“Should I Invest in Student Ambassadors?”

We all know the value of a great testimonial. I’ve used peer reviews for everything from where to get my clothes tailored, to who should perform major surgery on my foot!

For young people, the power of a peer review is even greater:

• More than two-thirds of Millennials don’t make a major decision until they have discussed it with a few people they trust, that’s compared to around half of all non-Millennials.
• Seventy percent of Millennials are more excited about a decision they’ve made when their friends agree with them, compared to 48% of non-Millennials.
• And a large majority of Millennials report taking action on behalf of brands and sharing brand preferences in their social groups.

So how can you harness that word-of-mouth power to support your brand or organization’s efforts?

One way is to use student ambassadors.

Student or college ambassador programs are about a lot more than creating a fan base… they are about creating brand enthusiasts that influence their networks and impact engagement.

They work because relatability is important for young people. While we know young people want to make their mark and be seen as independent, they also want to know there are others like them and want to be a part of a group. Student ambassadors tap into this understanding and use the desire for community to fuel empowerment and drive action on behalf of a brand or organization.

Student ambassadors use young people’s desire for community to fuel empowerment and drive action on behalf of a brand or organization.

“Students as my brand ambassadors? That seems risky. How can I control the message so they can rep my brand or organization in a consistent, professional way?”

You don’t.

You build trust.

Brands like Keds, Southern Tide, Bobble, and Chubbies, have successfully leveraged student ambassador programs in a genuine, fun way. Each of these programs bring passionate, outgoing students who are well-connected with campus organizations and on-campus communities into the marketing process by giving them ownership over the communications approach and message. These programs allow ambassadors to make connections with their peers on their own terms, and enable the students to build brand loyalty in a way that make sense to their personal networks.

“So what’s in it for them? Sure, they get paid or get free merchandise, but this seems like a lot of work for a student. So, why do they really do it?”

In some cases, young people get involved in these programs to help build their resume — they all want (okay, need!) a job when they graduate and many see this as relevant experience they can leverage in their job search.

But, it’s actually deeper than that.

Young people get excited about helping to create, shape, and build the brand or organization with you. They have something to contribute, and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They key is to make sure their voices are heard — if young people don’t believe their say matters or what they’re doing has impact, then they will quickly become disenfranchised.

Young people get excited about helping to create, shape, and build the brand or organization with you.

“But isn’t this what social media is for?”

No, not at all.

Social media properties may allow young people to engage with your brand and even share on your behalf, but they miss the mark in both creating an “exclusive” community that is helping to actually build the brand and releasing ownership of the message to the student ambassadors. Because of this, social media followers will never have the same sense of loyalty and responsibility to the brand in the way student ambassadors do.

“But why does that matter?”

Generating a team of people who have an intense loyalty to your brand and organization is incredibly important for two key reasons:

1. When you engage deeply with people when they’re young and provide them with a valuable and fun experience, they will always identify with the brand or organization and come back time and time again…making it significantly easier to ladder them up to be involved and contribute in even more ways!
2. Ninety percent of all word-of-mouth happens offline. So while you absolutely need to leverage digital, social, and everything else that happens over wifi and satellite, it’s important to remember that none of that actually replaces good ol’ fashioned face-to-face conversations by people who are wholly committed to you and what you offer.

Ninety percent of all word-of-mouth happens offline. Digital, social, and everything else that happens over wifi and satellite won’t replace good ol’ fashioned face-to-face conversations by people who are wholly committed to you and what you offer.

So what are you waiting for?

Tap into your own group of student ambassadors and drive value for your brand or organization in ways you never imagined!

Want to start your own student ambassador program? Drop me a line at mferguson@dosomething.org.

About DoSomething Strategic

DoSomething Strategic is the data-driven social impact consultancy arm of DoSomething.org. We help brands and organizations engage young people for positive social change. We combine proprietary data with a deep understanding of what young people care about to help clients build relationships with this unique demographic and activate them for social good. Our expertise is grounded in moving 6 million DoSomething.org members — ages 13–25 in every area code in the United States and in 131 countries worldwide — to take social action, and we’ve been doing this work successfully day in and day out for over 25.