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October 14, 2025 33 mins

Want your referral program to succeed? 

Start with the foundation first. Make sure your product infrastructure is solid and can handle growth before you launch.

In this episode, we're excited to welcome Ashley Stead, Director, Growth Product at Nesto Group, a leading Canadian tech company building the mortgage ecosystem of the future. With over 15 years of experience spanning product management, UX research, marketing, and operations, Ashley brings a unique full-stack perspective to customer marketing and advocacy initiatives.

In this episode, Ashley and our host Will Fraser dive into what it means to think about advocacy as infrastructure rather than one-off campaigns. Ashley shares her framework for creating product-led advocacy programs that integrate seamlessly into the customer journey. 

From understanding the "micro-yeses" approach to breaking down complex customer paths, to navigating build vs. buy decisions and fostering collaboration between marketing and development teams, this conversation is packed with practical insights.

In this episode, you'll discover:

How to map customer journeys and identify the right moments for advocacy messaging without competing with other business priorities. 

  • The framework for deciding when to build custom solutions versus buying existing platforms, and how to create hybrid approaches. 
  • Strategies for empowering marketing teams to move quickly while keeping technical infrastructure robust and scalable. 
  • The importance of breaking down big conversions into micro-yeses and understanding the data behind each step. 
  • How to use AI tools and prompts to become more full-stack in your marketing role, even without technical resources.

Listen to this episode to hear more about how infrastructure thinking can transform your advocacy programs and help you avoid the common mistakes marketers make with referral programs. 

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-stead/

AI prompt from Ashley: The Advocacy Channel | Season 2 Episode 9 AI Prompt

Connect with us: 

  • Get more customer marketing insights and strategies at impact.com/blog/ 
  • Connect with host Will on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wifraser/ 
  • Have a question? Suggestion? Email us at advocacychannel@impact.com

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