What Is a Brand Ambassador Program and Its Dazzling Benefits

Competition in the online retail sector has heated up during the past decade. With over 20 million online retailers and counting, companies need a way to differentiate themselves from the crowd. No wonder so many ecommerce retailers need to know what a brand ambassador program is.

More later, but a brand ambassador program is a highly effective, affordable strategy to get your name out there. Millions of ambassadors with a devoted online following are being enlisted in a new breed of marketing initiatives.

What is a brand ambassador program?

A brand ambassador program is a way for a company to promote its products and services by getting people with a lot of social clout to act as their representatives. By taking part in online and offline community activities, people with a lot of influence can spread word of mouth.

The foundation of this marketing strategy utilizes an unpaid workforce of people who are enthusiastic about your company’s products. Although some of the best brand ambassador program members are existing customers, many other sources exist. For instance, content creators, employees, partners, and suppliers make great advocates. 

The size of a brand ambassador program depends on many things. Some enterprise brands have enormous programs that they segment into multiple programs.

Roster allows you to organize your programs however you see fit. The number of brand communities you have, which influencers you work with, the goals of the programs, and the payments you offer are all up to you.

The main benefits of a brand ambassador program are that it costs less than traditional marketing efforts and is more targeted. More on the benefits later.

Disrupting how brands market

As a subset of influencer marketing, brand ambassador programs utilize influential people to promote a company’s products. Thousands of companies run such programs because the return on investment (ROI) is far higher than traditional forms of marketing and advertising. And we must add, the programs cost much less to run!

Why?

Brand ambassador programs are so successful because they use social networks that people already know and trust.

Also, ambassadors are neither employees nor high-paid influencers. They aren’t pretenders. It’s real. Brand ambassadors are genuine buyers and users, which bakes in trust.

Take another typical, everyday experience. You’re in the market for a new brand of coffee. So you open your computer and search for “great coffee.” Google returns pages of ads and articles exploring seemingly endless options. Hours later, you are overwhelmed and bewildered. You sure wish you had an awesome cup of coffee. 

When it comes to making decisions, people most often lean on the opinions of their family and friends. Yes, even if all those buddies are virtual acquaintances they’ve made online. Repeated research demonstrates that consumers place companies and advertisements near the bottom of their trust lists.

“Word of Mouth marketing impressions result in 5x more sales than a paid media impression, and people are 90% more likely to trust and buy from a brand recommended by a friend.”  (Source)

A marketer’s best friend

Brand ambassador marketing is one of the most powerful strategies marketers have at their disposal. It’s an effective and cost-efficient way to create a loyal customer base, increase brand awareness, and generate leads. 

An ambassador program allows companies to find and work with influential people who promote their products or services. By leveraging the power of influence, companies can gain a competitive edge and reach a larger audience. 

Programs are also great for rewarding loyal customers and building relationships with potential customers. With the right approach, a brand ambassador program can be an invaluable asset for any marketer.

A brand ambassador program is an excellent way for marketers to save time and money. It allows you to leverage the power of influencers to promote your brand without investing in costly advertising campaigns. A brand ambassador program allows you to tap into an influencer’s existing audience who can promote your product or service to an already engaged audience. 

The brand ambassador program is a cost-effective way to build relationships with creators and influencers to create informative and engaging content. 

It also allows people to build their own personal brand and create content that resonates with their audience. Additionally, a brand ambassador program can boost brand awareness and recognition, as well as increase sales.

Here’s a recap of the benefits.

Increased brand awareness

Brand ambassadors expand your reach and get your message out there to a broader audience. Because they have a strong connection with your brand, they can share your content and messages with more people, increasing brand awareness and visibility. 

Better social content

Brand ambassadors increase the amount of content you have available to promote your brand. You can use your their content in all kinds of marketing. For example, repurpose social content to create genuine ads that further increase your outreach. User-generated content (UGC) acts as the bridge between brands and their audience. Content made by users helps bring brands and their fans closer, giving everyone a feeling of being part of a united and welcoming community.

Improved engagement

Brand ambassadors foster relationships with your target audience that readily turn into higher customer engagement. Customers who feel connected to your brand are more likely to be loyal and engaged with your products and services. 

