Maybe a company offered you a personalized experience, or a VIP treatment in addition to some killer discounts and coupons. Did you tell your friends about it? 

A good customer experience (CX) prompts you to want to tell the world about it. Chances are you told your peers about it or posted it on social media. And that’s what inspires brand advocacy. When a customer spreads good vibes about a business, they become a brand advocate. 

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And advocates have power. Studies show that an overwhelming 93% of consumers trust recommendations from family and friends over any other form of advertising. 

Companies have recognized the power of referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, and are leveraging them through advocacy programs. In this guide, we’ll discuss what a brand advocacy program is and its benefits. We’ll then guide you through the steps to creating an advocacy program that drives results. Let’s dive in! 

What are brand advocacy programs?

A brand advocate is someone who promotes your brand through word-of-mouth marketing. Brand advocates are real people who know your brand and what it stands for, and who have become your promoters. Besides word-of-mouth advertising, these individuals also spread the word through positive reviews of your business on your website, social media, and other review sites like Yelp. 

Brand advocacy happens every day whenever there are happy and satisfied customers. But it’s not until you nurture and cultivate your advocates that you get to see the true power of advocacy marketing. Businesses can achieve this through a brand advocacy program. A brand advocacy program incentivizes customers and fans for recommending your brand to others.

A brand advocacy program is a marketing strategy that encourages loyal customers, employees, and fans to actively promote and endorse a brand. Simply put, it’s a form of modern business marketing that focuses on creating brand advocates. 

Brand advocacy program benefits

Brand advocacy is beneficial to a business because it’s authentic. And as mentioned, people trust word-of-mouth recommendations more than any other type of marketing. Besides the trust brand advocacy builds with your audience, brand advocacy also offers many other benefits:

1. Brand advocacy creates brand awareness

Brand advocacy can be one of the most powerful ways to create brand awareness. 

When a customer advocates for a brand, they help expand your brand’s reach to new audiences. Advocates provide an organic way to create brand awareness. The more the recommendations, the higher the number of people who get to know your brand.

2. Advocates create buzz

The beauty of brand advocacy is that it creates buzz around your products. And buzz is all you need to penetrate a market deeply. 

Buzz makes people curious about your brand and why it’s stealing the spotlight. 

The more people visit your website or social media pages, the more leads you can generate and grow your business. An increase in social visits can increase your following, while an increase in traffic can create a positive loop for Google, leading to higher rankings on SERPs. 

3. Advocate sharing portrays your brand in a positive light

New customers often rely on referrals and reviews from online review sites to form an opinion about a brand. This means they value the information they obtain from these channels and most likely act on it. 

Brand advocates portray a brand in a positive light in all their promotional efforts. This way, they help create a positive profile about the company in the customer’s mind—whether through word of mouth or testimonials. 

4. Brand advocacy increases customer retention

Advocates help to draw more consumers into the business through their recommendations and positive experiences with the brand. Their enthusiasm motivates others to check out the brand for themselves, so it will drive sales of your products or services.

Moreover, the likelihood of these customers sticking around increases if their experience with your business is satisfactory. Satisfied customers are also likely to become loyal customers and new brand advocates. 

Types of brand advocates 

Brand advocates come in several different types. Knowing what sets each type apart will help you select the right type – or types – for your brand’s needs. Some of the most popular types of advocates are:

Referrers: These customers tell their friends and family about your brand via a referral program. They can promote you as often as they like. When one of their referrals results in a purchase, a referrer earns a reward. 

Affiliates: These content creators talk about your brand in their content, and place a trackable link to your site so their audience can purchase from you. Any purchases made through the affiliate link earn the affiliate a cash commission; this encourages affiliates to keep featuring you in their content. 

Ambassadors:  These official representatives of your brand promote you online and offline. Brand ambassadors agree to promote your brand for a certain length of time and at a certain frequency, and are bound by a contract. 

Employee advocates: Sometimes, employees are the best advocates for your brand, since they know your brand well and are experts on what makes it stand out. Why not incentivize all your employees – not just your sales team – for promoting you and driving sales?

Referral partners: These advocates are more formal than your typical customer-referrer, and sign a formal contract to promote you. But like the more informal referrers, referral partners will only share your brand with people they’ve already built a relationship with. 

Brand advocates vs. brand ambassadors

Is a brand advocate always the same as an ambassador? Advocates and ambassadors are similar because they both promote you enthusiastically and genuinely. In fact, as we mentioned above, ambassadors are a type of advocate.

But often, brand advocacy programs are less formal than brand ambassador programs.

Most brand advocates can promote your brand on their own cadence. They don’t always have requirements to promote your brand at a certain frequency, like ambassadors do, and usually aren’t bound by a contract. But your best informal advocates will still promote you regularly, purely because they love you and want your brand to succeed.

Steps to a successful brand advocacy program

Brand advocacy should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. 

Your advocacy program should apply to both employees and fans so as to drive maximum engagement. This is an opportunity to encourage people to become a part of your brand and create something special. But where should you start? Follow these steps to create a brand advocacy program that drives results. 

1. Identify potential brand advocates

The first step in designing a brand advocacy program is to identify potential brand advocates. 

Not everyone who interacts with your brand is a potential brand advocate. You’ll want to carefully analyze your fans, customers, and even employees to determine who’s worth the title of advocate.

For those who follow your brand on social media, you can start by checking who engages with your posts more. You could use tools like Google Analytics and social listening platforms to gather data on customer engagement and demographics. 

Speaking of engagement, note that not everyone who follows your brand on social media is a potential brand advocate. 

A 2017 Harvard Business Review study revealed that likes, shares, and engagement are not predictors of action at all. To identify the strongest candidate, you’ll need to listen. Social listening can help identify people who always recommend your business/products. 

The people with promoter potential are those who always provide feedback, independently talk about your product offerings, and praise you in their own words. Find them—they have the potential to become your greatest brand advocates. 

2. Promote advocacy through your content strategy

One of the best ways to encourage engagement from your advocates is to create easily accessible and shareable content. 

Creating content that resonates with your audience helps drive engagement, builds trust, and generates credibility. While you could create many different types of content, UGC is the most authentic way to create resonant content. 

According to Searchlogistics, 79% of buyers say user-generated content highly impacts their buying decision. Your advocates can achieve better results by leveraging UGC in their promotional efforts. 

3. Incentivize advocates with rewards

Once you’ve got the right advocates, nurture them. 

Make sure your advocacy program includes various opportunities and rewards for the participants. But why incentivize your advocates when they’re already willing to help you for free?

Don’t think of the incentive as a payment or “bribe” for recommending your brand or products. You’re not buying someone’s advocacy. You want your brand advocates to be authentic when sharing your messaging. After all, loyalty can’t be bought. 

Think of incentives as a way to say “thank you” for being a part of the brand. Your advocates are giving up their time to create content, spread positive vibes about your business, and even defend it online. Naturally, you’d appreciate them for their hard work and effort. 

So, what incentives or reward programs should you use? 

• Provide exclusive discounts and coupons
• Give advocates the VIP treatment they deserve
• Host events for them
• Offer free products
• Recognize them on your marketing channels

You could also use gamification and leaderboards to encourage friendly competition among the advocates. 

4. Empower advocates through training

Your advocates can’t properly promote your products if they don’t know how your products work. Empower them through training!

You could host regular webinars and workshops to teach advocates about your brand, products, and messaging. You could also offer free learning resources, such as e-books, to help them better understand your business and what sets it apart from the competition. 

Additionally, have an open line of communication where advocates can easily reach you should they have any questions or concerns. 

5. Create a community of brand advocates

The most successful businesses know that a community is only as good as the people in it. 

Brand advocates help grow the brand’s visibility online and offline by recommending your products to consumers, which stems from a genuine belief in your brand. Creating a community of advocates helps foster business growth in many ways. 

For instance, creating a community can bring advocates together where they can share tips and ideas and unearth insights you can use. Moreover, communities are a great way to get new product ideas from your advocates, as well as collect and apply feedback to your existing offerings. You can also create a wider fan community, and mobilize advocates to offer support to other customers within that community. 

6. Use brand advocacy software

Brand advocacy software can help you easily mobilize advocates and create effective brand advocacy programs. These systems provide the tools to support and encourage customers to endorse, comment on, and recommend business products and services. 

The software monitors and records the performance of each advocate. It creates links unique to each advocate, so you know which advocates are responsible for the most purchases. Better still, it increases advocate engagement with messages and reminders. 

Not all brand advocacy software is created equal. Some program software can only manage one type of advocacy, so they’re not flexible. But Referral Rock software can mobilize all types of brand advocates, including customers, employees, ambassadors, and other fans.

7. Measure and optimize your brand advocacy program

Measuring the performance of your advocacy program is important to justify the budget you spent on it and identify areas that need improvements. 

Every brand advocacy campaign you create must be tied to the KPIs you want to achieve. Metrics such as referral rates, engagement rates, and social media shares can help you determine the effectiveness of your advocacy program. 

To continuously improve your brand advocacy initiatives, regularly measure performance to determine what works and what has room for improvement. 

Monitor conversion rates and website analytics to gain insights into what campaigns have the best ROI. Use this knowledge to develop your advocacy strategy and develop fruitful long-term relationships that drive sales. 

The power of brand advocacy for long-term success

Brand advocacy plays a critical role in growing your business because it’s authentic and can easily expand your reach organically. This customer-centric marketing strategy offers many benefits, such as brand loyalty, increased brand awareness, and long-term business growth. 

If well executed, a brand advocacy program can be your silver bullet to increased customer loyalty, retention, and sales. It can also create buzz online, leading to increased social mentions, traffic, and sales. Ready to harness the power of advocates? Find out how Referral Rock can help you create and automate a brand advocacy program today. 

Sounds appealing, right? To reap the benefits, you’ll need to hire the right ambassadors first.

Let’s look at how to hire brand ambassadors, including:

• Why you should hire brand ambassadors
• What qualities to look for
• What you should offer a brand ambassador to encourage them to sign on
• Top brand ambassador interview questions

Time to dive in!

Who is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador (sometimes called a brand advocate) is an existing customer or fan who is paid to promote or endorse the products or services of a particular brand. They already love your brand, and have agreed to represent it long-term. They will promote your products online (on their social media accounts, their website, or their blog), offline (at events), or both. A brand ambassador builds relationships with your target audience and authentically shows how they use your product in real life.

Even though brand ambassadors aren’t always your employees, they are still hired (formally recruited) like employees are. Most of the time, you’ll have candidates fill out applications and go through an interview process. And then, you’ll hand-select the ambassadors that best fit your brand.

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Why hire brand ambassadors?

Some of the reasons you should hire a brand ambassador include the following:

• Trust: People trust peer recommendations (like recommendations from ambassadors) far more than they trust ads and other messages from your brand. 
• Cost-effectiveness: Rewarding ambassadors for their efforts tends to cost less than other types of marketing campaigns.
• Brand awareness: Brand ambassadors can help enhance your company’s brand recognition. In today’s competitive economy, visibility is crucial.
• Lead generation: A brand ambassador’s main job is to help your company gain new customers. They can achieve this by producing leads and referrals through their networks, social media outlets, and blogs. 
• Reach: Brand ambassadors can help you reach new and relevant audiences by creating content for you and conversing with new ears.
• Engagement: Ambassadors have engaged networks and can get people in these networks to engage with your brand in a way your brand might struggle to do. 

Qualities of ideal brand ambassadors: What to look for

Below are some traits to look for in an ideal brand ambassador. 

