What is a Brand Ambassador?

A brand ambassador or brand influencer is someone that harnesses their social influence to bring their audience and brand together organically and authentically. There are now many instances where you see this on social media platforms such as Instagram.

In today’s ever-changing consumer market, customers turn to recommendations when they buy products and services, so this medium has never been more important. The vital factor in these partnerships is credibility and authenticity.

So what does it take to become a brand ambassador?

Being an influencer typically involves:

Building trust

Most influencers and brand ambassadors build up a following on social media platforms due to their engaging and authentic personas. People with a large following typically have built this over time and have an engaged audience to tap into.

Creativity

The beauty of influencers is that they bring their own creativity to the table. When this matches a brand’s message, great things can happen. The creative freedom that these individuals have makes them more authentic and drives consumer interest in the latest features and messages on their platform.

Being relevant

Becoming a brand ambassador often involves having a niche. Many people with large followings focus on specific topics such as family, fashion or travel, etc. For example, if someone wanted to become a Go2 brand partner, they would generally focus on fitness or wellbeing to ensure relevancy.

What does a brand look for when using brand ambassadors?

Whether you want to work with an influencer on a one-off campaign or long-term project, there are several things to consider, including:

Design a campaign to match your brand message

While ambassadors of a brand have creative input into the outcomes of a marketing campaign and how they feature it, an initial plan has to be in place to get the right message out there. An influencer campaign will ensure everyone is on the same page and structures the content to meet the expectations of the promotion.

Think about the numbers

Long gone are the days of only focusing on influencers that have a large following. While this can be a relevant metric, engagement is an accurate representation of how influential someone is. Many potential brand ambassadors will be able to show you metrics of their following and engagement level, which can help decide whether they are a good fit for your company. Don’t rule out smaller influencers in your niche either, as they tend to have a high engagement level with their audience.

Measure campaign success

Monitoring and measuring campaign success is vital for any brand ambassador or influencer promotion. You can typically measure KPIs in several ways and keep in mind aspects such as whether the campaign went as expected or how much traction did it generate. Using personalized codes or URLs is a great way to monitor traffic from marketing campaigns, as you can attribute directly to that metric. However, there are many variables, and testing different methods is key to find the right balance in your influencer campaign success rates.