How To Reward Brand Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors are one of the most powerful assets any company can use to help grow its following—whether you’re seeking to grow sales or climb to the top of search engine rankings. Ambassadors are evangelists responsible for executing the most authentic form of marketing: word-of-mouth recommendations. Due to the significance of their contributions, businesses should understand how to reward brand ambassadors.
Research says that more than nine out of ten people rely heavily on word-of-mouth marketing over paid ads.
“92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising.” (NIELSEN)
Also, 40% of lead generation and traffic is earned only through paid media. That’s why it’s essential to build a healthy and strong relationship with your brand ambassadors and listen to their input to keep them happy. You need to reward your brand ambassadors because they form the most reliable way of generating a positive reputation for your brand on the internet.
The brand ambassador Role
It may not always seem like it, but being a brand ambassador is a job. Time and effort go into promoting products and offering authentic recommendations.
Good ambassadors spend time cultivating their audiences and earning the trust of their followers, and they deserve to be compensated for it.
What rewards do ambassadors want?
Brand ambassadors are an essential component to the success of many online retail businesses. No one does grassroots marketing better than they do.
By establishing personal ties, ambassadors collaborate with the brands they represent to build trust with potential consumers. The results are incredibly beneficial yet hard to reproduce. Thus, ecommerce needs brand ambassadors and should not have any issue with rewarding their advocates.
The following are the top four rewards ambassadors are most interested in receiving.
Recognition
Sometimes, the importance of acknowledgment to ambassadors can exceed that of almost anything else. You must acknowledge them on your social media platforms and websites by publicly or privately thanking them for their efforts to promote and endorse your brand.
Money Rewards
Monetary benefits are the foundation of many successful programs and rewards for brand ambassadors.
Companies frequently pay an ambassador a certain percentage or flat fee if a customer is referred to them and ultimately purchases a product or service.
Many brands increase the commission of ambassadors once specific milestones and goals are achieved.
Product discounts
Offering product discounts to brand ambassadors is a great way to reward them for their support. Giving brand ambassadors discounts on your products is a great way to thank them for their support and encourage them to stick with your brand.
One way to do this is by providing a unique discount code that ambassadors can use to purchase products at a reduced price. Having ambassadors share the discount code with their followers and friends also helps spread the word about the brand.
Another way to do this is by providing free products as a reward for reaching certain milestones or achieving specific goals. Giving free products as a reward acknowledges the efforts of brand ambassadors and promotes loyalty among them and their followers.
It’s important to note that the discounts or free products should be tailored to the preferences of the ambassadors and their audience, as this will increase the chances of the products being shared and talked about. Also, make sure to keep the terms and conditions of the discounts clear and easy to understand for the ambassadors and their followers.
Product rewards
One way to get people promoting your products is to offer rewards. Rewards also offer another advantage. Rewards help brands showcase their products through real UGC. At Roster, we have all the built-in product seeding and rewarding tools companies need to reward their ambassadors and get them promoting their products.
With Roster, ambassadors can choose their favorite products, making it easier for them to create genuine content that showcases your brand. And when ambassadors get to pick what they like, they’re more likely to be invested and excited about promoting your brand.
Additionally, brands can track their campaigns, manage inventory, and communicate with their ambassadors. The best part? Ambassadors can choose their products directly from their portal, making the whole process even simpler.
By empowering ambassadors to choose their favorite products, companies can inspire them to create and share captivating content. This user-generated content can help companies scale their rewards and increase brand awareness, resulting in a thriving community of brand advocates.
Exclusivity
The people who love and promote your products will often value exclusivity more than other ways of rewarding your brand ambassadors.
They want to be the first ones to know about and look at newly launched products and services. They want to receive VIP status at events organized by your brand, and they desire access to exclusive products or services that are not open to the public.
With these compensation categories in mind, take a moment to ask yourself if you’re ready to reward ambassadors for the work they accomplish. Then, take a second to look at what can happen if you’re not genuine in your support for their efforts.