1. Love for your brand: A good brand ambassador must love your brand and authentically use it in their daily life.
2. Marketing knowledge: While brand ambassadors don’t need a marketing degree, they should at least have a basic understanding of the core principles of marketing. 
3. Niche relevance: A brand ambassador must be active in your niche and/or have an audience with similar demographics to yours
4. Communication skills: A good brand ambassador must have strong online and face-to-face communication skills. They should be skilled at holding authentic one-on-one conversations. 
5. Value match: The best brand ambassadors must share your brand’s values and align with your brand image.
6. Creativity: A brand ambassador must be creative and adaptable (they will often need to adapt their message to best reach each individual they talk to).
7. Good reputation: The best brand ambassadors must have a good reputation and always act ethically, as what they do will reflect on your brand
8. Leadership: They must have strong leadership and project management skills, plus a talent for building relationships
9. Quality online content record: If a brand ambassador is active online, they must consistently create high-quality content. They must have high engagement from their audience (the number of followers doesn’t matter as long as those followers comment on and share their posts frequently).
10. Offline event skills: If they will be active offline, they must be skilled at planning and/or running promotional events of different sizes 

Be sure to define any other qualities and skills an ambassador will need in your program before starting the search and hiring process. Also, determine ambassadors’ responsibilities. For example, will they post on Instagram regularly? Blog about your products? Represent you at trade shows? Plan and execute guerrilla marketing events? Talk to interested individuals at conferences? This way, you’ll know the ambassadors you want to hire.

Hiring brand ambassadors: What’s in it for them?

Even if potential ambassadors are willing to promote your brand without compensation, you should still give them some incentive to encourage them to apply for the ambassadorship. Since ambassadors are hired in almost the same manner as regular employees, they should get compensation for their services. The compensation is almost like the brand ambassador’s salary, except it may be paid in advance, upon completion of tasks, or based on performance. 

Some of the brand ambassador perks you should consider offering include:

• Branded swag
• Event tickets
• Free merchandise (including the chance to try new products first)
• Store credits
• Cash commissions
• Discounts to pass on to their network
• Access to an exclusive ambassador community

Aside from the rewards listed above, you can also provide brand ambassadors the opportunity to learn and grow in leadership roles, or even participate in new product development (as they can give feedback on products). 

It’s essential to be transparent about compensation when searching for and recruiting brand ambassadors. Ensure you include a list of benefits and incentives in the brand ambassador job description that accompanies your application. Also, bring the benefits up in pre-screening emails, direct messages, and interviews.

How to hire brand ambassadors: 7 top ways

There are several ways to find and hire brand ambassadors, including the following:

Reach out to your best customers

Reaching out to your most loyal customers is smart because brand ambassadors need to use your products – and love them passionately – to be effective. They don’t have to have a huge follower base, as long as they have a dedicated following of people who trust them and who would be interested in your products or services. 

Promote a brand ambassador application

This way, potential brand ambassadors come to you, and you can ask them anything you want to weed out unqualified candidates. Ensure the brand ambassador application is promoted on all your customer-facing platforms, including social media, email, and your website.

Check out our previous articles for all the details on creating a brand ambassador application, and best practices for writing a brand ambassador job description.

Search on social media

Find out which social media platforms your target audience uses most. Look for people who seem to truly love your products and services, and who can often be seen showing how they use your offerings in their posts. 

Look for brand hashtags, see who has tagged you, or utilize software to find any mentions of your brand. Send suitable creators a link to your application for further consideration.

Use brand monitoring software

With brand monitoring software, you can scour the web for any references to your product. As a result, it could unearth references that indicate brand devotees, both on and off social media. Using a service like this, you can find influential bloggers and industry leaders who already use and promote your business and would make good brand ambassadors. 

Manually search for niche blogs and websites

You can also do a manual search for specialists in your field (like dentists if you’re a toothpaste company or yoga teachers if you manufacture yoga gear). Or, search Google for a niche keyword and “blog.” This is more laborious than brand monitoring tools, though, since you must read through their content to determine if they have mentioned your products or services. But it’s still a good way to find brand ambassadors. 

Databases

Pre-screened lists of content creators and bloggers are available in influencer and ambassador databases, with follower and engagement counts checked for you. However, you’ll still need to check whether these personalities use and have shared your products and services before hiring them as brand ambassadors. Because you want to ensure they are serious about making the ambassadorship a long-term relationship, they should go through the same application procedure as other ambassadors.

Email list

You can email everyone on your list with details about your new ambassador program, or you can focus on the subset of your subscriber base that has shown the most interest in your messages by clicking on them and forwarding them to others. A person already engaging with your business regularly is more likely to agree to your requests, such as participation in a brand ambassador program.

How to screen prospective ambassadors

The first step in vetting possible ambassadors is to screen their content to ensure they’re a good fit for your brand. Do they align with your values, image, and voice? If so, send them to your brand ambassador application and use that to ask specific screening questions. 

If you found prospective ambassadors via their website, blog, or social media page, send them applications when you reach out. However, if the brand ambassador application is the first point of contact, ensure you ask for the applicant’s social handle, blog, or website so that you can reference these channels in screening. 

Shortlisted candidates should move to an interview via Zoom or email. This will test their one-on-one communication skills (email will test written skills, and Zoom will test verbal conversation skills, so choose wisely). It will also open up opportunities to ask more detailed questions and get to know their personality better.

Use the final interview results to determine which ambassadors you’ll hire, then reach out to each selected ambassador via email and welcome them to the program. 

Brand ambassador interview questions

Some of the best brand ambassador interview questions include the following;

• Why do you want to become our brand ambassador? This will allow prospective candidates to show their passion for your product or service. 
• What do you love most about our brand/products? This shows the candidate’s awareness of your products and services
• What three essential skills do you have that will make you a stellar ambassador for us? This will allow you to gauge whether the candidate is a good fit for your company
• How would you promote our brand and products if you’re selected as our ambassador? This will give you a sense of the candidate’s creativity and problem-solving skills 
• What experience do you have as a brand ambassador? Ambassadorship experience isn’t a requirement; communication skills and brand love matter much more. Still, asking this question can be helpful 
• What experience do you have in a customer-facing setting? The answer will give you a sense of whether the candidate can handle customer service situations. 
• What experience do you have creating content on social media and blogs, professionally and personally? This will allow you to see if the candidate has the social media know-how necessary to promote your products. 
• What experience do you have planning/running events? Brand ambassadorship is not all about social media posts and blogging. This question will allow you to gauge whether the candidate can organize and run an event that promotes your products. 

Now you’re ready for brand ambassador hiring

A brand ambassador’s primary goal is to bring in customers for your brand. You can recruit brand ambassadors through the same channels that you use for marketing, including social media, email lists, and company events. Begin by informing your clients via email, social media, or in person that you are considering launching an ambassador program. With just that one first step, you’ll be well on your way to conducting a successful brand ambassador hiring program.

With an application, you’ll gain valuable knowledge on potential brand reps, and get insights into why they want to be a part of your brand’s success. This is your opportunity to sift through potential ambassadors, just as you would any potential employee. 

Let’s discuss key components of a well-rounded brand ambassador application. Plus, our template and 9 examples will inspire you as you create your own. 

What is a brand ambassador?

Let’s cover the basics first. Brand ambassadors help to promote and spread awareness about a company and its products or services. Typically, brand ambassadors are asked to participate in activities such as representing you at events, creating content, talking to potential customers, and more.

A brand ambassador is someone who loves your brand and agrees to promote it – most often, in the long term. Though an ambassador is usually paid for promoting a brand, they are not necessarily an employee. But, most ambassadors are screened and recruited before representing your brand (sort of like an employee). 

These people help to promote you in a variety of ways (online, offline, or both). They could promote you online, through social media accounts, their blog, and even through other websites. Or, they could represent you offline, like at an event or through casual conversation. 

While promoting you, they are building relationships with your target audience. In doing so, they are authentically showing how they use your product in real life to friends, family, and anyone who may follow their social media profiles.

What is a brand ambassador application?

A brand ambassador application is the form where people apply to be a brand ambassador, just as someone would apply to a job. 

A brand ambassador application collects information from individuals who are interested in becoming a brand ambassador for a company. The application is used to gather information about the candidate’s experience and qualifications, as well as to provide an opportunity for the candidate to describe why they may be the best fit for the role.

An ambassador application is likely on a page of its own, and not among your current job listings. You may have seen websites with a page dedicated to a company’s ambassador program. The ambassador application is typically found linked or embedded on this page.

It’s important to note that this application is different from the brand ambassador job description.

The key differences being: 

• It’s usually its own page. The application is usually on a separate page that the job description page links out to 
• Or, it’s in its own section.If both are on the same page, the application follows the job description as its own brand ambassador form.

A brand ambassador application should be used in any brand ambassador program. Even if you’re directly searching through social media or through your customer base for ambassadors, you should still create an application. This not only looks professional, but it can help you determine if potential ambassadors are actually a good fit.  

Why do you need a brand ambassador application?

Having an actual application has its benefits. It will sift out anyone who isn’t truly serious about promoting you. If someone is willing to take the time to fill out an application, then their motivations are probably genuine, and they aren’t there just to make a quick buck.

But there are a whole host of other reasons:

• Lets the ambassadors come to you. You may want to let ambassadors just come to you, rather than putting in the effort to seek them out. Likely, only those who are happy with your product, values, and brand will apply.
• Allows you to pre-screen ambassadors. This is probably one of the most important reasons for requiring an application. You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about them to make sure they’re a good fit.
• Shows professionalism. When you have a formal program in place, it just looks better. You look professional, and it helps back up requirements and expectations for representing ambassadors.
• Increases the visibility of your program. You can add the link to your application practically anywhere. Try giving it a spot on your website, adding it to your social media descriptions, making it a recurring scheduled post, and even adding it to your email signature for constant promotion and increased visibility.
• Keeps information organized. An ambassador application helps you collect and keep all the information needed about a prospective ambassador in one place. This way you’re not searching through emails or DMs trying to find bits of information.

Sample brand ambassador application form template

There are a few items that your application should always cover. But, you can really personalize this to your exact needs or add on more specific questions related to your brand and ambassador program. 

The point is to figure out who the applicants are and how they may benefit you and your program. So along with basic contact information, you will have to add some questions relating to their interest in your brand.

This brand ambassador application template covers all of the pertinent information needed for finding the perfect ambassador. 

How to make a brand ambassador application?

There are numerous ways to go about actually making the application. In the simplest way, you could easily create an old school document to email potential ambassadors after they express interest in the program. 

But, there are other ways that may help you keep things more organized and seamless. 

• Use an ambassador software. There is a lot of software out there to help you with any pain point you may be facing. Brand ambassador software happens to be one of them. This type of software will automate many of the processes within your program, but will also allow you to create and manage applications.
• Try a form creator. If you aren’t wanting to go full software, you can create a professional looking brand ambassador form template to use for submissions. For example, you can use a form creator like Typeform or Google Forms. (You can use the information later to create accounts for the ambassadors you accept with brand ambassador software).

Either way, the application needs to include several essential fields to help you screen ambassadors. 

The following are sections of form fields that should be included in a brand ambassador application.

Application introduction

Your introduction should provide a brief description of the brand ambassador position, responsibilities, and what you’re looking for in an ambassador. You can hit the main points you may have mentioned in your job description. 

This is also the perfect opportunity to relist the perks of being a brand ambassador in brief, including reward incentives (like discount codes, gift cards, or free products).

