Navigating the World of Brand Ambassadors, Influencers, and Content Creators

 

In our last influencer and brand ambassadors blog, we reviewed the basics of working with brand ambassadors, influencers, or content creators.  However, here are a few more questions to ask yourself or your team:

• Were you clear in the expectations you set for your ambassadors?
• Did you communicate regularly with them?
• Do your ambassadors or content creators use your brand hashtags, and have clear guidelines on your brand style/voice?  If not, create a style guide and share it with them when they sign up.

 

 

 

 

With over two decades of marketing and fundraising experience for athletes, outdoor and adventure lifestyle brands, I’m here to walk you through everything you need to find the right brand ambassadors that will influence your bottom line.

Before we jump in if you want to learn more, check out some of the projects we’ve done for our brands and ambassadors.

Identify The Type Of Brand Ambassadors or Influencers You Are Searching For

Here are a few different types of ambassadors and influencers you’ll encounter:

Fans & Customers:

A simple yet effective form of influencer marketing is converting your customers into fans and your fans into ambassadors.  There are lots of ways to do this. You can reach out to individuals who consistently purchase your products and engage on social media, or you can target all of your fans with giveaways or special coupons for sharing.  No matter what, the goal is to create a crew of brand champions.

Employees:

Your employees are likely some of your biggest fans!  Leverage this by giving them your products, deep discounts on services, and branded items they wear or display.  Have them submit monthly photos or videos to share across your social channels.

For example, Mesa Rim Climbing & Fitness, where I was coaching little kids 2 days a week before COVID-19, takes great care of me as an employee by providing me with apparel, gear, and professional development opportunities.  They’re also great at engaging with my social posts, and often feature employees’ climbing adventures in their social media feed!

Micro-influencers:

This will be the bread and butter of any influencer marketing campaign.  Micro-influencers are often people with less than 25k followers.  They can be vloggers, bloggers, YouTubers, Instagram stars, etc.

For example, many of the influencers we work with are athletes and adventurers with less than 25K followers.  However, most of their followers are in the same niche.  In addition, because they have smaller, more intimate followings, they have a greater influence over those who follow them.

They’re also more likely to engage with their fans by responding to messages or comments giving you more bang for your buck.

 

Things To Ask Yourself When Shopping Around for a Brand Ambassador

 

Once you have an idea of the right types of ambassadors to look for, you can begin looking at individual influencers.  As you do this, you should ask yourself a few more questions:

Do their posts align with your brand?

 

You may find influencers with the right audience, the right reach, and within your budget, but they still may not be optimal for your brand.  For example, if your brand highly values community service and giving back, it’s important to find an influencer who does too.

 

Do they feel authentic?

 

Maybe they are not getting thousands of likes, but they have great engagement and come across as a real person you might be friends with.  Another question to ask when considering authenticity is, “Would I buy an item they’re promoting?” Look at their post history to find out.

 

What is their rate for sponsored posts/ads?

 

If you think an influencer is right for your brand, the next thing to find out is if you can afford them.  This is why it’s important to know your budget before reaching out to influencers.

If an influencer is out of your price range right now, don’t worry.  Build a good relationship with them.  Stay in touch, follow their journey, like and comment on their pictures, videos, etc.  It works both ways after all.

 

Are they eager to do the work on and off social media?

 

As a brand ambassador, will they promote your brand at trade shows, retail locations, and help you organize in-person and virtual events?  If yes, then this is huge!  How many bike shops do you know that enjoy organizing monthly bike maintenance clinics, let alone picking up the bagels and coffee for the weekly shop ride?

Here’s a great example.  We were sad that one of our favorite industry trade shows, CABDA, was virtual this year due to COVID-19.  However, we tuned in for the education and networking sessions.  We watched the presentation below on how a bicycle shop could grow its female customer base.  

During the presentation, we realized that the presenter, Sheri Rosenbaum, not only provided tons of tips on how to level up your bike shop.  In addition, she showed us what a brand ambassador could do.  And we think she would be the perfect partner for any bike shop or bicycle brand that is looking to reach more women.  Listen and learn from Sheri!

 

3 Steps To Find the Right Brand Ambassadors

 

If you’re like me, you’re an adventurer.  This means you didn’t come here for a good read, you came here for an action plan!  You don’t want to look at pretty pictures of mountains.  You want to feel the granite on your fingertips.

And just like scaling mountains, there isn’t one route to the peak of an influencer marketing strategy.

Depending on your needs, budget, industry, marketing approach, and more, you may take the scenic route or you may be in a hurry to get to the top.

1. Pay To Play: Paying for Ambassadors and Influencers

 

For those who need a quick and easy solution, use an app or service like Brand Ambassador or BrandSnob.  Platforms like these make it easy to find influencers, however, costs can add up fast, and building authentic relationships with ambassadors in this way can be challenging.

When I saw CardiB’s post below I immediately thought…How much did it cost to create these arrangements and ship them to her?  Does Venus Et Fleur have an influencer agreement with CardiB and if so how much did they pay to work with her?

Either way, when CardiB shared this to her network of over 37.5 million followers, you can bet she’s going to increase revenue, especially if these roses do last for a year!

 

 

 

Brands paying for product endorsements are nothing new.  But, social media has created a whole new world where anyone can rise to fame.  Want to check out the funny, raw, yet stark reality of social media celebrities?  Well, The American Meme on Netflix, featuring Paris Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky, aka The Fat Jewish, and Brittany Furlan will give you plenty to think about.

