We’ve entered the age of the influencer—and we couldn’t be more here for it! As creators trend towards authentic, relatable content, finding what you want to see (and buy) on social media has become easy. For small businesses, working with social media creators can effectively expand their reach and promote their brand so it feels genuine to their target market. Uh, yes, please!
One of the best ways to build your influencer marketing strategy is to implement a brand ambassador program. This program incentivizes a set of carefully chosen creators to promote your product or service exclusively on a regular basis.
If you’re ready to jump on the bandwagon for your small business, we’ve got your back. Here’s our step-by-step guide for creating an effective brand ambassador program.
What is an ambassador program?
A brand ambassador is an influencer, creator or expert who promotes your brand across social media and at in-person events. Often, they agree to exclusivity, so they’re only allowed to promote your brand within that niche—no competition allowed! Brand ambassadors should have a strong affinity for your brand from the get-go, so it feels natural both to them and their followers when they begin promoting your products or services at full speed.
Fashion retailer Boohoo has a brand ambassador program called the Boohoo Collective, where influencers share their top outfit picks across their social feeds.
Over the years, many brands have built ambassador programs where they engage influential figures to promote their brand long-term. In exchange for regular coverage on socials, a brand might offer ambassadors free products, discount codes for their followers, opportunities to attend events and financial incentives.
What are the benefits of a brand ambassador program?
Brand ambassadorship can be powerful, but it requires an investment of time and money to get off the ground. So, why consider using a program to promote your small business?
Benefit 1. Build trust through social proof
People want to purchase from trustworthy brands, and one of the best ways to foster that trust is by using social proof: the idea that people are more likely to buy something if they can see others successfully using it.
We often form parasocial relationships with the social media creators we follow, relying on their content to brighten our days, so when we see them using a product, that’s a highly effective form of social proof. Put simply, if we see someone we trust and ‘know’ using something, it must be good – right?
Benefit 2. Improve authenticity
Authentic content has the best cut-through on social media in 2024. People want to peek behind the curtain of other people’s lives, not see a glamorized highlight reel.
As a brand, though, it’s a tough balance between polish and personality, which is where ambassadors can really come in handy. Creators have more leeway to show up authentically and be funny and honest, so use this to boost your relatability.
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Benefit 3. Broaden your reach and tap new audiences
By working with brand ambassadors, you’ll cast a much wider net than if you just promote your products or services on your own social media. Not only will you get your brand in front of more eyes, but you might also tap new customers in the process, especially if you work with ambassadors with broad or diverse target audiences.
Benefit 4. Expand your content library
One of the best parts about a brand ambassador program is the content you’ll collect! Gone are the days of trawling through your branded hashtags, trying to find passable UGC.
With ambassadors on your side, you’ll open the door to a library of authentic yet high-quality videos and images that you can repurpose across your own channels and other marketing materials. Just be sure to outline content usage rights in your brand ambassador contract!
Your step-by-step guide to creating a brand ambassador program
Ready to assemble a killer team of ambassadors to promote your brand? We just know the payoff will be incredible – even more so if you lay the right foundations. Here’s a step-by-step guide to bringing an ambassador program for your small business to life.
Step 1. Set your objectives
Start off by pinning down what you want to achieve with a brand ambassador program. These goals will drive who you work with and how you allocate your budget.
For example, working with major influencers could skyrocket your reach and impressions, but it will cost you more, and you’ll need to nail the content for a strong return on investment (ROI). On the other hand, micro-influencers will be cheaper, and while they might reach fewer people, those people may be easier to convert.
Step 2. Find the right people
Once you know who you’re looking for, you’ve got to find them. There are lots of tools out there to help you source potential ambassadors, including influencer marketing platforms, so if you’ve got some extra budget, this is an easy way to go.
There are also ways to find ambassadors free of charge. Scroll through your branded hashtags and social tags to find UGC creators, contact your own favorite creators (as long as they post content in your niche!), or even put a callout on your socials asking people to apply to your brand ambassador program.
Step 3. Establish guidelines and success metrics
Before your ambassadors start creating, lay some ground rules to protect your brand’s identity, reputation, and objectives. You can do this with a content brief or as part of the ambassador’s contract. Consider outlining things like:
- Content themes: What is the overarching theme (if any) of the content you want your ambassadors to create? For example, you might use a specific angle around key dates like Christmas or your brand’s birthday or to tie in with a new product launch.
- Products or services to highlight: What should your ambassadors be highlighting in their content? What are the key selling points of that particular product or service?
- Post frequency: How often should your brand ambassadors post? Are there times or days that you’d prefer them to post over others?
- Brand guidelines: What tone of voice should they use in their content? Are there specific colors they should use in their thumbnails or hashtags on their posts?
Boohoo lays out posting guidelines on the brand ambassador section of their website to make content creation easy for influencers.
Step 4. Incentivize your ambassadors
Part of the deal with ambassador programs is providing the goods, such as free products, discount codes, and event opportunities. So once your program is set up, you’ll need to start delivering!
As the program grows and your ambassadors create quality content for your brand, you might also consider incentivizing good performance with a tiered rewards program or bonus scheme. And, always remember to check in and offer support—sometimes, kind feedback is just as valuable.
Step 5. Measure your progress
After a few months, measure the success of your brand ambassador program against the original key performance indicators you set for yourself or your creators. Regular reporting will help you make informed decisions so you can steer the trajectory of your ambassador program.
The metrics you measure will depend on your goals, but it’s likely you’ll use a mix of tracking links, discount code traffic, and insights from your ambassadors to understand performance.
Get inspired: 3 brands running successful brand ambassador programs on social media
Gymshark
When you think of fitness apparel brands, Gymshark probably tops the list. They’ve been ahead of the game for over a decade now, and much of their success is due to a strong ambassador program.
They tap high-performing social media stars in the fitness world and enlist them to become ‘Gymshark Athletes’, offering clothing, discount codes and paid sponsorships in exchange for coverage and on-brand content for their socials.
A quick scroll through the Gymshark Instagram (which boasts a whopping 7 million followers) proves that they’re milking this, with roughly 70% of their feed consisting of brand ambassador content.
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Naked Harvest
Australian supplement brand Naked Harvest has built a cult following over the last few years, in part because of its air-tight brand ambassador strategy. Naked Harvest works with lots of small-to-medium-sized brand ambassadors in the health and wellness space, but this content is well-spaced out and never in-your-face, which helps create an organic feel.
Their recent Pride collab with ambassador Georgia Richards drew lots of attention, but you’ll notice that Georgia only has a medium-sized following of around 70,000 – proof that sometimes, brand alignment is way more important than a massive reach.
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Bumble
While some brand ambassador programs are entirely behind the scenes, others are more formal – like dating app Bumble’s Honey Ambassador Program. Extending well beyond social media, Bumble Honeys volunteer at brand events, distribute merch, initiate partnerships with local businesses, and create content. The Honey Ambassador Program is just for one of the brand’s main audiences – college students – and it rewards participants with cash, gift cards, and bonuses.
Through this program, Bumble has essentially built a mini workforce, forming positive brand perceptions and generating tons of authentic content in the process. It’s a masterclass in brand ambassadorship on a large scale.
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