• Keep it short. Ideally, your longer brand ambassador job description should be linked to this application, or it should have brought them to the application. But, you should still have a short description so applicants remember who/what they’re applying to, the criteria, and why they should apply.
• You may be able to skip this altogether. However, if the application is on the same page as the job description, you’ve covered this already and do not need to reiterate.

An introduction is nice to have, but you’ll only have to use it if your application is its own separate page.

Contact information 

This one should be obvious – you’ll want to know how to reach the person who is applying. 

You’ll need the basics, including:

• Applicant’s name. This one is usually required, as you’ll need to tie a name to their information.
• Email address. Many people choose to use email as their main form of communication. So this one is also vital, in fact you may prefer this over their phone number (at least initially). 
• Home address. For tax purposes, you will likely need to have their address on file. Plus, if you are mailing them supplies, gifts, etc. you’ll need this on hand. But, you can also choose to not get this information right off the bat, and may need to only ask for it if you move forward with the applicant.
• Phone number. This is another one that can be optional. Perhaps you choose to email first after reviewing information and then schedule a call if you plan to move forward with someone.

These four items cover the very basics and will allow you to easily get back in touch. 

Demographics

This may not be necessary. But, you may want to ask more specific demographics. Your program, product, or brand may be very niche, and you may want to weed out those who do not necessarily fit best. 

Some common demographics asked are: location, occupation, age, gender, student status, and even marital status.

Unlike a job application, an ambassador application may not need to ask these at all. However,  depending on your unique requirements, you may choose to use some of them as an added filter. 

Links to their channels

If you’re seeking social media-focused ambassadors, ask for links to their social profiles. Or, if you’re seeking bloggers and other long-form creators, ask for a link to their blog or website. Either way, you’ll want these links, as they can provide you with vital information and allow you to see the ambassador in their own environment.

This information can help you accomplish two things. 

• You can see their potential reach. This will let you verify their reach (number of followers or amount of traffic) and engagement (how often their audience comments on their content).
• You will see if they align with your brand. It will also let you ensure that the style and tone of their content aligns with your brand, and that they align with your mission and values.

You may require someone to have a certain amount of followers. This is great, as it can help you bypass those who do not meet your requirements. But, their follower count does not matter if they aren’t in alignment with your brand. Being able to check brand alignment and audience engagement is very important. 

Interest question

Ambassador questions and applications are typically very brief and relatively easy. But if you’re only looking for their contact information and social media links, you may pass up someone who truly loves your brand or aligns perfectly within your niche.

This is why it’s helpful to ask, ‘why’. What does this person hope to get out of this ambassadorship? By asking them why they are interested in becoming a brand ambassador, you can filter out anyone who isn’t genuinely interested. Understanding the ‘why’ is essential for choosing the right ambassadors. 

Brand love question

Not only do you want to know why they are interested, but you should also figure out why they love your brand in the first place. 

Many brands ask a variation of “Why do you love [brand]?” or “What is your favorite thing about [products]?” This simple single question can help you make sure you’re recruiting true fans and enthusiastic brand champions. 

You really don’t have to overdo it with these types of questions – asking just one brand love question can give you enough insight on a potential ambassador. 

Experience questions

Another type of question should revolve around their experience. It’s fine to take on newbies, but, if they have past experience doing this type of work, it can be beneficial to know.

But it could extend to more than just past ambassador experience. You could ask more broad scope questions regarding general content creation, too.  

Here are some things to think about when creating questions related to experience.

• Ask if they’re creating online content. You can ask about their experience creating content and if any content was made for specific brands.
• Ask if they’ve served as ambassadors offline as well. Ambassadors aren’t strictly online only, some actually do their best work at events and parties. You can ask about their experience and willingness in planning events and/or attending events. 
• Ask if they have past ambassador experience. For all ambassadors, it may also be helpful to know if they’ve had any previous ambassador experience.

This section may be a little more in depth than your other open ended questions, but if they have created content or done ambassador work before, they will likely have a lot to say. 

Skills question

Similarly, you can ask about their skills. You can create a list for them to check based on conditions you are specifically looking for, or ask it open-endedly. 

You can choose to ask this either way:

• What are your top 3 skills? Ask what their top 3 skills are that would make them a stellar ambassador for your brand. You can even have them elaborate on each.
• What skills do you possess from this list? Set out a list of skills that align with what you’re looking for, and ask ambassadors to select and elaborate on their greatest skills from the list. You can create a cap to this question. For example, you may list out 10 skills, and have them choose their top 3 skills or just even their best skill. 

Either way, you’ll learn a lot about the ambassador.

Promotional plan question

Another great question to ask is how they plan on promoting your brand. You may find some really creative and unique ideas that can expand your brand into new pools of people. 

The benefit of this is it also gives you a preview of their promotional style before you recruit them. If you aren’t impressed by their initial idea, or if they haven’t offered a creative or useful idea, perhaps they may not fit what you’re looking for. 

Therefore, it’s important to ask how they would promote your brand and products if selected.

Other questions

In addition to the questions mentioned already, you may want to dig a bit deeper and ask a few unique questions. 

These are optional and will depend on your brand’s needs, but may include:

• See how they describe themselves: A personality question, such as what makes them unique, three words peers would use to describe them, or what makes them stand out. All of which can help you get a stronger idea about whether the ambassador aligns with your brand.
• Ask if they have similar values: You can ask how they live out your brand’s values. If you’re an all natural and holistic brand, you likely want someone who lives their life similarly – do your values align with one another?
• Think about student ambassadors: Ask some specifics about activities and leadership roles on campus, if you’re looking for student ambassadors.
• Take note when they are available: A simple question you may want to consider is when would they be available to start. This is especially important if any offline roles are involved. To add to this, you could also ask how much time they are willing to put towards the ambassadorship. 
• Include something visual or fun: Ask them to provide a single photo that either reflects the ambassador’s personality or your brand style. You’re likely asking for their personal channels to see all their photos, but asking them to single out something specific is another way to see how well they understand/align with your brand.

All the questions above are optional. If you do choose to use them, you do not have to use them all. By adding just one or two you can learn even more about a potential ambassador’s personality and how they may work with you.

Brand ambassador application tips

Now that you know what to include on your brand ambassador applications, let’s cover some best practices. 

• Ask questions, but keep it light. Ask for all the information you need to screen ambassadors, but don’t include too many form fields (so the application is not overwhelming)
  • If including a lot of fields, consider a survey form with one question on each page, or a form where applicants can log in and come back to.
• Keep your application to itself. Don’t include any links to other website pages within your application. Your application should not do anything but allow you to get to know your applicant.
  • You really don’t want prospective ambassadors to bounce around and forget about continuing the application – or struggle to find it again. 
• Promotion is key. Promote your application on social media and in your email newsletters, as well as on a dedicated page of your website (where the ambassador job description lives). If you want people to apply, they have to know about it.
  • Additionally, you can also have current ambassadors promote the application to their audience!
• Don’t forget to optimize. Optimize the application page (or the job description page that links to the application) for keywords like “[your niche] brand ambassador. That way, prospective ambassadors can easily find the application via search. This key detail can potentially make or break you.  
• Share an application link directly. If you’re looking for ambassadors directly on social media, or reaching out to customers who would make great ambassadors, send them a direct link to your application. You may find someone who would make the perfect ambassador – but they may not even know about you or your program.  
• Keep open-ended questions for later use. You might choose to leave out some of the suggested long-form questions on the application, and then ask those questions via Zoom or in a meeting instead.

Treat this just like any other page on your site or blog. If you are wanting to get this in front of people, you need to optimize, share, and promote it so you can find your brand ambassadors.

Brand ambassador application examples

There are many ambassador programs out there, so you should be able to find some inspiration easily. But, we’ve compiled a list to showcase a few great ambassador program applications so you can see the questions and form fields mentioned above in action. 

Bumble 

Bumble has a notable Honey ambassador program for college students. Specifically, aimed for helping women spread the word about equitable relationships in all aspects of life. Their ambassador application changes with each semester, but typically uses the same standard questions. 

They ask all of the main contact and demographic questions, but they take this opportunity to dig deeper and really get to know the applicant as well. They ask a ton of questions relating to the potential position, past experience, and their willingness to post on social media along with asking if they have the time to commit. 

What’s done well: They ask if the applicant has used any of their other products or apps, and give the applicant options to choose from. In fact, the majority of questions on this application are multiple choice. Making it a breeze for a potential candidate.

What should they improve: Each question is asked individually. So when it gets to sharing links to the applicant platforms, it seems almost too repetitive. What is your Instagram follower count, what is your direct link on Instagram? What is your LinkedIn follower count? What is your direct link on LinkedIn? All of these questions are asked separately, instead they can ask them all on the same page. Having to constantly hit next can make it feel neverending. 

Notable questions used: Their ambassador application is actually meant for a few types of potential ambassadors. So one important question they ask is what ambassador position the applicant is most interested in. 

They also hit the applicant with a combo question asking ‘why’.

*Why Bumble? What interests you most about our brand, mission, and product? What do you hope to gain from being an ambassador? This question is required.*

And they discuss Bumble’s values and ask how they are incorporated into the applicant’s life. 

*Bumble’s values are kindness, honesty, accountability, inclusivity, and growth— what do those words mean to you and how do you incorporate them into your life? This question is required.*

Overall: We’re pretty impressed by the depth covered in their application. There are 38 questions total, which really isn’t all that many, especially for the type of ambassador they want to find and type of program they are running (one aimed at growth, kindness, accountability, and inclusivity). We give it an A+.

Beba Bean

This is a baby ambassador program aimed at social media savvy parents. Ambassadors will receive products to review and will be sent information about new products each season to get their baby friends (and their parents) excited for what’s to come. 

What’s done well: Their program is very straightforward so they have a condensed page that not only tells more about their program, but allows submissions right from the same page. We like that it’s all laid out and easily accessible – it makes it easy for a busy parent to apply and be on their way. 

What should they improve: Because it is so short, they may receive a huge amount of applicants, and they may not be able to learn that much about the potential ambassador. In this instance, the ambassador is more than just one person, as the responsibility actually falls on the parents. We would have liked to see a few more in-depth questions to really get to know the baby and parent they would be working with. 

Notable questions used: We liked that they were inclusive. They left it open to those who may not even have children. 

*Do you have children? If so, what age and sex? If not, how do you plan to review products?* 

Asking how the family plans on reviewing the products would be good information to know from all applicants. 

Overall: This is short and sweet. But, being so, it has the potential for a lot of baby ambassador applicants. We’d suggest using a few more customized questions. We give it a solid B.

Sunny Co.

Sunny Co has an ambassador team of 100,000+ and they work towards providing a positive impact worldwide. Sunny Co ambassadors earn a free swimsuit and get other discounts for being part of the team. Their application process is pretty fast – you can expect to hear back as soon as 1-2 days, and the application is also pretty breezy.

What’s done well: We like that they kept their application short and sweet – while also asking some really great ‘get to know you’ questions. Plus, the application is really easy to find, as it’s located right on the brand ambassador description page.

What should they improve: Their ambassadors seem to post a lot on social media, but they do not ask for a social profile link on their application. We think this would have been a good thing to ask. 

Notable questions used: We like that they asked some critical thinking questions that aren’t necessarily related to the product. These kinds of questions really help gain an understanding of someone without actually basing judgment on how the person may look. 

*If you could make one change to our world to make it a better place, what would it be*

Overall: We like the program and the application is pretty on par. However, we are going to knock it down a tiny bit since they don’t ask for an Instagram handle, considering much of the ambassador’s work will revolve around that platform. We give it an A-.