 

2. The Long And Prosperous Route to Get Good Brand Ambassadors

 

At Top Rope Media, we think of influencer marketing like backpacking.  To get the best results, to see the most beautiful and untouched terrain, you have to plan.  Prepare.  And, be willing to walk – a lot!

And ok, the metaphor only goes so far.  You don’t have to do any actual walking to create your influencer marketing strategy.  But it does take time to find and build relationships with the right influencers.

If you can be patient, and think long-term, you’ll find the investment is worth it when your ambassador is connected with your brand for years to come.

Try to think of Michael Jordan without having an image of the Nike swoosh come to mind.  That’s the power of influencer marketing.  To get results on the ‘Long and Prosperous Route’, here are the steps to take:

 

Unleash the Hounds:

Digital hounds that is.  Start sniffing around the web by setting up Google Alerts for content creators or featured stories in your space.  Our favorite social channels to search on?  Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Pro Tip: Search for blogs and videos that already mention your brand.  These creators are likely fans already.  Meaning they’ll be much easier to convert into ambassadors.

 

Hashtag #Winning:

Hashtags are a great way to find social media users posting about brands like yours.  Because hashtags can get very specific, you can focus on exactly the type of content creators you’d like to work with.

Not sure what hashtags to search for?  Follow some of your competitors and see what types of posts they make.  And as a bonus, what types of content creators they use as ambassadors.

 

Study a Trail Map:

You can think of platforms like Hookit as your trail guide in the influencer marketing world- especially if you want to work with athletes.  Hookit allows you to see which audiences a content creator is reaching, and how well they’re performing.  However, be prepared to pay a hefty price for services and apps such as this.

 

Reach Out and Say Hello:

Once you’ve narrowed your choices down to about a dozen candidates, it’s time to reach out.  A personalized direct message or email showing you understand the influencer and their audience.

Before reaching out though, have a plan and process in place.  Create an agreement for the influencer to sign, even if it’s just a simple one-pager.  By placing an offer in their hands instead of just saying, “Hey, we love your stuff and want to work with you”, you’ll allow them to quickly accept your offer, or open it up to negotiating specifics.

Effective influencers get tons of offers.  So, the easier you make it for them to say yes, the easier it will be for you in the long run.

 

Rinse and repeat:

Once you’ve gotten the first ambassador down it becomes a lot easier to get more.  Plus, you’ll have more insight into the types of content your customers crave.  Meaning you’ll be able to be more specific and selective in who you choose.

It’s important not to fall into a rut though.  Keep experimenting and testing the boundaries of what works!

 

Communicate and Evaluate:

This is also a reason why you need someone managing your brand ambassador or influencer program.  They should not only be communicating regularly with your ambassadors on Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube.  In addition, they should be looking at the data, running weekly and monthly reports to see who is performing.

Applications like Iconosquare and of course Google Analytics can help you understand if the influencer you’re investing both your time and money in is actually converting to sales.

 

3. Look Within

 

No ‘look within’ isn’t a Zen quote. Ok, maybe it’s that too.  But, it is an opportunity to find brand ambassadors closer to home than you ever dreamed possible.
That’s right!  Brand ambassadors don’t have to be niche ‘celebrities’.  They can be your loyal customer.  Here are a few places to start:

 

 

Customer base:

Start by looking at your customer base, your social media engagements, and your email subscriber list.  Notice someone who buys from you frequently or avidly shares your posts on Facebook?  Well then, offer them a coupon or limited-time offer in exchange for sharing and leaving a review.

Another effective strategy is to offer discounts for referrals.

 

Analyze the data:

Google Analytics can also help you find potential ambassadors.  Perhaps your data shows that a well-known blogger loves mentioning and linking to your cycling kits.  Or, an Instagram star won’t stop posting selfies wearing your brand’s stylish new sunglasses.

Need help figuring out your Google Analytics and how to see where your website traffic is coming from? Just holler!

Either way, drop them a thank you DM (direct message).  In addition, you can offer to send them your next design to take out for a test run!

How To Find A Brand Ambassador: Survival Gear

Here’s a recap of some of the tools mentioned in this article and more:

• Google: Every influencer on the internet, right at your fingertips.
• BrandSnob.co: An easy way to find and hire influencers.
• Hookit: A platform to research and track influencer performance.
• Facebook Pixels: A tool to track and monitor the performance of influencer posts on Facebook.
• Google Analytics: Use Google Analytics to track your traffic to find your fans.
• Influitive: A software allowing you to easily reward customer referrals.
• TINT: Use TINT to easily display moderated streams of content created by your brand ambassadors.
• Hootsuite Amplify: Hootsuite Amplify is a software that encourages employee-generated content.
• Dynamic Signal: Distribute content to employees making it easy for them to share.
• Fivestars: Create custom rewards programs to motivate brand loyalty and advocacy.

 

The First Ambassador And Beyond

 

So, if your brand is looking to turn customers into fans. Reach a new audience. Or, just increase revenue.  Then a brand ambassador program or influencer marketing has a place in your marketing strategy.

Why?  Ambassadors generate sales, create content, and extend brand awareness.  Therefore, this makes them an effective and affordable long-term strategy.

Of course, to maximize success you need to manage them correctly, so make sure to do your homework and know what to expect.

If you need support developing or running an influencer program, contact us today!

 

CONTACT US!

Stay Tuned

 

We love developing brand ambassador programs and influencer marketing!  In fact, we have written more content:

• Where to Find a Job as a Brand Ambassador and Get Paid!
• How e-Learning Can Help You Nurture Your Brand Ambassadors
• What is a Brand Ambassador and Do I Need One

To learn more about what we at Top Rope Media do on the regular, follow our adventures on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Until next time!

– Meredith McConvill