Because social media has become the place where most conversations take place, brands have had to find relatable ways to inject themselves into online conversations. One of the ways they do is by having an online brand ambassador.
“An online brand ambassador is an influential online personality hired by a brand to give a said brand positive word of mouth online by talking about it on their personal social media accounts.”
Contrary to popular belief, an online brand ambassador doesn’t have to be a celebrity. Celebrities are expensive and not all brands have/want to spend the money required to procure their services. The key is to pick the regular consumer(s) with online influence (who already use and love your brand/product) and offer them perks and incentives (not necessarily money) so they can promote your brand even more.
If you’re confused on how to find/pick an online brand ambassador or how to effectively use the one(s) you already have, keep reading.
How to Find the Right Online Ambassador
- OBSERVE YOUR BRAND’S ONLINE MENTIONS: The first step is to make a list of all the people already talking about your brand online. Social media monitoring tools (e.g. Buzzsumo) can help you achieve this.
- EVALUATE ONLINE BRAND SENTIMENT: Cut down the list you already have by keeping only the names of people whose mentions are usually/always positive. (Some social media monitoring tools can assign sentiment to each online mention and group them based on positivity and negativity.)
- RANK THE PEOPLE ON THE LIST IN TERMS OF ONLINE INFLUENCE: Determine the influencer ratings of the people on the list using whatever metric you choose (e.g. follower count, engagement levels, etc.), then rank them in descending order. A good piece of advice is to mix metrics by checking engagement levels along with follower count to avoid picking someone that just bought 10,000 followers on Instagram for N500.
- LOOK FOR PEOPLE ON THE LIST WHO HAVE ONLINE IDENTITIES THAT BEST ALIGN WITH YOUR BRAND’S IMAGE: Having a person who is influential but unpredictable and volatile online as your ambassador will hurt your brand.
- PICK THE PERSON(S) WHO CLOSELY RESEMBLE THE PERSONA YOU’VE DEVELOPED BASED ON YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE: It’s been proven that people are more likely to trust the recommendations of people more like them.
How to Effectively Use Your Online Brand Ambassador
- HAVE THEM POST REGULARLY ABOUT YOUR BRAND: But not so much that it starts to irritate followers. Moderation and subtlety are key. Figuring out a posting schedule is one way to achieve this. Another way is to give them a story to tell so the whole thing is organic. E.g. giving them free branded swag from time to time (which will lead to them thanking you publicly online), offering them discount promo codes for your product they can, in turn, offer their followers etc.
- HAVE THEM CREATE CONTENT FOR YOUR BRAND: Sponsored content delivered by your brand or the ambassador. E.g, If your online brand ambassador is a comedian who makes skits, have them work your brand/product into the plot of a skit. This way, the skit works as an ad but is still enjoyable. (As opposed to being a full-on infomercial.)
- PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Have them place your brand/product conspicuously in the background (or foreground) of their pictures or videos. They could address it or not. It works either way.
- ASK FOR THEIR OPINIONS ON BRAND DECISIONS: Who knows what great ideas they might have? Thank them too. It’ll make them feel important which they’ll definitely tell their followers about.
As we’ve fully entered into the age of social media, online brand ambassadors are a valuable asset to have. And the key to getting the most out of a relationship with an online brand ambassador is by keeping them happy.
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