Evy’s Tree

The Evy’s Tree brand makes it clear that they are looking for a brand ambassador who has the same heart and values as their brand, but who isn’t afraid to push the envelope. They encompass love, kindness, compassion, and aren’t afraid to live a little (#doscarythings). The Evy’s Tree ambassador program revolves around social media, and their application follows that script. 

What’s done well: We like seeing shorter applications embedded on the same page as the ambassador description. We also like that the application is very straightforward, but does include a couple in depth questions. They also offer a PDF ambassador packet to download, so applicants can get the whole inside scope before applying.

What should they improve: The entire page is quite long, so you have a lot to scroll through. While on a desktop or laptop, the applicant sees a skinny form – which doesn’t look visually all that appealing. They could consider condensing the application form by using a column layout. But, this is definitely not a deal breaker, and really wouldn’t do much other than change the visual appearance of the page.

Notable questions used: We like that they ask about other work the applicant has done. This can give insight as to whether the applicant understands the scope of ambassador work. Plus, they can learn if the ambassador works well in their niche. 

Overall: We like it. They offer plenty of information on the ambassador page, and they even offer a download of the ambassador description for applicants to hold on to. The form follows nicely, and asks the perfect amount of questions. We give it a solid A.

Sand Cloud

Anyone who is looking to preserve marine life can become an ambassador for Sand Cloud. Their program is all about giving back while enjoying sustainable products to save the fishies.

Ambassador work will help spread the word about a variety of marine life funds, like the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, Global Penguin Society, Coral Restoration Foundation, and so many more foundations. Plus, 10% of all purchases sitewide go toward these conservation efforts. So ambassadors can guarantee they’ll be making a positive impact for their efforts!

What’s done well: We like how visually appealing the ambassador page is. The big photo and the form alongside looks really nice. 

What should they improve: We want more! We’d love to know more about the ambassador’s work, the benefits (both for the ambassador and what their efforts can help the world achieve). We would also like to see a few more questions on the form. Perhaps they may ask these questions in a later interview, but to help funnel out the top ambassadors – why not ask a few ahead of time?

Notable questions used: Unfortunately, there isn’t much to the application (at least initially). 

Overall: Even though we can all agree, it looks nice. We need to see more. There isn’t much for the ambassador to fill out. We give it a C+. 

Tiny Little Chef

Anyone who loves some good seasoned food now has the opportunity to promote Tiny Little Chef seasonings. Ambassadors are asked to promote the goods and in return will earn a little cash. Plus, Tiny Little Chef ambassadors will reap the benefits time and time again, as they are sent a new product and recipe ideas to share every month (and can get paid while doing so). 

What’s done well: The ambassador application is linked at the bottom of the ambassador description page. We like that it has its own dedicated space. We also like that they ask about the applicants willingness to perform each of their requested tasks – which makes expectations clear for the applicant.

What should they improve: They ask a few questions that we actually like, but nothing really in-depth. Most are just yes or no answers. We’d like to see a few more open-ended questions that will really let them get to know the ambassador. 

Notable questions used: We like that they incorporate questions about the ambassador’s willingness to participate. These types of questions really help solidify expectations! Also have to give a shout out to their question about past experience. This type of question reassures them of the ambassador’s ability to complete tasks. 

*Do you agree to show an “unboxing” of the new Seasoning that you will receive, free of charge, every month? * 

Overall: The initial form is short and simple. There are not too many questions, nor are there any that scratch more than the surface. We give it a B.

Trendy & Tipsy

The brand ambassador program at Trendy and Tipsy is looking for a girl who is interested in fashion and willing to promote their brand on social media. The program is really focused on heavy social media use, and it’s evident reading through the ambassador description.

What’s done well: Their application is easy to find as it sits right below the ambassador program description. The process of submitting the application is also spelled out nicely. 

What should they improve: Though it’s easy to understand what an applicant should do, the application is rather a list of questions that need to be answered via email. We’d prefer to see an embedded form or even a link to a separate document with these questions to be emailed back. An applicant may lose some of the questions or ignore some questions otherwise.

Notable questions used: They ask a few really great questions. Many of the questions on the application are actually long-form, so they will have a great chance at getting to know their potential brand ambassadors. Question 3 is broken up into multiple sections. They ask the applicant to write an essay that covers 5 specific topics – we think this is awesome!

*Please write a short essay telling us why you would make a great fashion brand ambassador for us, and cover each of the following points…*

Overall: We think the program and the ‘application’ questions are great. We’d wish it was executed a little differently, but overall still a pretty good application. We give it a B.

The Great North

This feel-good brand is both cruelty free and gives back to environmental efforts. Any purchase on the site means 10% of the purchase price will be funneled back into the environment. This makes them a great company to work with and share with friends – which makes a Great North ambassador’s job quite easy!

What’s done well: We love seeing a simple form right on the same page. It makes finding the application easy, and provides easy insight to the program as the applicant fills out the form. 

What should they improve: They hardly ask any questions, in fact, nothing of substance at all. We’d like to see at least one question that relates to their brand mission. This would help them filter down applicants to better choose who truly aligns with their values. 

Notable questions used: They really don’t ask for much. We think their application is lacking in this aspect.

Overall: Overall, we love the mission and the program itself. But, the application is really lackluster. We give it a C.

Good American

This brand has blown up on social media platforms due to its inclusivity and body positivity products. They strive to challenge industry norms, giving ambassadors of all types the opportunity to shine. The Good American ambassador program is also open to all genders!

What’s done well: They start the application right underneath the description. We like that it’s easy to find, and easy to fill out. We also like that they connect your Instagram account (with a 3rd party app) directly to your application. 

What should they improve: You can only apply if you have an Instagram account. This is where most of their promotion does seem to happen, so it makes sense. But, some people may have stronger Tik Tok or other social profiles, so they may miss out on great ambassadors if they are using only Instagram profiles as a filter. 

Notable questions used: They haven’t included any unique questions on their application. But, we can assume there may be more to the application or process if applicants make it past the initial step. 

Overall: We like that the application is simple and clean. We do have to knock off some points since the second screen of the application requires logging in to Instagram. Asking for just the handle, initially, could be easier, and if they progress – then have the applicant sign in with the additional application. We give it a B+.

Conclusion

There are so many things a brand ambassador application can do for a brand trying to find ambassadors. If you take the time to really think out your application, you can really help yourself choose qualified applicants. You can sort through and find those who match with your brand and who live by your same brand values. 

To achieve this, you have to remember that an application should include a few ‘personal’ or unique questions mixed in. And once you’ve taken the time to create a quality application, start to promote it! 

In this article, we’ll explore how to find and work with small business brand ambassadors, and the benefits they can bring to your business. So, if you’re ready to take your brand promotion to the next level, keep reading to learn more about these valuable advocates.

What is a small business brand ambassador?

Small business brand ambassadors are passionate supporters of a small business who use the company’s products or services regularly, and who frequently share their love for the company with their friends, followers, and community. They become the face of the brand and help show the human side of the business, which can be especially important for small businesses that may not have the same level of resources as larger corporations.

Small business brand ambassadors are motivated intrinsically – they are willing to share your business even without a reward because they want to help your brand succeed. This makes them a valuable asset to your company, as they are trusted sources of information and can promote your brand authentically without sounding sales-y.

Types of small business brand ambassadors

There are two types of small business brand ambassadors: formal and informal.

Formal ambassadors are hand-picked representatives who sign contracts to promote your business and complete set tasks. These ambassadors are carefully selected and have a trusted online following, making them a powerful asset for your brand.

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On the other hand, informal ambassadors are any customers who enroll in an informal ambassador program, also known as a referral program. These customers refer the people they know using referral links and earn rewards for sharing when their referrals make a purchase. Informal ambassadors can share as often as they wish, making them a great way to get more customers through word-of-mouth marketing.

In both cases, small business brand ambassadors are enthusiastic about the products or services they represent and are eager to share them with others. 

Are you ready for small business brand ambassadors?

Although brand ambassadors are highly beneficial, not every small business is ready to start a successful ambassador program. As a business owner, you’re only ready for formal small business brand ambassadors if:

You have excellent products and first-rate customer service: The most critical factor in finding brand ambassadors is by having products or services that are high-quality and worth recommending to others. If your products are subpar or your customer service could be better, it’s unlikely that you’ll find brand ambassadors who are willing to promote your business. On the other hand, if you have top-notch products and a customer service team that goes above and beyond, you’ll have an easier time finding brand ambassadors who are excited to share your business with others.

You’ve built up a base of happy customers: It’s much easier to find brand ambassadors among people who have already had a positive experience with your business. If you have few satisfied customers, it may be worth focusing on improving your products and customer service before looking for brand ambassadors.

Some of your customers are already talking about you positively: When people share their experiences with your business on their social media accounts, it’s a good sign that you have a loyal customer base that could become brand ambassadors.

You have a presence on social media: Having a presence on social media will allow you to connect with potential brand ambassadors and reach out to them about promoting your business.

You know of potential ambassadors who love your brand and have an online audience: Big fans of your brand with a trusted following on social media (or other platforms) are excellent candidates for formal brand ambassadors.

Even if your brand isn’t ready for formal ambassadors, you might be ready to create informal ambassadors through a small business referral program. You’re ready for that if:

You have products and customer service worth recommending: As with formal ambassadors, the most critical factor in creating an informal ambassador program is by having products or services that are high-quality and worth recommending to others.

You’ve built up a base of happy customers: It’s much easier to find informal ambassadors among people who have already had a positive experience with your business. If your customers are happy with what you offer, and are already sharing your business positively (online or offline), that’s a good sign that you have a loyal customer base that could become informal ambassadors.

Benefits of small business brand ambassadors

Brand ambassadors can be valuable assets for your company, and it’s essential to recognize how they can help grow your business. Small business brand ambassadors can bring several benefits to your business, including:

Peers trust ambassadors: Most people trust the recommendations of their peers far more than they trust ads or other marketing campaigns. This means that if you have brand ambassadors who are genuinely enthusiastic about your business and who share their experiences with others, they are likely to be more effective at driving sales than traditional marketing efforts.

Ambassadors promote you authentically: Because brand ambassadors are motivated by their love for your products or services, they are likely to promote your business in a way that feels authentic and genuine. 

Ambassadors expand your reach to new and relevant target audiences: Brand ambassadors with social media followings can boost your reach to new audiences who may be interested in your products or services.

Ambassadors create online content for you: Many brand ambassadors are happy to create content for your business, such as social media posts or blog articles. They can help you generate more traffic to your website and increase the visibility of your business online. This can be especially important if you’re a small business, as you may not have the resources to create professional-grade marketing materials.

Ambassadors show the human side of your small business: Brand ambassadors can help tell the unique story of your business and show the human side of what you do. This can be especially important for small businesses – you don’t have as many resources as a larger business, but your unique story sets you apart from bigger names.

Ambassadors can try your products and give feedback: If you have brand ambassadors willing to try your products and provide you with feedback, it can be a great way to get insights into what works and what doesn’t. This can be especially helpful if you’ve just launched a new product and are looking for ways to improve it.

Ambassador programs are cost-effective: You can choose how to reward your ambassadors (such as with store credits or free products), and you only need to reward them when they meet specific goals (such as making sales). This can be a much more budget-friendly way to promote your business than other forms of marketing.

Using small business brand ambassadors can help promote your company – especially if you’re a smaller business with limited resources. They can help you reach new audiences, create online content for you, and show the human side of your business, all while being cost-effective.