These three rewards are basically a catch-all for other possible benefits.
As the perks of being a brand ambassador suggest, there are a wide variety of methods to thank and reward brand advocates.
Creative ideas for rewarding ambassadors
The key is to tailor rewards to the ambassadors and their audiences. Improve the chances of the products being shared and talked about by getting creative.
A list of 15 ways companies can reward or thank their brand ambassadors includes:
- Monetary compensation
- Free or discounted products
- Gift cards or vouchers
- Exclusive access or events
- Public recognition
- Contests or giveaways
- Bonuses or commission
- Influencer trips
- Swag bags
- Professional development opportunities
- Virtual parties or hangouts
- Social media features
- Personalized merchandise
- Charity Donations
- Role in the company’s video or ad campaign
In summary, companies can reward or thank their brand ambassadors in many creative ways. Ambassadors love receiving monetary incentives, exclusive access, recognition, and product discounts. How to reward brand ambassadors will depend on the specific goals and objectives of the program, as well as the preferences and interests of the ambassadors themselves.
One more thing, keep the terms and conditions of rewards clear and easy to understand for the ambassadors and their followers.
Pitfalls of rewarding
One of the most effective forms of advertising is the brand ambassador program. While there are not many downsides, some of the most debated and common snags are listed below.
Inorganic followers
Many brand ambassador programs have missed the opportunity to build a tightly-knit community of individuals who are interested in a single subject matter. Their inorganic growth is based on leveraging methods or marketing messages that don’t truly align with the brand or the benefits of their product or service.
The most vital point of a brand ambassador is their strong connection with their followers.
Fake endorsement
Ambassador marketing can only be successful if the target audience believes in the ambassador. The ambassador must have a genuine interest in the company’s success. It is evident if brand representatives don’t really use or even like the products. People are quite perceptive and will see through any hype or inflated advertising instantly.
Suppose a company asks brand ambassadors to promote a product that doesn’t seem organic to their genre. In that case, it could heavily backfire, as the ambassador’s followers would immediately pick up on the disingenuous promotion and lose trust in your brand.
For this reason, brands should avoid developing content creation guidelines that are too narrow or strict. Also, the affiliation needs to align.
When it comes to social posts and captions, let your ambassadors share the actual benefits as they see them.
Create guidelines for captions that give advocates room to adapt and tailor them to their audiences.
Selecting the wrong ambassadors
Trust is essential if a company is going to give its brand ambassadors a significant amount of autonomy.
They need to be confident that the ambassadors they’re working with are trustworthy and genuinely interested in promoting the product or service.
In such an environment, those who receive the benefits of this artistic freedom should reciprocate. For instance, reward brand ambassadors with money, freebies and recognition.
Get it right!
How can your brand find the right ambassadors to endorse your products or services correctly?
Because they genuinely care about the company, brand ambassadors engage customers for longer periods of time, provide more content, and drive more sales. Every business needs to know how to discover brand ambassadors.
Some of the most common ways to find ambassadors are the following:
- Host a recruitment form on your website.
- Send an email announcing your ambassador program.
- Encourage customers to join by including invites in post-purchase emails.
- Put a banner in every email you send.
- Announce the ambassador program on social media.
- Feature ambassadors in your Instagram story highlights.
- Use package inserts to promote your brand community.
If you’re interested in learning more, we have a great article on how to find brand ambassadors.
Roster helps hundreds of industry leaders capitalize on the power of their most devoted supporters, buyers, brand advocates, content providers, and affiliates. Sign up for a demo below to see how Roster can revolutionize your marketing.
Support those who support you!
It’s just good business. Rewarding brand ambassadors through recognition, money, free product, and other incentives is a great way to long-term partnership. But a committed brand ambassador is truly cared for when companies have a robust right platform to manage the relationship. Roster’s ambassador portal is the one-stop destination for the best brand ambassadors and the companies looking for them.
Learn how to run a successful brand ambassador program and reward your evangelists – click below.
