What Is Brand Ambassador Marketing?
Is your company trying to increase brand awareness or drive more sales? If so, then you should be looking into the benefits of using a brand ambassador marketing strategy.
Brand ambassador marketing is an excellent way to reach out and connect with potential customers. It's also a great way to spread the word about new products and services that are on the market!
In this blog post, we will discuss what brand ambassadors can do for your business, the different types of brand ambassadors you can choose from, and the challenges that this type of marketing may pose.
What Is Brand Ambassador Marketing?
Let's start by making a distinction between brand ambassador marketing and traditional advertising, like radio and TV spots.
See. while you can certainly use radio or television commercials for your business (and I'm sure they would be very effective), it doesn't really create an emotional connection with the consumer on a personal level.
In contrast, brand ambassador marketing does just that.
Instead of using a traditional ad or commercial, businesses will send out brand ambassadors to promote their business and interact with potential customers. These individuals can be college students, employees from the company itself (like you!), family members, friends... literally anyone who is enthusiastic about your brand!
Why It's a Beneficial Marketing Strategy
In terms of marketing, there are a ton of benefits to using brand ambassador strategies. Here's just a few:
It creates an emotional connection with the consumer by having someone personally explain how much they love your product or service in their own words. It allows for more interaction and dialogue between you, your company, and potential customers!
It creates a community and a sense of belonging. Customers will feel like they're part of something and that your company cares about them as an individual person!
It can be used to increase brand awareness among potential customers who have never heard of you before, and it's also great for promoting new products or services.
Different Types of Ambassadors
So, what is it that makes brand ambassadors so great?
Well, for one thing, they are real people. That means you can get them to talk about their experiences with your product or service in a natural way!
They will also be able to meet and greet customers on the street/in stores/wherever else you want them to be. That means you can have them talk to customers one-on-one or in small groups, taking the time to get a better understanding of their thoughts and opinions.
See how valuable that is? Why would someone want to listen to an advertisement when they could hear it straight from your brand ambassador?!
There are the main types of brand ambassadors that you can choose from when deciding what type of ambassador is right for your business:
Influencers
These are usually individuals who have a large following on social media.
They have enormous amounts of influence over others, particularly when it comes to influencing buying decisions or brand loyalty.
You can think of influencers as the modern-day celebrity endorsers that you see in TV commercials and magazine ads! Because they're such powerful figures within their own community, they can really help you promote your company and increase awareness about it.
There are a couple of different ways to work with influencers depending on what type of business or product you have.
If the person is popular among a younger demographic, for example, then perhaps there's an opportunity to get them involved in some sort of contest through social media.
2. Microinfluencers
You may have heard of the term "microblogging".
This is what microinfluencers are all about.
Instead of having a really large following on social media, they usually will only have around 100 to 500 followers on any given platform (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram...). However despite their small numbers when compared to influencers, they are still capable of having a significant impact on your business.
They may not have as much influence over their followers, but microinfluencers do control the narrative in certain communities about specific topics or products. Plus, since they're more niche than influencers, it's easier to find them and connect with them!
3. Customers
When all else fails, it's always a good idea to have your actual customers promote your business!
They are by far the most valuable brand ambassadors you can get because they know first-hand what it's like to buy and use your product.
And since they don't work for (or with) your company in any official capacity, customers are usually more than happy to talk about your brand.
4. Employees
We talked about getting your employees involved with brand ambassador marketing earlier, but we didn't talk specifically about the ways you can use them.
The first thing to keep in mind is that they already have a close relationship with customers and clients!
It's also important to note that not all of these individuals will be able to go out on the streets and communicate with potential customers.
Some employees, particularly those who work behind the scenes at a company (like IT or customer service), may not have that much interaction with people from outside of your business.
Potential Challenges of Ambassador Marketing
This is something that you may not have thought about before, but there are definitely some issues concerning ambassadors and your brand.
Costs
For instance, people who work in public relations or marketing might be tempted to use social media influencers instead of customer advocates for their campaigns. While it's true that they're very powerful figures online (and can help bring in a lot of awareness about your business), their cost can become prohibitive for people on smaller budgets.
2. Reputation
Another potential challenge is that ambassadors can do damage to your business if they don't represent it properly. If the person doesn't actually love or use your product, then you're basically asking them to lie about how much they like it!
Another issue that you'll want to consider is the fact that they really don't have any authority or official power within your organization. That's why it's so important to make sure you find ambassadors who are completely trustworthy and reliable.
3. Over-representation
Lastly, it's important not to try and overdo brand ambassador marketing. For example, if you have a ton of ambassadors promoting your business all at once then people are likely going to get overwhelmed by them!
Just think about the last time that you saw an ad for something on TV or online -- didn't it kind of ruin the entire experience?
Don't let your ambassadors do this to potential customers or clients. Again, it should be about moderation when you're thinking about how many people are pushing your company's name out into the world.