8 tips for working with small business brand ambassadors

As a small business owner, working with brand ambassadors can be a great way to promote your business and reach new audiences. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your ambassador program:

Define your ambassador program goals

Setting clear goals for your ambassador program is essential in ensuring its success. Some possible goals might include the following:

• Increasing brand awareness: Brand ambassadors can help get the word out about your business and raise awareness among potential customers.
• Generating sales: If your main goal is to drive sales, you should focus on finding ambassadors who have a large following and are particularly influential in their communities.
• Driving conversions: You can use your ambassador program to encourage people to take a specific action, such as signing up for your newsletter or making a purchase.
• Expanding to new audiences: If you’re looking to reach new audiences, you should focus on finding ambassadors with a different demographic or geographic focus than your current customer base.
• Building a social media following: You can use your ambassador program to help increase your social media following and engage with your audience online.
• Fostering customer loyalty: Your ambassador program can help you build loyalty among your existing customers and encourage them to continue doing business with you.

To track your progress towards your goals, you must set measurable KPIs (key performance indicators) that you can use to measure your success. This might include metrics such as the number of new followers you gain on social media, the number of conversions you drive, or the number of sales you generate.

Know where to find ambassadors

When finding brand ambassadors for your small business, look for people who are already passionate about your brand and aligned with your values. Some ways you can find potential ambassadors include:

Reaching out to content creators who have already talked about your business: If you know of content creators who have already mentioned your business or used your products, they may be good candidates for your ambassador program. You can reach out to them and ask if they’d be interested in becoming official ambassadors for your brand.

Using social media hashtags and tags: If you have a social media presence, you can find potential ambassadors by searching for people who have used or tagged your business in their posts. These people are likely already fans of your brand and may be interested in becoming ambassadors.

Opening an ambassador application: Another option is to open and promote it on your social media channels. This will allow potential ambassadors to come to you and express their interest in representing your brand.

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Reaching out to your best customers: If you have customers who are particularly loyal or enthusiastic about your business, consider reaching out to them directly and asking if they’d be interested in becoming ambassadors.

Offering a referral program for informal ambassadors: If you need more time to be ready for formal ambassadors, you can still create informal ambassadors through a referral program. Reach out to all your customers and ask them to refer their friends to your business. Be sure to provide trackable referral links to measure your program’s success.

Choose the right rewards

Rewarding your brand ambassadors is crucial to show appreciation for their efforts and keep them motivated to continue promoting your business. Rewards show you appreciate ambassadors’ efforts, so they’re important even if ambassadors are willing to promote you for free.

Here are a few tips for choosing the right incentives:

Focus on brand ambassador rewards tied to specific goals, such as making sales or generating a certain amount of engagement on social media posts. This way, you only need to give rewards when you see results. Rewarding based on sales is best for small businesses, so you know ambassadors helped your bottom line.

Consider rewards tied to your products or services, to encourage your ambassadors to continue supporting your business. This might include store credits, discounts, free products, or branded swag.

In addition to more tangible rewards, you can also use “thanks and recognition” style rewards to show appreciation for your ambassadors. This might include shout-outs on social media, blog spotlights, or handwritten thank-you notes.

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Set expectations for ambassadors

It’s essential to set clear expectations for what you expect from your ambassadors to get the most out of your ambassador program. Here are a few things to consider:

Establish what ambassadors need to do to earn rewards: Make sure your ambassadors know what they need to do to earn the rewards you’re offering. This could include making a certain number of posts within a given timeframe, talking to prospective customers at offline events, or helping you achieve specific goals.

Set guidelines for creating posts: If you have formal ambassadors, you should speak with each of them about what you expect from them. This might include how many posts they need to make, what they can and can’t say about your business, and any other guidelines for creating posts.

Have formal ambassadors sign a contract: To ensure that everyone is on the same page, have your formal ambassadors sign a contract outlining the terms of your program. This will ensure that everyone understands their responsibilities and is committed to meeting your expectations.

Monitor your ambassadors: While it’s essential to understand what you expect from your formal ambassadors clearly, it’s also crucial that they know you’re monitoring their activity. This will help them feel accountable for the content they share.

Give out ambassador links

One of the key ways that brand ambassadors can help promote your business is by sharing referral links with their friends, followers, and community. Whether your program is formal or informal, ambassador links track ambassadors’ sharing and let you measure your program’s success. These links are unique to every ambassador and contain a unique tracking code.

Whenever an ambassador shares the link with a peer, and the peer clicks the link and makes a purchase, the responsible ambassador earns a reward.

It’s easy to distribute these links thanks to the right brand ambassador software.

Plus, brand ambassador software – such as Referral Rock software – will instantly give you data on all the sales made through ambassador links, and reward ambassadors when a link registers that a sale was made.

Consider giving free products upfront

If you want to get your ambassadors excited about your business and drum up excitement around a new product, and if you can afford it, consider offering free products upfront.

There are several perks to this approach, including the following:

• It helps you build a relationship with your ambassadors by showing them that you value their opinions and want to listen to what they say about your product.
• When your ambassadors try out your products, they can provide insights on quality, usability, and overall appeal. This can help you make any necessary adjustments before launching the product to the broader public and can increase the chances of success.
• It can be a great way to generate excitement and get people talking about your business. When your ambassadors receive freebies, they’re more likely to be enthusiastic about them and share their experiences with friends and followers. This marketing strategy can generate a snowball publicity effect, leading to more sales and helping build the brand’s reputation.

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If you’re not ready to give out products for free, consider offering discount codes or gift cards to your ambassadors. This can still be a great way to drum up excitement and get feedback while also helping to offset some of the costs of doing business.

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However, if you offer discounts or credits instead of giveaways, you’ll probably need to ensure your ambassadors don’t abuse the system so you can protect your bottom line. For example, set a maximum number of discounts or credits each ambassador can receive, or require them to spend a certain amount before they can redeem a reward. 

Communicate regularly with ambassadors

Effective communication with your brand ambassadors is essential for the success of your brand ambassador program. Therefore, it’s necessary to establish a regular communication schedule and stick to it.

This may involve checking in with formal ambassadors on a set schedule, sending informal ambassadors reminder emails about the program, and letting all ambassadors know about any updates or new developments. You can do this through an email newsletter or exclusive social media group.

Additionally, make sure that ambassadors know how to contact you if they have questions about the program, and consider creating an FAQ to address common questions. Finally, seek feedback from ambassadors to continually improve your products and program.

By maintaining open lines of communication with your ambassadors, you can ensure that your brand ambassador program or customer referral program is running smoothly and effectively.

Track your ROI

As a small business, it’s crucial to track your brand ambassador program’s return on investment (ROI) to ensure that it’s providing value for your business.

There are several key steps you can take to track your ROI effectively. First, set clear goals for your program and then regularly check your ambassadors’ performance to see if you’re meeting those goals.

Use brand ambassador software to help you track key metrics such as referral conversions, customer lifetime value, and customer retention rates. By regularly reviewing this data, you can see how well your program is performing and identify areas for improvement.

Additionally, you can use this data to compare the results of your brand ambassador program to other marketing channels, such as paid advertising, to determine which strategies are providing the most significant ROI for your business.

By tracking your ROI, you can ensure that your brand ambassador program delivers maximum value for your small business.

Maximize the benefits of small business brand ambassadors with Referral Rock

Small business brand ambassadors are valuable assets who can help promote your brand authentically and effectively to new and relevant audiences.

Whether you work with formal ambassadors under a contract or informal ambassadors in a referral program, there are many benefits to working with brand ambassadors like increased brand awareness, increased sales, and the ability to showcase the human side of your business.

To effectively work with brand ambassadors, it’s essential to define your program goals, know where to find ambassadors who align with your brand values, communicate regularly with your ambassadors, and track your ROI. By following these tips, you can leverage the power of brand ambassadors to help grow your small business.

If you’re ready to harness the power of brand ambassadors to grow your small business, consider using Referral Rock. This brand ambassador software makes it easy to find and reward ambassadors, track referral conversions, and measure ROI. Start using Referral Rock today and take your brand ambassador program to the next level!

Of course, that also means it is important to keep your brand ambassadors happy and engaged. Many brands use an immersive collection of perks that can simultaneously delight and inspire brand ambassadors to further advocate for your brand. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the best brand ambassador perks to promote long-term partnership and engagement.

 What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is someone who loves your brand, uses it regularly, and is always ready to tell a friend or an audience why your brand is their top choice. A brand ambassador could be an employee, an influencer, or a well-known professional in your industry with good reasons to promote your product or tool for their own work.  They are often already loyal customers. Typically, you invite someone to become a brand ambassador who is already excited about your product.

Brand ambassadors give weight and legitimacy to market copy. They are walking testimonials and one of the most public faces for the brand. They are constantly building relationships with potential customers and sharing their personal experiences of how they use your products or services in their own life.

Why do you need brand ambassador perks?

If brand ambassadors would represent your company with or without compensation, why bother with all the perks? The simple fact is that brand ambassador perks build a stronger partnership and honor how truly valuable these individuals can be. Even though most ambassadors are intrinsically motivated, they deserve rewards for their hard work. 

Brand ambassadors often put in many extra hours to promote you, and their genuine affection for your company is no reason to skip compensation – especially since many brand ambassadors are not direct employees. Brand ambassador perks show your appreciation for ambassadors’ efforts. 

The right ambassador perks can also keep them informed about your products and enthusiastic for the latest releases, as well as increase ambassador engagement with the program. This can, in turn, drive greater lead generation, sales, and growth of the brand through brand ambassadors, especially if the rewards are given based on ambassadors’ performance.

Plus, they encourage your previously informal promoters to sign on formally (when you reach out and invite them to become ambassadors, they’re more likely to say yes).

Choosing your brand ambassador reward structure

The type of reward isn’t the only decision you’ll need to make about brand ambassador perks; you need to pick the payment structure as well. Your brand ambassador program should start with a rock-solid incentives structure and a method for how you will provide compensation. Here are some of the most common brand ambassador rewards structures:

Perks upfront

You can choose to provide your perks and compensation upfront to increase motivation and energy from your brand ambassadors. This is often a good idea when sharing new products that you’d like your brand ambassadors to get excited about.

Perks on completion

You may provide your brand ambassador perks after they have completed specific tasks, campaigns, or missions established earlier in the process. This ensures that perks are always paired with good results.

Perks on a routine schedule

You may provide your brand ambassador perks based on the amount of time they’ve been with you, always compensating at a predictable interval so that your brand becomes an anticipated high-point in your ambassador’s routines.

Perks based on performance

Many brands enjoy providing incentives and bonus compensation based on a brand ambassador’s personal performance. Higher traffic, more leads, and increased sales should naturally lead to more compensation to express your recognition of your brand ambassador’s value.

Perks or bonuses with sales milestones

Have brand ambassadors hit certain major sales milestones while representing you through the program? Sharing extra perks is a good way to recognize their success.

Perks or bonuses with time milestones

You may also thank your brand ambassadors for long and loyal service at certain time-based intervals. This also incentivizes brand ambassadors to stay with you as an official ambassador for some time.

Perks via leaderboard

You might consider introducing a leaderboard, where the most active or highest-performing ambassadors earn extra bonuses. Your most successful ambassadors may gain  public recognition, and inspire others to become more engaged with the program.

Perks from reward points

You can also make your brand ambassador program include reward points that can be spent on self-selected perks. Selected perks have the benefit of being personalized, so each brand ambassador can turn their success into their favorite combination of brand ambassador perks. 

