Image by Biljana Jovanovic from Pixabay

By Noah Rue

Boosting your brand as a small business is hard. You probably can’t afford to pay thousands for TV advertisements or corporate partnerships.

As a small business owner, you probably lean more on word-of-mouth advertising and simple social media posts to attract customers and grow your brand.

However, the rise of social media personalities means there’s a new, cost-effective way to spread the word and advertise your product or service: brand ambassadors.

What are brand ambassadors?

Your brand is the “face” of your company. It’s how customers recognize your business, and helps you quickly communicate which kind of business you are. Having a strong brand can land new customers, improve customer loyalty, and help you capture a larger chunk of market share.

Brand ambassadors act as “agents” that spread the word of your brand and act as real-world examples of target customers. Working with a brand ambassador that people see as aspirational, informative, and trustworthy can be a real boon for your marketing efforts.

Brand ambassadors post sponsored content to their social media pages. This branded content usually shows them using your product/service, and usually follows an informal infomercial structure.

For example, if your small business produces coffee, you might partner with a gamer who streams regularly as a brand ambassador. This streamer could post branded content to their YouTube, Instagram, and Twitch pages that shows them drinking your coffee while playing popular games.

Working with a brand ambassador might sound like a laissez-faire approach to branding. However, you must remember that brand ambassadors have a direct connection to your customers and are already highly regarded by them. So, when a blogger or streamer lauds your product, their audience is likely to take the recommendation seriously and give it a try.

Working with multiple brand ambassadors is a great way to improve your brick-and-mortar stickiness. Customers will remember seeing their favorite content creators spending time in your shop and will look for similar products and services. Give brand ambassadors a healthy budget whenever they pay you a visit and ensure they always leave with great products and plenty of content.

How to land a brand ambassador

Brand ambassadors can make a big difference to your overall marketing strategy. Even partnerships with folks with small followings may result in a noticeable uptick in sales.

Landing your first brand ambassador can be a little tricky. You’ll need to create a consistent policy going forward to ensure that you stay on budget and achieve your pre-negotiated deliverables.

Start by researching on social media sites like Instagram and Tik Tok. Search for folks with at least a few thousand followers and consistent, high-quality content. You don’t want to damage your brand by partnering with a disreputable or untrustworthy content creator.

Once you’ve identified a few target brand ambassadors, reach out via a direct message. Include instructions to contact your business via email and provide background information about your business. Don’t ask for partnerships in the comment sections, as this is something scammers occasionally do.

Maximizing their impact

Brand ambassadors are naturally creative, innovative people. They post content to social media all day and know how to make your product look that much better to your audience. This combination of hard and soft skills makes brand ambassadors valuable during the idea creation stage.

You can maximize the impact of brand ambassadors by bringing them in whenever you’re about to launch a new product. Give brand ambassadors time to experiment, as the best content creators have valuable soft skills like emotional intelligence and an aptitude for communication skills and emotional intelligence.

Be clear about the boundaries you have for branded content. Content creators’ creativity can also be their downfall, as they may make branded posts that are interesting but do not align with your overall brand image. A quick conversation about expectations can save you a headache down the line.

Conclusion

Running a brand ambassador program can help boost brand awareness and create trust in your target audience. Just be sure to research potential content creators you want to collaborate with and set clear expectations before the partnership begins.

__________

Noah Rue is a journalist and content writer, fascinated with the intersection between global health, personal wellness, and modern technology. When he isn’t searching out his next great writing opportunity, Noah likes to shut off his devices and head to the mountains to disconnect.