All about brand ambassadors

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is a person who promotes a brand, product or service . His job is to promote your products/services to the public. Most of the time, this promotion takes place on social networks.

These days, it's common for consumers to research a product before making a purchase. They let themselves be influenced by the opinions and recommendations they find on the Internet or social networks.

The brand ambassador's mission is to activate this word-of-mouth effect. by sharing their positive experience with a brand on social networks.

What is the role of a brand ambassador?

The missions and roles of brand ambassadors depend on the specifications assigned to them by the company. Generally speaking, however, he or she must fulfill 3 types of role:

Promote and generate visibility for the brand

The brand ambassador's primary role is to draw the public's attention to the brand it represents. With a certain notoriety of his own, he passes this on to the company that hired him.

Brand ambassadors aren't chosen just like that. It has to be someone with a certain brand image. A person who which already enjoys a certain notoriety (especially on social networks).

The aim of the maneuver is to enable him to influence his community and get them to use the company's products. Consumers are generally more convinced by a product recommended by a celebrity.

Interacting with the community and customers

The ambassador also plays a fundamental role in communications. In particular, he/she must communicate the various functions products and the benefits of using them.

He must respond to his followers' comments and questions about the product. He represents the brand to his community.

Create content and provide testimonials

The age of advertising as we've always known it is well and truly over. Consumers are no longer easily fooled by advertising messages traditional, artificial and processed.

Before adopting a product, they prefer to refer to the testimonials of people who have already used it. With this in mind, companies call on brand ambassadors.

The latter use the product themselves and then testify to their positive experience on their social networking page. Let's take the example of a shampoo. The influencer recruited by the manufacturer must have used the product in order to praise its benefits.

In this way, he acts as a privileged witness to the benefits of shampoo to his followers. The aim is to entice them to try the product too.

The key here is to capitalize on the positive effects of social proof. Consumers are all the more inclined to let themselves be influenced by the recommendations of a celebrity they adore.

Types of brand ambassadors

There are several ways to hire a brand ambassador:

Working with celebrities and influencers

The idea here is to take advantage of a person's reputation to become a brand ambassador. This person will then be responsible for sharing your products with their community.

Be careful, however, not to try to collaborate with very famous people at all costs.

The more famous the person, the more you'll need to work with them. a larger budget .

For example, you need to target nano-influencers (less than 10,000 subscribers). They have a human-sized community and are therefore potentially closer to it. Their capacity for influence can therefore be greater than that of macro-influencers.

Engaging company employees

Your company's employees can be your best ambassadors . They are in fact privileged witnesses to the company's values and commitments, as well as to the quality of its products .

They can thus encourage those around them to buy the product . To do this, it is necessary to explain the company's communications strategy. On the other hand, you can also provide them with free products so that they can fully play their role as brand ambassadors.

Building loyalty among passionate customers

A satisfied customer can also excel in the role of brand ambassador. Having tried the product for themselves, they can share your positive experience on social networks and specialized platforms.

To start this word-of-mouth phenomenon, you can make a real effort to build customer loyalty . The better you know how to satisfy your customers, the more you'll be able to count on this form of free advertising.

For example, you can offer gifts and words of recognition to your most loyal customers.

Some brands also clearly encourage their customers to share their positive experiences on social networks.

The qualities of a good brand ambassador

Here are the main criteria you can use to recruit a good brand ambassador:

Be authentic and credible

The ideal ambassador for your company depends above all on the nature of your business and your brand image. So the criteria for recruiting an ambassador for a luxury brand are not the same as for an ambassador for a food brand.

The ambassador must embody the brand it is supposed to represent . For example, an ambassador for a clothing brand needs to have a sense of fashion. He or she needs to be appreciated for his or her style of dress in order to positively influence followers.

Moreover, his personal style must be in keeping with the brand's style .

You're not going to choose someone with a casual style to represent your luxury clothing brand.

So, before choosing an ambassador, take the time to define your brand's values and attributes. Only then will you be in a better position to look for a person who can embody these values. The partnership must be coherent and natural.

Maintain a strong presence on social networks

A good brand ambassador is someone who enjoys a large following on social networks . The number of followers is important, but not the only one.

It has to be a person who publishes and regularly shares his experiences on social networks. A good brand ambassador must therefore be very active on social networks.

Engaging and influencing

A brand ambassador must also be a driving force on social networks. It's a person who engages and influences their followers. The person's credibility as a human being therefore plays a key role here.

Benefits for companies

Clearly, working with a brand ambassador has a number of advantages for companies. First and foremost, it increases the company's reputation. That's the whole point of choosing an ambassador who is already well known to the public.

On the other hand, when a personality testifies to the effectiveness of a product, this strengthens customer confidence Moreover, unlike traditional advertising, the brand ambassador delivers a more authentic message He delivers a testimonial based on real experience, having tried the product he's promoting himself. This authenticity will foster public commitment to the brand.

How do you choose a brand ambassador?

Here's how to recruit your brand ambassador:

Identifying shared values

To generate a natural partnership and genuine public commitment, it's best to choose an ambassador who already embodies your company's values.

Analyze reach and social engagement

Keep in mind that the whole point of recruiting a brand ambassador lies in the prospect of bring in new customers . That's why you need to target a personality with a large audience.

Be careful, however, to choose a personality with equivalent notoriety with your objectives .

Some brands make the mistake of collaborating with celebrities who are too popular and then fail to keep up with the influx of orders.

Assess brand compatibility

The potential ambassador's reputation must be consistent with the brand's purpose. For example, if you sell vegan products, it wouldn't make sense to work with someone who doesn't follow this type of diet.

Risks associated with brand ambassadors

Despite the potential benefits, there are also risks involved in working with a brand ambassador:

Check and ensure message consistency

Calling on a brand ambassador means finding the right right balance It is for this reason that some companies are reluctant to use an external ambassador. move away from the traditional model of guided advertising . The ambassador must therefore be given some leeway to express himself in his own words.

Managing crises and controversies

Any event or scandal that tarnishes the ambassador's personal reputation has repercussions for the brand. controversial opinion or act contrary to your customers' values can erode the customer's trust in the company. Such a loss of trust is difficult to reverse.

Maintaining authenticity

The customer should not feel that he is in the presence of an advertisement. The message should be subtle, not too obvious.

That's why the choice of personality with whom to collaborate is of the utmost importance. You need to find an ambassador whose personality and values are truly consistent with those of the company.

How can Hero help you finance your promotional campaigns?

Hero offers you a free bank account that lets you use 3 payment methods: payment by card, direct debit and bank transfer .

La carte bancaire Hero comes with payment facilities . The neobank can advance you the funds for your promotional campaigns. You are then responsible for refund within 60 to 90 days.

In short, there are real advantages to working with a brand ambassador. But it's important to choose them carefully, because their ultimate mission is to represent your brand to the public. With Hero, you can finance your collaborations with a brand ambassador while preserving your WCR.