Choosing your brand ambassador perks

Brand ambassador perks come in a wide range of options. In fact, many brand ambassador programs are built on a unique blend of perks instead of or in addition to direct compensation. Brand ambassadors are your MVPs and your VIPs at the same time, and deserve to be shown that appreciation. 

Make sure the rewards you choose are motivating for your ambassadors, and also a fair representation of the time and effort they put in on your behalf. You could even ask the ambassadors what they want to earn. But rewards need to be affordable for your brand as well – don’t break the bank.

Below are some of the most common types of brand ambassador perks. 

Your brand doesn’t have to use all the reward ideas below – they’re meant as inspiration.

Performance-based commission

Performance-based commissions directly correlate rewards with success. With this perk, for every sale the brand ambassador helps to make, they earn a percentage back in commission from that sale. This percentage may be represented in cash or reward points, but sales equal perks in performance-based ambassador programs. This is similar to an affiliate program commission structure, as the reward is based on purchases made through an ambassador’s unique, trackable link.

To track and reward the performance of your crew, you will need brand ambassador software like Referral Rock. Our software creates the unique tracking links you need to associate each sale with the brand ambassador who played a role.

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Branded swag

Branded swag is a fun gift that makes a great part of your welcome-wagon for new brand ambassadors – or as an introduction to a new ambassador project. You could also award branded swag for tasks completed, as long as you choose high-quality items that make the work worthwhile (like Yeti tumblers, fleece jackets, or backpacks). Good quality swag lasts forever, and useful items become highly visible parts of your ambassadors’ everyday lives.

Many brand ambassadors enjoy a certain amount of cool swag because they enjoy representing the brand. This also means that swag creates more opportunities for your brand ambassadors to share your logo and style “in the wild” as they use your tumblers, t-shirts, and flash drives out in the world.

Free products

One of the best strategies for a brand ambassador perk is free products, because they make it easier for brand ambassadors to create more content featuring your brand.

By gifting brand ambassadors with new products prior to their release, you allow them to try out, learn about, and enthusiastically share your products before anyone else. This is both a great perk for your representatives and an awesome way to generate buzz about new offerings. Plus, you get an early chance to collect feedback from a “super user” on the good, bad, and design opportunities they discover.

Just be certain that your brand ambassadors are aware of FTC disclosure rules. Under these regulations, they’ll need to mention that you gave them the products when sharing about them online, like with the hashtag #AD or #sponsored. 

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Flat cash-based rewards

Of course, many brand ambassadors prefer cash rewards because cash can be used toward anything. Those seeking to meet certain financial goals like homeownership or independent success may ask for all or most of their perks in cash, if given the option. 

If you don’t want to give cash directly, you can instead translate cash into rewards points that can be spent on goods, services, valuable products, or swag.

You might choose to pay the cash upfront, or wait until after completion of each task.

But either way, it’s best to vary each cash payment based on the hours spent on the task or the complexity of the task

Ambassador discounts

The right product discounts can lead your brand ambassadors to always have reviews for the latest features, apps, widgets, or releases. Ambassador-exclusive perks could include perpetual discounts on their own purchases, which in turn encourages your ambassadors to try even more of your products (that they can then report back on to their audience). 

You can also give brand ambassadors discount codes to share with their network. This can build a stronger bond between ambassadors and target audiences, and motivate sales. Audience members will be excited to take advantage of an exclusive discount that’s known only to certain blog readers, social followers, or video viewers. 

Tie the discount to the ambassador via a trackable link, so you know the value of the sales each ambassador makes.

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Event tickets

Ambassadors are VIPs who deserve special experiences that will permanently be associated with your brand. Your ambassadors might appreciate event-based rewards more than something tangible.

You might consider sending your brand ambassadors to special events like sports events, concerts, theater performances, or admission to any other event they might enjoy.

Ambassadors will both remember the experience and be grateful that your brand gave them those memories.

Other experiential rewards

You might also pay for experiences and entertainment that brand ambassadors can enjoy in their own time. Redeemable experiences are a great currency in the modern world where schedules are hectic and unique. These rewards are not only useful to your ambassadors, but are also great currency socially to bring a plus-one or the whole family.

Some examples of flexible experiential rewards include:

• A trip to an amusement park
• Cooking classes, or other classes to learn a skill desired by the ambassador
• Yoga, fitness, dance, or other physical activity classes

Exclusive experiences with your brand

Brand events are a great opportunity to treat your brand ambassadors like the VIPs they are. Consider inviting your brand ambassadors to a private tour of the company headquarters or to share dinner with the design team to talk about features and cool ideas for the future. 

You could also host parties or events where ambassadors can meet each other and enjoy free food. This can be a great chance to share some cross-inspiration if your brand ambassadors use your products in different ways.

Depending on the types of ambassadors you have, you might host:

• Wine tastings
• Bowling night
• Mini-golf days
• Yoga/fitness nights 
• Nights out on the town, 
• Dinners out

You might also have “ambassador days” involving any of the ticketed events or experiences listed above

Or, if you host public events, give ambassadors free access, free meals, lodging, or other perks to treat them like true VIPs.

Skill-building and mentorship

Mentorship and learning experiences are valuable because they help your brand ambassadors expand their skills and build their resumes. You might offer one-on-one coaching and consultation opportunities with your brand ambassadors, or connect your ambassadors with experts in your company to answer questions and offer guidance. Consider everything from online courses and webinars to skill-building retreats and summits.

Gift boxes or gift baskets

Never forget the value of a good gift basket, or gift box. Gift bundles are a great way to truly personalize your appreciation for each brand ambassador and give them a reward they will enjoy. Each basket or box comes with the joy of not just one, but multiple gifts to unpack and discover.  

Choose the right gift based on what you know about a brand ambassador – or let your brand ambassadors pick their favorite basket option from a fun and diverse list.

• Gift baskets could include free products and branded swag to get an ambassador hyped about representing you.
• But they could also be filled with thank you gifts unrelated to your brand (from other non-competing brands), such as:
  • A box of snacks
  • A gardening basket
  • A beach basket
  • A pet box
  • A box of self-care products
  • A fitness box
  • A basket of items for a home office

Public recognition

Brand ambassadors put a lot of time and effort into promoting the brand and generating a shared audience. Feature your top-performing ambassadors in social media posts and blog shout-outs. Spotlight those who have recently gone above-and-beyond, and share public thank-yous.

Wrapping up

Brand ambassador perks are an essential part of building an uplifting and mutually beneficial relationship and keeping your brand ambassadors motivated to keep doing their best. Whether you are planning to reach out to your first brand ambassador or you already have an evolving brand ambassador program in the works, Referral Rock is here to ensure that recognition is easy and backed by the performance you want to see from your brand ambassadors: qualified leads. To learn how you can set up brand ambassadorship programs for your company, contact us today.

A brand ambassador job description tells candidates what they can expect, and helps you determine whether a candidate is suitable for the job. Writing one is especially important if you’re hiring a brand ambassador for the first time, and you’re still thinking about what to expect from someone who fills the position. 

A good brand ambassador job description should include both the minimum requirements and the ideal qualifications. It should also be tailored to your specific needs, so candidates know what they’re getting into if they accept your offer. The best way to ensure that your company’s brand ambassador job description is effective? Cover all the essential points by following this step-by-step guide. Let’s dive in.

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is someone who already loves your brand and has been recruited to formally promote it in the long term. They might do this online (on their blog or social media accounts), offline (at events, trade shows, and guerrilla pop-ups), or both.

Ambassadors are very different from influencers. A brand ambassador loves your company’s product or service so much that they are willing to promote it for free, although they do usually get something in return for creating word of mouth (e.g., commissions or freebies). They also commit to promoting your brand consistently over time, instead of just for one short campaign like influencers do.

An ambassador’s objective is to raise brand awareness, build relationships with your brand’s target audience, and help increase sales. They create content about their experience with your products or services and share it on social media or their blog. Ambassadors can help you launch new products or services, build awareness of existing ones, and even create loyalty among your customers.

Brand ambassadors could be employees in your marketing department or independent contractors. You may compensate them on a salary or on a performance (commission) basis. Regardless of their employment status, you want someone who aligns with your company’s mission statement so they are committed to helping your business grow. Whether they’re employed or independent, they’re a valuable part of your marketing team. 

What is a brand ambassador job description?

A brand ambassador job description is critical. It outlines all the essentials someone needs to know when applying for the brand ambassador role, which helps filter out potential applicants. That way, only qualified people actually apply. 

Even though brand ambassadors don’t have to be salaried employees, ambassadorship is always a formal role with specific responsibilities and expectations. You need a brand ambassador job description, just like you do for any recruited role.

Be as specific as possible in your job description. This is because an ambassador’s  role can vary greatly depending on the company and industry they’re working in. For example, someone who works as a brand ambassador for a tech company may have very different responsibilities than someone who promotes an amusement park.

The exact contents of a brand ambassador job description will depend on the company and the program. In general, however, they are responsible for promoting and representing your brand to their community in a way that is true to your mission statement. They will also help you with sales, marketing initiatives and events, customer service, and more.

The Red Bull Student Marketeer ambassador job description.

What to include in a brand ambassador job description?

A brand ambassador job description should be clear and concise. Your goal is to recruit ambassadors who are passionate about the company, who trust your brand and its products or services, and who you can count on to represent the company in a positive light. To ensure a strong ambassador program, you must articulate what your team members will do and why this is essential for the company and its customers.

Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with this brand ambassador job description template. 

Here are the essential components you’ll need to include in the description:

Set expectations for the role: Explain what the ambassador will be doing at your company, so candidates know whether their skills fit the role and can prepare themselves accordingly. This may include tasks like generating new leads on social media platforms, researching competitors’ content, sharing relevant content with followers, organizing events, or writing blogs about customer service experiences with your brand.

Outline necessary qualifications: Next up is detailing qualifications for potential ambassadors—the things they must do well to succeed in this position. You should also list any “nice-to-have” characteristics that could help contribute toward their success, but that aren’t required.

Explain what ambassadors will get in return: Finally, clarify what ambassadors can expect to get out of the experience. This includes monetary compensation–but you might also provide them with free products or services in exchange for their efforts. In addition, you might help them develop leadership and other skills, or give them specialized training. It helps if you’re upfront about what ambassadors will receive and when they’ll receive it (so there aren’t any surprises).

The following sections show what to include if you are writing about an ambassador role for your own company, in order to cover the three essential components above. You don’t have to address the sections in the order we list, as long as you address them all.

Introduction

This is where you set the stage for the ambassador role and why it’s vital to your business. This paragraph or two should provide an overview of the position, including what ambassadors will do and how they can help you grow your business.

In this section, you’ll start to outline what you’re looking for in a brand ambassador. Include a brief description of the main objectives that your brand ambassadors will accomplish. You can also include some background on how these objectives align with your overall marketing strategy and goals.

This section should also preview the essential duties and responsibilities required of your brand ambassadors to fulfill these objectives. Also, highlight the characteristics needed for success in the role. 

You’ll also want to specify any requirements they must fulfill to qualify for the position (such as having a certain number of followers on social media).

Keep things concise, as you’ll go into more detail on all of this in the later sections. 

Responsibilities

What responsibilities must a brand ambassador fulfill? Brand ambassador duties will vary depending on whether it’s a digital or in-person role (or both). 

For example, if you ask your ambassador to promote your brand on social media, they might be required to post a certain number of times per week or month.

But suppose you’re hiring brand ambassadors who are hosting events in person. In that case, they may need to attend specific training sessions before working with their community.

