Brand ambassadors have somewhat become a social media phenomenon with the rise of Instagram and various other platforms.
But what makes for a great brand ambassador beyond uploading pictures with filters?
In this article, there are some actionable tips for promotional staffing agencies to take note of as well as up-and-coming brand ambassadors too.
#1 Brand Ambassador with a Legitimate Online Presence
Go beyond the vanity metrics with this one. Followers, likes, comments etc are all great indicators but it’s almost like looking at a jackpot lottery ticket with $xxx,xxx and taking the plunge to try and win it – it’s going to be difficult and your odds of success will be against you.
So what’s meant by an established online presence? A brand ambassador will have in most cases a blog to discuss thoughts, ideas and provide tips.
They will have active social accounts and not just the 1-way conversation photo platforms but Twitter and Facebook will also be used.
Something to consider here as well is that you shouldn’t base your search on the number of followers. It will not work. There are so many bots and online services out there to inflate and deceive that it’s become a seriously poor indicator of reach.
An engaged network is a vital statistic. How many comments are left on updates, does the ambassador reply and engage in conversation beyond ‘thanks for the comment’ or ‘that’s right!’ etc? These are the areas that you should be focusing on.
#2 Knowledge of Events Industry and Marketing
Presenting yourself on the world wide web, behind screens is one thing. Doing the same thing out in public, meeting with consumers, discussing the key elements of the brand that an ambassador is representing, for the majority of the day is a whole new ball game.
Knowledge of a social platform is one thing but to understand that authentic conversation, especially as a resource of brand knowledge, requires conversation and not just a 1-way share and bask in glory system.
Ask if they have worked in marketing, events or represented brands in a location such as a promotional marketing campaign or brand activation. For an agency, you will know right away if the time it will take to train and develop will be worth it, especially after the first interview.
#3 Professional, Professional & Professional
Anyone that represents your brand needs to have a level of professionalism that matches with your full-timers. Just because they are temp, doesn’t mean that they can do as they please whilst holding on your brand.
A quick review of their blog, social media profiles comments and updates will give you an idea of just how professional they are. This is vital to understand those brand ambassadors who don’t show a certain level of professionalism will cause some headaches as training and everything else will need to be taken care of.
#4 Passionate About Growing Relationships
Generally speaking, brand ambassadors are brought on board not to sell but to harness their knowledge and leverage their clout to develop relations.
Bringing on board a top, well-known brand ambassador to an event, even for a few hours to simply take photo’s and engage in conversation will help to further grow brand relations. Factor in social media posting of the event and location and chances are you will get additional traffic because of this.
Brand ambassadors need to be harnessed beyond their digital profiles. Consider a pop-up event. Based on shock and awe, you can add in an additional level of excitement by bringing along the ambassador.
#5 Confident & Positive
With the promotional marketing industry, the backbone is the promotional staff. These individuals are, generally, not full-time with the brand and will only be part of the team on a temp basis, yet their natural ability to be confident and positive about brands and products becomes instantly contagious.
#6 Sales & Marketing Focused
Because brand ambassadors have a connection with consumers, they will be a cornerstone of gathering feedback and listening to the customer. This insight, if they are sales and marketing focused, will really help to push your product or brand leaps and bounds in a condensed amount of time.
However, this requires the brand ambassador to be aware of these requirements and opportunities. Through education or training, this can be achieved. But chances are the brand ambassadors who will be the best option for you will be the ones that already have some knowledge or experience of this.
This level of direct consumer intelligence is fantastic to have and the feedback will generally be more authentic then you would get via a company survey.
In Conclusion
Brand ambassadors are a unique promotional staffing asset. They can have a wide reach via digital platforms harnessing the web to promote your brand message but they can also carry the same level of clout in the physical world with events.
For both agencies and influencers or promotional staff looking to zero in on a focus area then a brand ambassador is a vital part of the team and successful growth. Take the time, as with any hire, to find the right candidates and get them on board.