5 Major Brand Ambassador Program Mistakes With Examples

Building and maintaining a successful ambassador program goes beyond just tracking engagement metrics.

Overall growth and effectiveness of your brand ambassador program can hinge on a variety of factors. If your ambassador program isn’t delivering the results you hoped for, it may be time to take a closer look at your strategies and identify areas for improvement.

Below are the top 5 brand ambassador program mistakes that can lead to an unsuccessful program, even for otherwise successful brands.

Mistake #1: You Don’t Offer Great Rewards

A high-performing program and great rewards go hand-in-hand.

Program incentives and rewards are the biggest drivers of ambassador engagement, program growth, and overall success.

Did you know: We asked ambassadors what motivates them to participate in a brand ambassador program and found that 39% of ambassadors surveyed joined a program for free or discounted products.

So what do you do if your rewards aren’t generating a lot of excitement and buzz?

You diversify your reward catalog!

When creating rewards for ambassadors, we want to offer a wide variety of rewards, so that each member of your community has something that sparks their interest.

This includes discount codes, gift cards, free products (such as your top sellers), and exclusive rewards for ambassadors, such as experiences like tickets to an ambassador event, or custom ambassador merchandise.

One thing we often see is brands relying on only discount codes and gift cards for rewards. If you incorporate product rewards into your catalog, you can improve your cash flow, and increase your ROI and the lifetime value of your customers.

This is why we often say, if done right, ambassador marketing can be a less expensive, highly rewarding channel!

Example of a Low-Performing Rewards Catalog

One critical mistake we see is that programs don’t think like their ambassadors. They struggle to put themselves in the shoes of their community and think about what will resonate best with them.

Ambassadors work hard to help your brand grow, and they want great deals on products they like from a brand they like even more!

If your rewards aren’t relevant to your community, then you run the risk of ambassadors losing interest in the program.

Here are a few examples of low-performing rewards:

• Expensive rewards
• Rewards that are too much effort to claim
• Not having easily attainable rewards
• Not having a variety of rewards

Example of a High-Performing Rewards Catalog

Now that we have identified a not-great rewards catalog, let’s look at ideas for rewards that will bring maximum excitement.

Examples of a diverse reward catalog that will drive the most engagement include:

• A wide range of discount codes (20-50%)
• Free products – make sure to include top sellers
• Gift cards for free products
• Discounts for specific products of collections
• Exclusive ambassador merch – t-shirts, totes, water bottles, etc.
• Experiences, such as an ambassador event, entrance to their next competition, free yoga/pilates classes 

Remember, think about what your community gravitates to and gets excited about, then build a reward catalog around the items and experiences that are highly relevant to them.

The best way to structure a great rewards catalog is to create a pyramid of rewards. Product rewards and discount codes are the base, gift cards next, then exclusive rewards such as branded merch or experiences at the top, as these rewards are typically the most expensive to fulfill.

Mistake #2: You Don’t Offer Competitive Commission for Referrals

Have you noticed your ambassadors aren’t making as many new referrals? The first step in identifying the problem is to evaluate the commission you are giving ambassadors and the varying levels of commission you offer in your program.

For most consumer brands, a typical affiliate commission is between 10%-20% in cash. Ambassadors respond extremely well to cash commissions. Cash is hands down the most motivating incentive.

Having trouble convincing your team to reward your ambassadors with cash commission?

Well, it’s always important to remember that if your referral structure isn’t competitive, you risk ambassadors joining a competitor’s brand that offers a better commission structure!

Additionally, ambassadors can be a low-cost, high-converting way to acquire more customers.

If you’re worried you can’t afford to pay ambassadors cash commission, think about your CAC.

Many consumer brands spend around $150 to acquire a lead/new customer, while a typical ambassador commission for a sale is around $10! Wouldn’t you rather pay $10 to acquire a new customer than $150?

Pro Tip! We always want to give ambassadors something in return for generating sales. If you don’t want to give all ambassadors cash, you can have your lowest commission lever earn a point commission, then unlock cash commissions once they generate a certain number of sales.

This motivates and incentivizes ambassadors to make more referrals and helps to drive more people to your brand!

Mistake #3: You Aren’t Consistently Creating New Activities or Rewards

Ambassador programs can either be highly engaging or extremely boring, and much of that depends on you and how exciting you make your program.

One of the best ways to excite your community is to consistently create new activities for the ambassadors and keep rewards fresh.

When a historically successful program starts to go stagnant, the first place we look is activities and rewards. Usually, we find that the brand hasn’t created new activities or added new rewards in a few months.

Running a successful program involves creating engaging activities that provide ambassadors with ample opportunities to talk and post about you. When was the last time you changed your activities? If the answer is more than 60 days, it might be time to reevaluate how frequently you create new activities.