Regardless of whether they’re active online or offline, ambassadors must be the face and voice of your brand. They will be responsible for helping to project a positive image of the brand at all times, and they must always live out your brand’s values, mission, and vision.

They will also be responsible for sharing their love for your brand with potential customers. Ambassadors build relationships with members of their target audience and educate them about how they can use the products they represent in real life.

Finally, ambassadors should hold meaningful conversations (both online and offline) about your brand and products with members of their target audience. So, interpersonal skills are a must. 

Other roles and responsibilities will vary from program to program. Some potential brand ambassador responsibilities are:

• Representing the brand at events, conferences, and trade shows
• Speaking on behalf of the brand at these same events and conferences
• Participating in interviews with local media outlets about the brand’s activities or services
• Participating in social media campaigns to raise awareness of the brand’s mission and goals
• Collecting customer feedback to learn about the existing customer experience with your brand
• Testing new products and helping with product launches
• Hosting meet-and-greet events where members of the community can learn more about the brand
• Organizing guerrilla marketing campaigns (pop-up events)

Responsibilities that Bumble Honey ambassadors must fulfill.

Considerations to include

We’ve already talked about the most important responsibilities you should cover in your brand ambassador job description, but here are some other considerations that might make your job listing even stronger.

It’s good practice to specify how many hours per week an ambassador will need to work, any specific days and times they’ll need to be available, and whether they’ll work full-time, part-time, or a flexible schedule. The locations they’ll be an ambassador at (if applicable), and whether they’ll need to travel, are also essential to list.

Qualifications

In the qualifications section, include a list of the requirements for being an effective brand ambassador. These include a brand ambassador’s experience and the essential skills required for the role. 

• One of the most important qualifications for any brand ambassador is that they have authority in a niche that matches yours, or among an audience that matches your own.
• Knowledge of your brand is also key – ambassadors must love your brand and already use it in real life!
• If you want to hire a certain type of ambassador to better reach your audience, you can lay out additional age, gender, niche expertise, student status, or other related requirements.

The qualifications section should also include a description of any additional brand ambassador requirements, beyond what you listed in the introduction.

• For instance, if a candidate needs to be fluent in another language, or if they need to have experience running or planning events, you should note those things here.
• If they must have a certain amount of education (say, a high school diploma or bachelor’s degree), or experience in a similar role, list that out as well.
• Not all ambassador programs require this, though; many only require a working knowledge of marketing techniques.

Similarly, suppose it’s essential that your brand ambassador have experience maintaining accounts on specific social platforms, high engagement from their social audience, or a set amount of social followers (or all of the above). In that case, you should include those details here as well.

Qualifications for becoming a Bumble Honey ambassador.

You choose ambassadors for their personality, expertise, and ability to become brand advocates. They need to be constantly active in promoting you on social media and in person, so they need excellent communication skills. They must also be able to build relationships with followers. But what specific communication and relationship-building skills do they need for your ambassador role? List them out here. 

Strategic planning skills go hand-in-hand with this role because ambassadors are usually responsible for setting goals and creating action plans to help them reach them. They should also be ready to give and receive feedback at all times.

Compensation

Compensation is a crucial part of any job description. It will help you attract suitable candidates who want to be paid well and rewarded for their hard work.

If you plan to hire brand ambassadors, consider how much they’ll earn during their tenure with your company. Will they be salaried, paid hourly, or paid on a performance basis? 

If ambassadors’ compensation depends on performance, what must they do to earn a commission? When brand ambassadors are paid on a commission basis, this usually means they earn money based on their sales metrics and the number of new customers they bring in for you. They might also be paid by post, although this means that you’re paying before you see results.

How will ambassadors be paid? In cash, in credit that you can use toward buying your products, or with tangible rewards such as free products, tech gifts, or event tickets? What other benefits will ambassadors receive beyond compensation, such as training, networking opportunities, and leadership development?

Will ambassadors be required to purchase their gear and supplies? Will they be reimbursed for these expenses or given a budget for them?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can begin creating a compensation plan for your ambassador program.

Call to action

Within your brand ambassador job description, be sure to invite interested and qualified parties to apply by directing them to your brand ambassador application.

To do this, you can use a call-to-action (CTA) to drive applicants to a landing page where they can fill out an application form. Your CTA can be located within the job description or at the end. It depends on your website’s design and the job description’s layout. 

You’ll want to ensure that the CTA stands out from the rest of the text, especially if it’s in the middle of the job description. An excellent way to do this is by making it bold and placing it in a colored box.

The CTA should be specific and clear about what it is you want applicants to do, such as “Apply now.” It’s also essential to include any information applicants may need to apply, such as a link to your application form.

Sample brand ambassador job description: B2C

For a fictional trendy fashion brand targeted at Gen Z shoppers

Sample brand ambassador job description: B2B

For a fictional B2B email marketing software

Wrapping up

A brand ambassador is a person who represents a brand and is responsible for promoting it. A brand ambassador job description should include all the skills and experience needed to perform this role, in addition to outlining any qualifications or requirements that might be relevant. This can help potential candidates decide if they’re qualified for the position before applying, and let candidates know what they’re signing up for. 

Referral Rock can help you build a brand ambassador program that effectively markets your company and attracts qualified candidates. Request a demo today.

While running a social media campaign for your brand can be an effective marketing strategy, partnering with social media brand ambassadors is even better. These individuals are loyal to your brand, and they further increase a brand’s exposure among new, relevant audiences. As social media brand ambassadors tell their own authentic stories, they share the story of your brand at the same time.

This post will cover what a social media brand ambassador is and how to use them for your marketing strategy.

Let’s get started.

What is a social media brand ambassador?

A social media brand ambassador is someone who loves your brand and who agrees to represent and promote it in the long term on social media. They become the face of your brand, and help build trust in your brand among their audience.

A social media brand ambassador has authority in your niche or among an audience that matches your target audience. Within their social posts, they genuinely and repeatedly share how they use your product in real life. They also tell and show their audience the benefits of using your products. Social media ambassadors don’t need to have a large social media following, provided their following trusts them highly and engages with them frequently.

One example of a brand that makes good use of social media brand ambassadors is Lululemon. They have a group of social media ambassadors who pitch their athletic clothing on Instagram and other social media channels, often while engaging in athletic activities or teaching fitness classes.

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Social media brand ambassadors vs. influencers

Social media brand ambassadors and influencers are both parties that companies recruit to promote their brand on social media. But there are a few key differences between the two.

While influencers only promote your brand for a short duration (via a one-off post or a single short campaign), brand ambassadors promote you repeatedly and establish a long-term relationship with you (usually for at least one year).

And while influencers may not have used your product before their campaign, all social media brand ambassadors have already used and loved your product before they started to officially represent your brand on social media.

Another difference between these partnerships is that influencers’ posts often read like ads – they focus on selling the product to their followers. Conversely, ambassadors are more focused on authentically promoting your brand, based on how they’ve actually used your product and the value they’ve received from it.

Lastly, influencers promote a wide range of brands on social media. At times, they end up promoting two competing brands. On the other hand, brand ambassadors focus on promoting a single brand in the long term. And if they represent multiple brands, they definitely won’t promote competing brands simultaneously.

Why you should leverage social media brand ambassadors

Now that we know what a social media brand ambassador is, let’s look at why you should use them in your social media marketing.

They help expand your reach to new, relevant audiences 

Social media brand ambassadors are well-positioned to reach new, relevant audiences and tap into new markets. Even if they don’t have a large social media following, brand ambassadors greatly expand your market share, since they have authority with an audience that’s also your brand’s target market.

Their word-of-mouth can spread quickly across social media

Since brand ambassadors already have a strong online reach – and may have professional relationships within the industry – seeking their help to create brand awareness can be highly beneficial. This is true even if their follower count is relatively small.

For example, suppose you have 10 social media brand ambassadors with 2,000 followers on Instagram apiece. With their help, you can easily and effectively reach 20,000 followers through their promotions. 

Their followers trust what they say about your brand

People trust recommendations that come with personal experiences far more than they trust ads and messages from your brand. Since brand ambassadors have used a product before promoting it, their opinion of it is highly trusted by their audiences. This makes their followers more likely to buy your products.

Their advocacy is reliable and lasts for a long time

Most brand ambassadors promote a brand because they love your product so much. As such, their messaging usually comes across as more authentic and genuine. Plus, you can rely on ambassadors to promote your brand for a long time – you’ll get many authentic posts out of a single relationship. 

Ambassador advocacy is also reliable thanks to the trust factor. It warms interested leads and makes them more likely to purchase from you. 

They can be one of the most cost-effective ways to promote a brand

Social media ambassadors are willing to promote your brand in return for a free product or an affiliate-style commission. Some are even willing to do so for free. This means utilizing ambassadors in your social media strategy is more cost-effective than using influencers or paid social media ads.

Tracking ROI is easy if you give ambassadors links

When you set up your program correctly, you’ll easily be able to measure the ROI that your ambassadors achieve. 

Most social media brand ambassadors will be willing to link to your website in their content or their bio. When recruited, they can easily provide direct referrals and backlinks to your company.

By giving ambassadors unique, trackable links to your website, you can easily determine how effective your social media ambassadors are at promoting your brand and generating sales. 

Types of social media brand ambassadors

Social media brand ambassador partnerships can take various forms, especially since brands have unique needs and ambassadors have unique strengths. Here are the different types of social media brand ambassadors:

The customer ambassador

If your customers have a respectable social media audience with high engagement, and have already shared you on social, they can make great ambassadors.

You can search for posts you were tagged in, branded hashtags, and brand mentions to determine who’s talking about your brand from your customer base. Alternatively, you can check your customer data and offer the ambassadorship position to your best customers with social media presence. You should then reach out to them to inquire if they want to represent you officially.

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The student ambassador

A student brand ambassador is a full-time college student who serves as a representative of your brand. They use social media to connect with fellow students and promote your brand authentically to their peers. They may also promote your brand offline – through one-on-one interactions, guerrilla pop-ups on campus, and/or large-scale events – as an extension of their use of social media.

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The affiliate ambassador

This type of ambassadorship involves a creator agreeing to both feature a brand’s products and associate a trackable affiliate link with the social media content.

Your brand will give the affiliate ambassador a discount coupon for their followers. The coupon is unique to each ambassador and is often activated using a tracking link. Each time an ambassador’s follower uses that coupon to make a purchase, the ambassador will receive a commission on the sale.

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The expert ambassador

Expert ambassadors have both a social media presence and established authority in their field. Their love for your brand and their authority make them trusted by their followers. Examples of expert ambassadors are athletes promoting athletic wear and dentists promoting electric toothbrushes.

The employee ambassador

Encouraging your employees to advocate for your brand gives your company a human face that can help you gain a competitive advantage. Employees know the ins and outs of your product and are therefore well-positioned to promote it. They may share glimpses into your brand culture on social media in addition to sharing about your products. Even so, you may need to provide them with social media training. You’ll also need to brief them on how to promote your brand in ways that sound authentic, not salesy. 

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How to start a social media ambassador program

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for creating an ambassador program. This means you have the flexibility to tailor your program to fit your brand’s unique needs. Whether you want your marketing to have a few ambassadors or an army of them, the choice is yours.

Either way, here’s an outline of the fundamental steps for starting an ambassador program:

1. Set program goals

Ask yourself what goals you want your ambassadors to help you accomplish. Do you want them to increase your brand awareness, expand your reach, grow your social audience, drive traffic to your site, generate leads, or increase sales of a given product?

