Advocacy Accelerator: Building a Foundation | CMA Podcast

About this Episode

Featured Guest: Maria Sturgeon

This episode is part of the Advocacy Accelerator series. In this episode, Stripe’s Maria Sturgeon and Alison share how to build a solid foundation for advocacy — setting strategy, aligning stakeholders, and planning for long-term impact.

Launching or scaling a customer advocacy program takes more than enthusiasm and good intentions — it requires thoughtful planning, strategic alignment, and a clear vision for long-term impact. In this episode of the Advocacy Accelerator Series, Alison sits down with Maria Sturgeon from Stripe to unpack what it really takes to build a strong, sustainable foundation for customer advocacy.

This conversation is designed for customer marketers, advocacy leaders, and community builders who are either starting from scratch or looking to evolve an existing program into something more strategic, scalable, and impactful.

What This Episode Covers

Planning is often underestimated in advocacy programs, yet it’s the difference between reactive, one-off engagement and a mature program that delivers value to both the business and its customers. In this episode, Maria shares real-world insights and practical guidance on how to approach advocacy planning with intention and clarity.

Listeners will learn how to:

• Define a clear advocacy strategy
  Understand how advocacy fits into your broader customer marketing and go-to-market strategy, and why alignment at the outset is critical.
• Align internal stakeholders early
  Learn how to bring sales, marketing, customer success, and leadership into the conversation so advocacy isn’t siloed — but supported.
• Plan for long-term impact, not short-term wins
  Explore how to build a program that grows with your customers and your organization, rather than one that burns out advocates or internal teams.
• Set realistic expectations and goals
  Maria discusses how to balance ambition with feasibility, especially when resources, headcount, or buy-in may be limited.
• Create a foundation that scales
  From process to measurement, this episode highlights the building blocks that allow advocacy programs to mature over time.

Why Planning Matters in Customer Advocacy

Customer advocacy is often misunderstood as simply asking customers for references, reviews, or testimonials. In reality, the most effective advocacy programs are rooted in trust, mutual value, and intentional engagement. Without proper planning, programs risk becoming transactional, inconsistent, or difficult to scale.

Whether you’re in the early planning stages or reassessing an existing program, this conversation will help you think more strategically about how advocacy fits into your organization’s long-term success.

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