Increased loyalty

Brand ambassadors can help build trust and devotion between your brand and your customers. By providing a positive and authentic experience, ambassadors create a sense of allegiance with existing customers and potential ones as well. 

Enhanced reputation

Programs for ambassadors and creators enhance and protect your brand’s reputation. By sharing positive experiences and stories about your brand, ambassadors can help create a positive and authentic image for your brand. Their audience trusts their experience and this helps to positively build your brand image. When people see that your brand’s associated with someone they trust so deeply, they’ll trust your business even further and keep purchasing from you.

Revenue growth

Last, but certainly not least, brand ambassador programs can lead to increased sales, conversions, and revenue growth. Advocates help increase sales by driving more traffic to your website and social media channels. Also, they boost sales by bringing more traffic to your website and social media channels. Plus, enhanced brand awareness and SEO help you reach even more potential customers, creating opportunities for continued growth in sales.

When ambassadors recommend your brand or products, their followers are more likely to trust these suggestions and buy from you. Moreover, they help improve your bottom line by offering incentives and discount codes.

How do brand ambassador programs work

Brand ambassador programs are a great way for companies to promote themselves and their products. There are many different ways that a company can use a brand ambassador program to get their message out there. They can choose to have an in-person ambassador or an online ambassador, or both. The company can also choose how much they want to pay the ambassadors, what they are going to ask them to do, and how they want them to go about it, as well as any other terms they want to make the ambassador agree to.

Brand ambassador programs are a form of influencer marketing that offers participants incentives in exchange for word-of-mouth advertising. Companies typically use them to increase brand awareness and loyalty. 

Organizations profit from having a program for ambassadors because it spreads the word about company offerings from a place of familiarity and trust. 

How does this work? Engaging individuals who are passionate about a particular brand and its products or services to publicize them. The partnership between the company and the customer often lasts for years. Together they collaborate, introduce new products, review current offerings, and more.

Brand ambassadors may promote the brand in a variety of ways, including through social media, in-person events, and content creation. Brand ambassadors may also receive exclusive discounts or offers from the company and serve as advocates for the brand. Ambassadors may be compensated monetarily or in kind with merchandise or points. 

Data collected by Texas Tech University shows that 83% of happy consumers are willing to recommend a service or product, only 29% do so. 

It is in this context that brand ambassador programs prove helpful. Companies use ambassador programs to enlist the help of happy customers in marketing the company’s products or services through a series of campaigns and actions.

Consumers are 4x more likely to buy when referred by a brand ambassador. (Nielsen)

Hundreds of organizations use Roster’s brand ambassador management platform to run their programs. Check out our case studies to see how brands such as Vooray, GoBe Kids, 1800contacts, and Blendtec target new audiences and grow revenue. 

9 step to get started

An ambassador program is a trusted, effective way for companies to communicate their message to the public. The purpose or goal of many programs is to reach potential customers and make new connections. 

So how does a company go about starting a successful brand ambassador program that delivers outstanding results? 

#1 – The most critical step in building an effective brand ambassador program is identifying your target audience. 

#2 – Once you have accomplished that, you can start developing a strategy and setting goals to achieve your brand’s desired outcomes.

#3 – With the program’s framework established, it’s time to recruit ambassadors. Learn how to find brand ambassadors and get seven tips you can implement right away. 

#4 – Create a recruitment form to collect potential ambassadors’ information and make the application official.  

#5 – Approve applicants and include them in activities. The step is crucial and can make or break your program. Choose ambassadors who are eager about your company’s mission and products. Current customers fit perfectly into this category of applicants.  

#6 – The next step is to create the brand guidelines and welcome kit for new members. The kit could include items such as branded swag, samples of products, company literature, brand guidelines, and more. The marketing team may create the welcome packet, ensuring that it has items related to the brand and includes items that ambassadors can use as part of their daily lives. 

The best part is that new members can share and post about the items they receive. 

#7 – Continue to connect with ambassadors and get them up to date. For instance, you could send a monthly newsletter that includes updates on what to look forward to in the future, new products and campaigns, or even highlight successful posts from ambassadors. 

#8 – Keep track of each ambassador’s social media updates. Tools such as Roster take care of capturing activities through social listening and the social feed. Plus, Roster monitors what posts are performing best on social media platforms, which posts should be shared with the ambassador community, and how many impressions each post receives.