How To Drive A Winning Brand Ambassador Program

 

 

 

 

In the last several years, interest in influencer marketing has only been eclipsed by one other marketing strategy: brand ambassadors.

A brand ambassador program involves reactivating top-performing influencers over a longer-term period of time and on a regular basis. These programs allow marketers to establish stronger partnerships with content creators who truly believe in their brand and empower them to build consistent trust with the creators’ audiences. 

The beauty of ambassador programs is that you can leverage the full spectrum of influence, from mega-influencers who are big names with a big reach, to micro-influencers who create quality content at scale, to advocates and loyalists who are passionate about your brand already. Ambassador earnings will vary between brands, but Indeed.com notes that a salary for brand ambassadors, which fluctuates daily, sits around $18 per hour.

With these powers combined…!

When brands grow their ambassador programs, they can unlock even more value as ambassadors become advocates and long-term fans of the brand — as long as it’s a positive relationship and business partnership. The benefit is clear: not only do ambassador programs provide a consistent lift through content, but they also allow brands to maximize the use of that content by repurposing across the brand’s owned channels —  social, their website, and emails — making the efficacy and efficiency of ambassador programs especially high.

Full steam ahead, ambassador!

Your secret weapon for ambassador programs? The tried and true triple threat: your micro-influencer network. They’re the perfect long-term partner to create supplementary content and can generate more engagement and exposure for your brand. Plenty of creators have already jumped on the bandwagon for this win-win partnership opportunity, and many more are ready to get involved.

The good news is that creators are looking for more opportunities to partner with brands, and ambassador programs are a sure-fire way to utilize their talent and reach. In a recent Mavrck survey of 317 content creators, 84% of respondents say that they’d be eager to team up with brands for long-term ambassador partnerships right now. Of those creators, 60% self-identify as part-time creators.

But here’s the question: how do you set up a successful brand ambassador program? 

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3…

Define your objectives

First, determine what brand or business objective(s) you need your ambassador program to contribute to, and then define the KPI goals for how you will get there.

Determine your incentive strategy

• • Incentive Timing: give incentives before content creation, after, or both.
  • Incentive Mechanic: Activity-based (e.g. creation of a post), performance-based (e.g. engagements, clicks, conversions), or both.
  • Incentive Type: Product, gift cards, loyalty points, VIP experience, cash, affiliate commission, or a combination of several types. 

Identify your brand’s ambassador persona

• • • • Top-Performing Influencers: Run multiple campaigns and evaluate top performers to invite.
      • Customer Base: Recruit from brand-owned touchpoints to leverage organic brand passion from loyal customers.
      • Brand Employees/Associates: Send invitations to employees and promote the program on your brand’s internal site.

Invite ambassadors to apply to your program

• • • • Invite and vet potential ambassadors. Identify what each ambassador would bring to the table. The ambassador pool should be diverse. 
      • Once ambassadors have been selected, provide them with the onboarding documents. This can be done with a kick-off meeting in person or virtually.

Maintain a consistent program cadence

• • • • Brief ambassadors each month (or on a regular cadence) to request content by certain deadlines.
      • Evaluate ambassador performance throughout the program. If certain influencers do not post, consider removing them and inviting a different content creator to join. 

Aim for clear communication

The more communication with ambassadors, the better relationships you build. Make sure to send:

• • • • A welcome email
      • Brief/instructions email (mapping to your objectives)
      • Photography/posting tips
      • Reminder emails with brief attached
      • “Thank you” email after content creation, including a survey link to collect feedback

Always measure success

• • • • Evaluate KPIs: How is your ambassador program performing relative to the goals you set?
      • Deepen Analysis of Success: Use any current tools or modeling your brand already has in place to deepen your analysis of success.
      • Post-Campaign Survey: After the campaign is complete, send a survey to gain feedback from your ambassadors to optimize the program.

But keep in mind: ambassador programs are more than just content creation. Brand ambassadors are excellent content creators, but can also be used across the consumer journey to drive ratings, reviews, and referrals, deliver creative or campaign feedback, or even participate in consumer panels.

Rosefield’s ambassadors make waves

We love a success story! We’re so inspired by the winning ambassador program from Rosefield, which wanted to prioritize and emphasize its consumers’ organic and authentic brand passion. By leveraging Mavrck’s platform, Rosefield developed an ambassador community of consumers who loved their iconic brand. 

In addition to incentivizing ambassadors with exclusive access to new products, Rosefield rewarded high-performing influencers, advocates, and referrers with points, which were managed and redeemed for store credit via the Rosefield community microsite on its brand.com.

Rosefield’s collaboration with Mavrck on an ambassador program took them to new heights with a 167% return on influencer spending, a 400% increase in sales directly attributed to influencer marketing, double their usual conversion rates from influencer referral traffic, a 700% increase in monthly impressions, and an ambassador community over 70,000 creators strong. This wildly successful program execution is why we love ambassador programs — and we can help you devise a strategy that crushes your goals too!

Key points: 

• • • If you’re already activating creators for branded content, take your partnerships to the next level up by offering a long-term ambassador opportunity. 
    • Micro-influencers are particularly fueled by potential monetary earnings and will be your greatest asset when you combine their loyal niche audience with an ambassador opportunity, resulting in consistent exposure to your brand.
    • Brands looking to upgrade their influencer programs should consider introducing new touchpoints that can build stronger relationships with creators, bring them deeper into the brand’s business, and support them in their endeavors.
    • To enhance your ambassador program and grow your brand reach, set up a demo with us to discuss your ideas.