If you’re reading this, you likely manage a brand ambassador program or are involved in some form of ambassador marketing. If you’re on the fence about starting a customer loyalty program for your brand, read this. You might already understand that brand ambassadors are valuable for building awareness and driving sales. But do you know how to nurture long-term relationships with brand ambassadors or why you should strive for high ambassador engagement?
One statistic that should get your attention is that your most loyal customers, the top 1%, will, on average, spend five times more than the remaining 99% of your customers. In other words, it’s time to build those relationships! We can’t overstate the value of lasting connections in today’s marketing landscape crowded with short-lived contracts (influencer marketing, we’re looking at you!). Below, we explore how strong bonds with ambassadors can significantly impact your program’s efficacy and overall marketing success.
Why Build Strong Relationships with Ambassadors?
Ambassadors are more than just endorsers; they crave belonging and purpose. In fact, nearly 70% of Millennial consumers intend to join customer loyalty programs in the next year. Recently, we conducted a survey of more than 1,200 brand ambassadors from a variety of BrandChamp-powered programs. We discovered that 56% were inspired to join a brand ambassador program by being part of a community of like-minded people. In contrast, only 39% of people were inspired by free or discounted products.
What does that tell us? Loyal customers care most about your brand’s community. By helping brand ambassadors feel connected and empowered, brands can take ambassador engagement to new heights and transcend transactional arrangements.
Prioritizing the creation of a mutually beneficial program ensures that both parties are invested in each other’s success, paving the way for lifelong customer relationships.
Motivation = Better Ambassador Engagement
We know that brand ambassadors join programs first and foremost for a sense of community. But what motivates them to be active participants? What can you do to keep them interested and boost ambassador engagement?
Whether it’s the allure of rewards like free products and discounts — or the opportunity to be publicly recognized by the brand — keep tabs on what motivates your ambassadors. Pay close attention to how they engage with your brand.
Certain activities will perform better than others. Some rewards will be more popular. Use your BrandChamp portal to connect directly with ambassadors and survey what interests them. Social media is also a great tool for gauging what spikes ambassador engagement.
Once you determine what motivates your ambassadors, it’s time to get creative with your incentives and rewards!
How to Communicate with Ambassadors
Once you accept a brand ambassador’s application, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open. If people don’t feel valued or heard, their ambassador engagement suffers.
We recommend establishing transparent channels for feedback and updates. BrandChamp’s Community Posts and Knowledge Base features are both designed to make communicating with ambassadors a breeze. Community Posts allow brands to share program updates, introduce new products, and gather feedback. It also connects brand ambassadors to each other, like a Facebook group, fostering a robust community around your brand. Knowledge Base sets brand ambassadors up for success. With Knowledge Base, our clients:
- Provide content briefs outlining the type of content they want from ambassadors
- Define their tier system and explain how ambassadors can move through each tier
- Create private guides for collections and products
- Much more!
Providing Value Beyond Incentives
Incentives are fantastic. Who doesn’t love a discount or some free merch? But longterm, genuine connections rely on something deeper.
Specifically, recognition and appreciation go a long way in increasing ambassador engagement. By publicly acknowledging ambassadors’ contributions, brands demonstrate their commitment to fostering meaningful relationships. This might look like a social media post or a shout-out in your newsletter. It’s up to you to decide the best ways to shine the spotlight on your loyal customers.
Consider offering exclusive opportunities and benefits to reinforce ambassadors’ sense of purpose and belonging. Any way that you can showcase ambassadors’ impact will ultimately build community and foster connections.
Empowering Ambassadors as Brand Advocates
Storytelling is the heart of effective brand advocacy. By encouraging ambassadors to share their stories authentically, you’ll amplify both reach and impact. User-generated content like TikTok videos and Instagram Reels are popular formats for ambassador content. We recommend creating ambassador activities specifically with this type of content in mind. When you empower ambassadors to tell their stories, you foster creativity and enhance community engagement.
One critical tool in empowering ambassadors as brand advocates is the mighty content brief. Anytime you ask ambassadors to create user-generated content on your behalf, a content brief will clearly communicate your expectations. With the tools they need to succeed, ambassadors feel empowered to create more content that aligns with your key messaging but also embodies the ambassadors’ authentic personalities. It’s a win-win!
Conclusion
Every brand ambassador program experiences growing pains. Patience, consistency, and flexibility are essential as you figure out what works best for you. In time, after nurturing a culture of mutual respect and open communication, you’ll achieve sustained ambassador engagement — and the brand awareness and sales that come with that.
You’re on the right track if you remember how important community is to brand ambassadors. Clear communication, thoughtful incentives, and ambassador empowerment will all help you unlock the tremendous potential of ambassador marketing and attract more loyal customers. For a streamlined ambassador management platform that can support programs of any size, get in touch with us at BrandChamp today!
