Ask a netizen to take a digital detox, and it will freak them out about not being able to scroll through their Instagram feed all day. But as we see an increase in online content consumption, we also see that millennials prefer viewing and trusting only authentic influencer content. A recent report suggests that 1 out of 3 millennials uses an ad blocker. This signals a clear shift towards developing valuable content using influencer marketing or a brand ambassador program.
What is a Brand Ambassador Program?
Brand ambassador programs are marketing campaigns where an influential personality is employed to represent a brand in a positive light on different marketing channels. Brand ambassador programs work towards achieving goals like increasing brand awareness and sales. The key difference between a brand ambassador program and an influencer marketing campaign is that the former usually works on a long-term partnership. Many new-age D2C brands are offering their most successful influencers a chance to turn into brand ambassadors for them. Since, in this case, the influencer ends up working exclusively for your brand, practicing brand-safe influencer marketing becomes extremely crucial to ensure that the content is free of controversies.
Benefits of a Brand Ambassador Program:
Brand Ambassadors are Trustworthy
Brand ambassadors are trusted resources who share their personal experiences of using a product or service with their followers. This can help you create brand awareness effectively, especially in a new market area where your brand is unknown.
Brand Ambassadors are Authentic
Ambassadors are believed to promote only those brands or products that they love. Hence, their communication is an authentic version of their personal experience without being too sales-y.
Brand Ambassadors are Content Curators
Once you furnish your brand ambassador with your product information and USPs, they can create engaging content in their distinct style (that their followers love) and share it online on social media, blogs, videos, etc.
Brand Ambassadors are Authoritative Buzz Creators
By signing a brand ambassador, you automatically get access to their massive followership on social media. Brand ambassadors are highly persuasive and hence can help you expand your market share exponentially.
Brand Ambassadors are Your Critics
A brand ambassador partners with your brand because their values match that of the brand. Hence, they become great testers and feedback givers who can help you make critical improvements in your product or marketing style.
Brand Ambassadors can be Cost-Effective
Brand ambassadors are always willing to give a shoutout to your brand. The ROI of brand ambassador programs is high and worth every penny. Plus, payments are always based on results.
How To Create a Successful Brand Ambassador Program?
Find Your True Brand Ambassador
“To the customer, the brand ambassador is the company,” says Shep Hyken, the customer service, and experience expert. Hence, the person should be a true brand advocate as they will represent your brand on all public platforms. Find influencers whose followers are already engaging with your brand and reach out to them. You can also create a program with an application process to have potential influencers reach out to you.
Set Strategic Goals
Knowing your brand goals beforehand also helps you find the right brand ambassador that can achieve those goals. For instance, your goal could be to raise brand awareness using specific campaign hashtags like Adidas’s latest #ImpossibleIsNothing campaign with its brand ambassadors. It could also be to drive sales by using tracking links and UTM parameters to calculate the sales that happen through the brand ambassador.
Establish Standardized Criteria for Brand Ambassadors
Defining a criterion in your brand ambassador program application process will help you screen only relevant influencers. To draw a quick inspiration from a clean food brand, let’s look at the criteria mentioned in their influencer program called The Whole Truth Sayers. It was simple – ‘You should be an honest influencer with real expertise in nutrition whom we can follow for honest opinions and guidance.’
Create and Adhere to Brand Ambassador Guidelines
It is good to familiarize your brand ambassadors with a style guide and a set of expectations while promoting the brand, which could be to voice out their authentic opinion on the subject matter, not sound too sales-y, or to not badmouth competitors. You can send them guidelines on the correct usage of hashtags in their social media posts. Always vet their content before or after it goes live.
Empower Your Ambassadors
When you sign a contract with a brand ambassador, you enter a long work relationship with them. So, it is important to promote them on your media channels, incentivize them with freebies and financial compensation, and empower them with the freedom of posting content in their style.
Track the Program Performance
Like everything else, you need to track the progress of your brand ambassador marketing campaigns. Keep an eye on the views, likes, comments, shares, and reposts. Also, track the attributed revenue that comes through brand ambassadors if your goal is to achieve higher sales.
Identify your true brand ambassadors and reach out to them to leverage their authority and fan-following on social media. Brand ambassadors and influencers are already passionate about your brand and its values, so why not take it up a notch by working on a successful influencer marketing campaign that can accelerate your brand’s awareness and market share!