We always recommend having a mix of evergreen activities that ambassadors can do each month, along with some new activities that are fun and engaging. Your goal should be to add at least one or two new activities each month to help keep things interesting in the program.

Additionally, you should also consider adding new rewards to excite ambassadors. If you have a new product launch coming up, be sure to add the product as a reward for your ambassadors.

Examples of Evergreen Activities

Every program needs to have a few evergreen activities. These are activities that are always available for ambassadors to do. Some successful evergreen activities we’ve seen are:

• Engage with our social media posts – like, comment, and save
• Create an Instagram story and tag us
• Post a product photo and tag us
• Write a product review on our website
• Make a TikTok video
• Share your favorite wellness tip with us
• Share your skincare routine (include our new product launch!)

 

Non-Evergreen Example Activities

Non-evergreen activities are what keep a program interesting. This is where you can spark creativity and allow your community to add their own flair when creating content.

Non-evergreen activities help maintain a fun and fresh feeling to the program.

Below are some examples of non-evergreen activities:

• Promote our new product launch
• Create a recipe for National Brownie Day
• Promote our Black Friday/Holiday/Summer Sale

Consistency in generating fresh, engaging activities is key to motivating your community to participate in the program. Without a steady stream of new inspiration and ideas, your ambassadors may struggle to find direction and lose interest in the program.

So don’t be afraid to be creative and throw some new activities into the mix!

Mistake #4: Your Activities Lack Clarity or Creativity  

One tricky aspect of creating activities is making sure you’ve written clear and concise instructions.

Ambiguity can leave ambassadors feeling uncertain about what to create or how to complete an activity.

Crafting effective activity descriptions requires a delicate balance: offering clear guidance while incorporating your brand’s voice and mission without overwhelming ambassadors with too much detail.

Here’s an example of how you might write a description for an activity:

Title: Go to the Gym with Me!

Copy:

Hey Swolemates! Who says working out can’t be fun? Make some pre-workout, grab your workout buddy (or find one here!), and let’s hit the gym together!

We want to see how you work out!

Instructions:

• Gear up: Pack your gym bag (don’t forget to pack our pre-workout and your Free Rangr Supps t-shirt!
• Record your routine: Make it authentic! Don’t be afraid to record yourself as you suffer through a set. We’ve all been there.
• Post your reel on IG, and don’t forget to tag us, and use the hashtag #freerangesuppambassador

Pro Tip! Be sure to create knowledge-based articles with guides that can help ambassadors create high-performing content so there is no ambiguity.

Mistake #5: You Expect a Lot from Ambassadors Without Offering Quality Rewards

Not making the program fair, equitable, and mutually beneficial can send your ambassadors straight to the competitors.

Does it ever feel like your ambassadors aren’t that interested or motivated? Well, I hate to break it to you, but it might be on you. It could be time to take a look at your overall programs.

How much do you offer in commission and points for activities, how active you are in the program, and are you offering great rewards?

We’ve said it once and we will say it again: think like your ambassadors. Would you feel excited about the program if you were in it, or would you become bored and look for a new program to join?

Pay close attention to the points you assign for activities and rewards. It’s important to avoid assigning low points to activities while setting high points for rewards. Making it too difficult for ambassadors to claim rewards can lead to frustration and disengagement.

We recommend creating a points-to-cash exchange that is easy to manage when assigning points for activities and rewards.

An example could be 10 points = $1. This will help you understand how much you will essentially be paying an ambassador for completing an activity, and how many points to assign to a reward.

Of course, as we discussed above, you need a wide variety of rewards at different point values. We want some low-hanging fruit rewards (one to two rewards) they can claim quickly once accepted into the program but also rewards they will need to work for a while to claim. Quick wins are essential when planning an ambassador program.

Even something as simple as a 15% discount code that an ambassador can unlock after doing a few activities. These quick wins build a reward cycle with ambassadors and build engagement and excitement.

However, don’t make the mistake of having ambassadors work for three months to claim something as simple as a shaker bottle or 20% off.

Offering fair points for completing activities and attractive rewards will keep your ambassadors engaged and loyal to your program, rather than seeking opportunities with competitors. Ensure your point system is fair and motivating, so ambassadors feel valued and excited to participate.

Pro Tip! Building a great ambassador program is about building long-lasting, meaningful relationships with your community. The industry is competitive and a lot of brands have ambassador programs.

One Last Thought

Building a successful ambassador program takes more than just putting a structure in place—it requires constant evaluation, creativity, and offering real value to your ambassadors. By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll create a program that keeps your ambassadors engaged, excited, and motivated to represent your brand. If you’re looking for inspiration, you can check how other brands are driving successful programs with BrandChamp.

Ready to take your ambassador program to the next level? Start today with BrandChamp and build a program that delivers real results.