How to Launch a Successful Brand Ambassador Program in 7 Steps
What is a BA program and how effective is it?
A Brand Ambassador program is a powerful word of mouth marketing strategy that every brand should implement in their marketing plan. It is used to boost your brand’s awareness by collaborating with qualified brand ambassadors for on-site promos, demonstrations, and other outreach activities across channels such as events, tradeshows, and social media outlets. In this Millennial era, an influencer marketing campaign is crucial to a successful BA program especially for when a new product is launched or when the company is expanding to new markets.
If executed properly, you would be engaging with your strongest supporters and targeted audience who would be marketing your brand for you from a massive online and offline community. Just think about the potential enormous leads and client acquisition you could get from your network of brand ambassadors.
On social media, 73% of consumers share their positive experiences with a company, and ask their social circle of friends, peers, and family of their opinions about brands. (Source: Fleisman-Hillard PR & Hearst Magazine) Also, 39% of survey respondents say monetary or material incentives such as discounts, samples, freebies, or gift cards greatly increase their chances of referring a brand. (Source: Ambassador)
Brand Ambassador = Killer Word of Mouth Marketing
It is a proof of concept, but how to get started? First let’s keep in mind, like with any marketing strategy, without proper planning could hurt your brand leaving you with a bad image in the process. Forming a well thought-out structure will help you avoid some of these potential issues.
Follow this guide to get you started with your own brand ambassador program in no time.
1.) Set the Goal.
Obvious, but should be noted. What is your objective? Write down all the goals and what you are looking to achieve from the program as well as what you expect from your brand ambassadors and influencers. It’s mandatory to set realistic, measurable goals and be able to create and share your vision with them.
Ideally it’s better to brainstorm with your ambassadors first before finalizing the action plan, but it is okay too if you already have a clear picture of what you want to do. Remember though, successful brand ambassadors (BAs) most likely have the know-hows and experience in this field and may have some valuable insights to share with you — which could be extremely useful. Therefore, it is better that you know “what” your objectives are, while you wait and meet with the BAs to discuss “how” to plan the outreach. Together you will work closely to plan a more detailed strategy on how to tackle each points. But again, nothing wrong with preparing and drafting your own ideas ahead of time before discussion.
2) Send Out Announcement Call.
After planning, start writing a call for brand ambassadors. Announcement should be short but straightforward and should answer the following:
- Who you are. What is your brand’s mission and product?
- Contact info.
- Create application form with instructions.
- Specification. (objective, location, time, and pay rate)
In addition to your website, newsletter, and your social media accounts, there are Brand Ambassador FB group pages where you can join and post your announcement there. Also when posting on IG, use hashtags:
#hiring #brandambassadorswanted #influencerswanted
(If you need help creating an announcement call or find BAs, comment below).
3) Be Selective of your Brand Ambassadors.
Hiring the wrong BA could lead to poor results and serious to minor business conflicts. It could also cost you your brand’s reputation which will drive away your potential and existing clients, and other collateral damages. What you don’t want is having to rebuild your brand image after hitting rock bottom. At the very least cost of doing business, your BA might be a no-show and end up taking your free product(s) without promoting it. (It does happens sometimes with IG influencers!)
To avoid this, we created a criteria/questionaires to help identify the right BAs:
· Do they have any professional experience and recommendation from other clients? A qualified BA should have an updated resume with past work history and references.
· What are their characteristic strengths? You would want someone who is self-confident, optimistic, and determined — basically inspirational traits that you can rely on to represent your brand.
· Are they socially connected? Of course, IG influencers and micro-influencers are a huge advantage, but be cautious of accounts with spam bots generating fake followers.
· Do they have communication, organization, and sales oriented skills? All the qualities that makes a great brand ambassador!
· Are they passionate about their job? If they really love what they do, they will surely channel that love to your brand and products.
4.) Follow the 7 Cs of Communication.
Conduct clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, courteous communication. Once you find the right BA, you want make sure you discuss all partnership terms and formalities in order to avoid any misunderstanding. By communicating effectively, you’re setting clear expectations and creating a close business relationship between you and your BA. You become more approachable, and they will likely be more open to contribute ideas and feedback.
5.) Treat your BAs as your business partner.
Brand ambassadors are not just your biggest supporters, they are the face of your brand. They should be as excited about your company and vision as their own, and therefore it is important to establish a strong working relationship. Start the relationship building process by understanding their goals both personally and professionally and discuss long term plans of cooperation. Show them that they are a valuable asset to your company by establishing trust and open communication as well as providing ongoing training and support.
6.) Track progress, feedback, and results.
Tracking the success can be done by following the progress of your BA throughout your brand ambassador program. This again reverts back to the importance of communication, and the overall structure of your program. Based on that, create an open dialogue and figure out what works best between you and your BA. Then use the available tools and resources to set the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and measure results from your BA’s initial tasks and placements. Some committed brand ambassadors would even go above and beyond their activities and outreach to bring you more brand exposure.
It’s all about the relationship building.
7.) Encourage and Embrace your BA.
Over time as the partnership flourishes, your BA should be able to expertly execute all tasks and understand all functionalities of your program and brand’s mission. How about making the most out of your business partnership? At some point when trust is established and there is a track record, you should consider allowing your BA to transition into the head of program management. By doing so, you embrace their creativity to deliver new contents freely, promote your brand as well as their own personal branding, connect with other BAs to expand your program, and broaden your customer reach.
Sounds like a win-win.
Also check out the influencers we featured on our Instagram.
In case you’re interested we did a review on Brandbassador App
