What if you had an army — a large army — of people who love your brand and were willing to share how great it is and presell your products and services for you?
If that sounds attractive (and, really, why wouldn’t it?), then creating brand ambassadors is something you should consider.
Before you get started, ask yourself if you are brand ambassador-worthy.
Creating brand ambassadors is not easy — or free. It requires time, money, and dedication.
What follows are tips to help you get started.
Oh, and guess what? Starting the week after next I’m going to be a brand ambassador. That’s right. I’m going to be working with Kendra Cannoy of 28 Days To Health. She’ll provide the gluten-free, non-inflammatory protein shakes and the diet and nutrition know how, and I’ll tell the story.
That’s right! Since I’ve become a Desk Jockey, I’ve put on a few pounds — and not in all the right places. It hasn’t become too serious, yet, but my jeans are snugger than I’d like and that is for sure.
Kendra and I will be starting a health and social media journey together, beginning April 1st and lasting (if I can make it) for a full 28 Days. No foolin’.
Are you ready for the new me?
Here’s what I’m hoping to achieve:
- Feel less tired
- Experience greater vitality
- Lose 5 to 10 pounds — Kendra? Is that realistic? And. . .
- Enjoy my jeans!
Follow Kendra and me as we lose weight and gain followers.
Here are those tips I was telling you about:
1. Identify existing brand ambassadors — among your employees
Your first instinct should be to cultivate your employees as brand ambassadors. Train them on social media and reward them for helping out. Remember, even the guys in IT have friends online.
2. Identify existing brand ambassadors — online
Using existing social channels like Facebook, identify those who already “like” you and are engaging with your brand.
3. Get to know your audience
Effective brand ambassador program managers take the time to listen and understand before they start making offers. Find out what your customers truly value — and what they already share. You may have to leverage the Cute Kitty Video to get your fans interested. So be it.
4. Engage customers 1:1
It’s not enough to post updates. You need to directly engage people who engage with you. In the “old days” it was called a conversation 😉
5. Work with customers to generate new ideas
Think “outside the box” and use trivia games, customer feedback and other activities to get valuable insights from your fans.
6. Provide relevant and interesting content
Should be a no-brainer, but truly useful content fosters brand loyalty — and advocacy.
7. Sharing is caring —
So encourage it! Reward people who share through coupons and special promotions.
8. So make sharing easy
Make sharing super easy. People will jump ship if sharing is a challenge.
9. Provide copy
Write out tweets and Facebook updates for your fans. “Tweet this” is a great message! For extra shareability, provide options for different channels.
10. Celebrate success!
Whenever you have a success — especially if fans helped you achieve it — make sure to get the message out across all your channels.
11. Remember to say “thank you.”
People love to be appreciated. Make sure your fans know you appreciate them.
Bonus ideas
Install the Facebook fan of the week app — it’s effective though it does cost $9.95/month
Brand ambassador tracking software — https://getambassador.com/
Check out Triberr’s Brand Ambassador program — http://blog.triberr.com/2013/08/26/how-to-become-a-brand-ambassador/
Your Turn
What are your ideas? Share how you go about creating brand ambassadors in the comments.
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