomes an incredible trust-building machine that eventually creates a community of advocates.

Who gets a seat at the table?

The internal side of a CAB typically looks something like this:

• Someone from product leadership
• An executive sponsor (often your founder or CEO, though they might not attend every meeting)
• Someone from sales leadership
• Marketing leadership (sometimes separate from customer and product marketing)
• A program owner to keep everything running smoothly

And then there's you – the marketer. You may not personally have a physical seat at every meeting, but it’s important that someone from the product marketing team does. That way, you can use CAB insights to shape your key initiatives.

Real-world wins: How CABs shaped product strategy at Zoom and Intuit

Let me share a few more stories about how CABs have directly impacted marketing success.

The Zoom security perception challenge

At Zoom, I led go-to-market for the app marketplace – over 2,000 apps working within the Zoom platform. Sounds impressive, right? But we had a problem. 

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) weren't comfortable approving third-party apps for their companies. The marketplace was an open ecosystem, meaning anyone could build. We had a review process, sure, but CISOs either didn't know about it or didn't trust it enough.

The product team thought we needed credibility badges in the marketplace for specific partners. That made sense on paper, so we presented this idea to the CAB. Their response: "We don't need badges. We need to understand your review process for publishing apps."

That feedback completely reshaped our strategy. Instead of building a badge system nobody wanted, we created targeted content for CISOs and our internal sales teams. The CAB saved us from building the wrong solution and pointed us toward what customers actually needed.

Building a challenger brand in Australia

My experience at Intuit taught me something different about CABs. When I convinced them to send me to Australia, I discovered something interesting – Intuit was a challenger brand there, not the champion we were used to being in other markets.

The local team was just 15 people trying to compete against established players like Xero. We had a CAB, but it was entirely focused on training. Members would learn QuickBooks features, practice workflows, and not much beyond that. 

From talking to CAB members, I discovered that they didn't want more training. They wanted to be out there, in front of other customers, advocating for the product. They were already huge fans – we just hadn't given them the platform to share that enthusiasm.

So, we shifted the entire focus. Instead of training sessions, we turned these customers into speakers at events. Instead of me presenting about QuickBooks, actual users shared their stories. 

As a result, we improved CAB member engagement by 15% and built credibility in a market where we desperately needed it.

When should your company consider a customer advisory board?

I learned this framework from Irene Yam, a dear friend and industry expert who literally wrote the book on CABs. According to her research, you should consider forming a CAB if the majority of these points apply to your business:

1. Strategic feedback needs: If you’re going through a major transformation, you need customer input to guide that journey.
2. Customer desire for executive engagement: Sometimes, your customers want deeper relationships with your leadership team. 
3. Major milestones: Launching into new markets, major product pivots, significant acquisitions – these all benefit from structured customer input.
4. Mixed signals in the market: When focus groups aren't cutting it, and you're getting conflicting feedback from different channels, a CAB can provide clarity.
5. Need for deeper engagement: Some customers want more than quarterly business reviews; they want to help shape your future.
6. Data without context: You see the numbers but can't explain the "why" behind them. CABs are great for providing that missing context.

If most of these points resonate, it's probably time to push for a CAB.

Think of those pain points we all face: not being brought into strategy discussions early enough, struggling with cross-functional alignment, and trying to get product and marketing teams on the same page. A well-run CAB addresses all of these challenges and more.

Your action plan: What you can do today

If you’re not already involved with a CAB, you probably should be. So, let's talk about what you can do, starting right now.

If your company has a CAB

1. Find out who owns it and who participates.
2. Understand the typical agenda and meeting cadence.
3. Learn which customer segments are represented.
4. Ask for insights from recent meetings (even if you can't attend).
5. Identify opportunities to get your initiatives on the agenda.

If your company doesn't have a CAB

1. Use the framework I shared to assess if now's the right time to create one.
2. Connect with leadership about the possibility.
3. Position yourself as someone who wants to be involved when the CAB is formed.
4. Start building relationships with key customers who could be future CAB members.

You don't need to sit in on every meeting to benefit. Even getting secondhand insights from your manager or colleagues can inform your strategy. The point is to be aware, be strategic, and make CABs your secret weapon.

This article is based on Sharon's brilliant talk at the Product Marketing Summit, San Francisco.

Want the blueprint for a CAB that drives major business growth? Check out Customer Advisory Boards Certified – included in Pro+ membership.