Most programs focus on increasing brand awareness versus sales. As such, as you start your program, you will likely have metrics related to hashtag usage, brand mentions, and follower engagement.

Of course, if you have trackable links in play, you’ll be able to track sales numbers, conversion rates, and average order values. Knowing your goals beforehand will help you identify the right ambassadors to help you attain those goals.

2. Find and recruit your ambassadors

Since you’re creating a social-centric program, start searching for ambassadors on the social media accounts that your audience uses the most. Identify people who have already tagged your brand in related posts, used branded hashtags to share your products, or mentioned your brand in a positive light. Check their posting style to ensure that it aligns with yours, and their audience engagement rate to see if it is a good fit.

You could also check influencer and ambassador databases for information on pre-vetted social media personalities’ engagement and reach.

Alternatively, you can open a brand ambassador application for ambassadors to reach out to you. If you decide to follow this route, ask them for direct links to their social profile so you can ensure their posting style matches yours and their reach and engagement with followers are acceptable.

Decide whether you want your ambassadors to have a certain number of followers, a certain amount of engagement, or a certain number of impressions. You should also ensure that they are a good fit with your brand’s values.

Once you’ve found the ambassadors you’re looking for, reach out to them directly to invite them and tell them the details of your program.

3. Decide when and how to reward ambassadors

In order for your brand ambassadors to be successful, you need to incentivize them in a way that makes them willing to represent your brand for the long term. Choose incentives that motivate ambassadors, but that are within your budget. Will the ambassadors be paid in cash, given free products, given credits to purchase your product, or given tangible gifts unrelated to your brand? Many ambassadors are willing to work without any payment, but proper compensation recognizes the efforts of the ambassadors.

Decide when brand ambassadors will be paid. Will it be on a regular (monthly or quarterly) cadence, after each content deliverable is completed, or after a sale has been attributed to them? Whichever payment arrangement you choose, ensure that it is acceptable to the ambassadors and doesn’t cause your company any financial strains.

You should also decide whether you’ll give rewards to top ambassadors. You could provide bonuses to the best-performing ambassador for each month or quarter, or you could increase the value of an ambassador’s commission incentive after they attain a certain lifetime goal. Alternatively, you can spotlight and tag top ambassadors on your brand’s social accounts as a thank you.

4. Have ambassadors sign a brand ambassador contract

A brand ambassador contract sets program expectations, including ambassadors’ duties and how they’ll be paid. The contract ensures that ambassadors know what they can and can’t say about your brand. It also sets out guidelines of how your ambassador’s posts should look, so that you are represented positively.

The ambassador contract may also have an exclusivity agreement that prevents your ambassador from working and posting about direct competitors. In addition, it may encompass rights for branded content your ambassador creates as long as they represent you. (Usually, your brand can use content your ambassador creates for as long as they represent you, but you no longer have rights to that content once that person stops being your ambassador.)

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5. Train ambassadors on brand and program fundamentals

Your brand ambassador training should cover the essentials about your brand and products. These may include brand values and what makes your product unique. It should also cover how the program operates, including how any tracking links they need to share with followers will work. 

Ambassadors with less promotional and marketing experience may also need training on how to represent a brand on social. 

In addition, you’ll need to train all social media brand ambassadors on promotion fundamentals: 

• Remind them what they can and can’t say about your brand.
  • What messaging will you recommend they use when they promote you?
  • What messaging and practices should ambassadors avoid?
• Make sure they know what you’d like to see in photos. 
  • Must the ambassador appear in all photos? 
  • Must they ensure the product is displayed clearly? 
  • Are filters ok to use?
• Give them room to be genuine.
  • How will you train and equip ambassadors to promote you authentically, in their own unique voice?
  • Consider giving them prompts and templates (as a helpful starting point), but never feed them exact words to say.

6. Regularly check in with ambassadors 

After the training, you’ll need regular check-ins with ambassadors to ensure that they always stay in the loop. Give them insider info about new products and brand developments, before the public finds out. 

Regularly update ambassadors using an exclusive email newsletter, social media group, or Slack group. Within these updates, share data on ambassadors’ collective performance, and how the ambassador program has helped you meet wider business goals. (Sharing specific success stories may be even more impactful.)

You should also follow all your ambassadors, like their content, and leave comments on their posts as a thank you. This isn’t just a great check-in method – it also shows your ambassadors that you appreciate them. 

Finally, make sure ambassadors can contact you if they need to reach out to you. Let them know the best ways to stay in touch, whether that’s via email, DM, or private Slack chat. 

7. Use brand ambassador software

Some brands find it hard to measure the impact of their ambassadors’ efforts. But if you use brand ambassador software, you’ll always have detailed visibility into the ROI of your social media brand ambassador program, and you’ll be able to tell if you’ve met your goals. Thanks to its tracking features, you’ll know exactly what’s working in your program and what you need to refine. 

Brand ambassador software generates unique links for each ambassador in your program, which ambassadors can share in their promotional posts or in their bio. These links direct visitors to your website, and contain a tracking code that’s unique to each ambassador. Whenever someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, the link credits that sale to the responsible ambassador. The ambassador then earns a reward on the sale. 

But ambassador software doesn’t just generate these links. It automates reward payouts, so brand ambassadors quickly receive the recognition they’ve earned. The best brand ambassador software also automates promotions that keep ambassadors engaged. 

In addition, ambassador software lets you create a portal where you can provide training and assets to ambassadors. So, ambassadors can check how well their audiences are converting after their link is clicked. It also streamlines ambassador communication. 

Get started with a social media brand ambassador program

Brand ambassadors are experts at representing your brand authentically and building trust with a specific audience. Moreover, they love your brand and will work hard to see it succeed. But you’ll need to follow best practices, and use the right tool to track ROI, for your program to see the most success. 

Are you looking for software to help you create a sound brand ambassador program? Learn more about how Referral Rock’s solution can help you grow word of mouth. Our solution is flexible and suitable for all types of ambassador, referral, affiliate, and partner programs.

If so, you may be wondering how to ask someone to be a brand ambassador. When you want to recruit more people into your brand ambassador program, it can be hard to come up with the right strategy for finding them and persuading them to sign on. 

First, you’ll have to figure out what kind of ambassador will be best for your needs. Then, you’ll need to come up with an offer that will convince them to represent your brand officially. 

We’ve gathered best practices for how to recruit brand ambassadors that we want to share with you. We’ll cover everything from how to screen potential ambassadors and make a shortlist of people who might be interested, to the best ways to approach them (including what to say during your “ask”). Let’s dive into this brand ambassador recruitment guide! 

Who is a brand ambassador? 

A brand ambassador is someone who loves your brand and agrees to be a long-term advocate for your business. They promote your brand authentically based on how they use it in everyday life, help it gain traction in new markets, and build relationships with prospective new customers. Thanks to their trusted position and focus on authenticity, their audiences will be more likely to buy from you. 

Ambassadors can promote your brand online (such as on social media posts), offline (at events), or both. Unlike influencers, who only represent your brand for a short period, ambassadors will work with you on long-term marketing campaigns. Usually, an ambassador will represent you for at least a year. 

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Where to recruit brand ambassadors? 

There are many places that you can find and recruit brand ambassadors from. Here are a few of our favorite places for brand ambassador recruitment: 

• Your existing customers and email list: These people are already fans of your work, so it’s easy for them to spread the word about what you do. Recruit customers who have bought from you most frequently, and/or who have already shared with the most friends. 
• Social media: Select ambassadors from social media based on who’s already talked about you. Find out who has featured your products (look for people who have tagged you or used a branded hashtag), then reach out and ask them if they’d like to be involved in your program. 
• Blogs run by niche authorities: These people are already talking about your industry, so it’s easy to get them involved. Plus, they have a reputation for being experts in their field. 
• Influencer and ambassador databases: These are lists of people who have already agreed to be ambassadors for brands in your industry. They’re a great place to start when you’re building an ambassador program. 
• The pool of people who have applied to become an ambassador: If you don’t have a brand ambassador application already, consider creating one. This helps you build a pool of potential ambassadors by letting already interested people come to you. It also helps you gather the information needed to screen them, so you can make sure you’re recruiting the best-fit ambassadors. 
• Your workforce: Leveraging employees as brand ambassadors is an excellent idea. They’re an extension of your company, so they already understand its mission and values. You can ask for their help in spreading the word about your brand, especially since they have a vested interest in the success of your company. 

Before you ask someone to be an ambassador: essential criteria 

Who should you reach out to and ask if they’d like to be a brand ambassador? To find the best-fit ambassadors for your brand, screen all your potential brand ambassadors and ensure they meet the criteria below. Remember that your ambassadors will be your long-term representatives – the faces of your brand. 

Example brand ambassador requirements from Morning Willow. 

Brand ambassadors:

• Must be passionate about your brand and genuinely enjoy using it: You want someone who will be an effective brand ambassador, so they should love it and truly use it in their daily lives. 
• Should already have shared your products with their friends or their social media following (ideally): Brand ambassadors are enthusiastic about sharing your brand with others – if someone has already shared you authentically and without prompting, they’ll likely be a good fit to represent you officially. 
• Must have values that align well with your brand’s values: For example, if you have a brand with a mission to help people live more sustainably, then someone who limits their consumption of single-use plastic would be a good fit. 
• Must have authority in a niche or among an audience that aligns with yours: Are they an expert in your industry? Or, do they have a similar audience to yours, who considers them to be a trusted authority? Whether online or offline, you want ambassadors who have already built a following of people who trust them, and who will listen to what they have to say. 
• Must be skilled at cultivating relationships: Choose someone who can build a rapport and connect with new people, whether online or offline. They should focus on authenticity and connection first, before making sales. Strong communication and conversational skills will also play a big part in their ability to build relationships.
• Must act ethically and have a good reputation. Make sure they haven’t acted shadily before, as unethical actions will reflect badly on your brand. 
• Must be confident and assertive, with at least some leadership skills: Choose someone who can take the lead and be a high-quality representative of your brand. 
• Must have a strong online presence and an engaged audience: Look at their content’s average comment and share amounts. The potential ambassador’s audience doesn’t have to be large, as long as their engagement is high. 
• Must create high-quality content on a regular basis (if they’re promoting you online): Select someone who can consistently create relevant, interesting, and valuable content that will help your brand. 
• Must be skilled at in-person communication, and at managing events (if they’re promoting you offline): They should be able to attract and connect with people offline, keep them engaged, and ultimately build relationships with them. 

Screening ambassadors: questions to ask 

Before asking someone to be your brand ambassador, ask them a few questions. This way, you can better gauge whether they’re a good fit for the role. And if you ask every potential ambassador the same questions, you can also compare everyone’s answers directly. 

Ask your questions of choice via a brand ambassador application, email, social media messaging, or Zoom.

Here are some interview questions you might want to ask when hiring brand ambassadors: 

• Why do you love (brand)? 
  • What one thing do you like most about us? 
  • What’s your favorite product or service that we offer, and why is it your favorite? 
• Why do you want to be a brand ambassador for us?
  •  What excites you most about being a brand ambassador for us?
  •  What have you done in the past that shows your enthusiasm for (brand)? 
• How would you promote our brand as an ambassador? 
  • What would you do to help us build brand awareness? 
  • What is your preferred method of communicating with people? 
• How would you describe our audience? 
  • How would you engage with them? 
  • What would be your favorite way to interact with our audience? 
• What previous experience do you have as an ambassador, if any? 
  • Could you describe what you accomplished during the experience? 
• What valuable skills would you bring to us as an ambassador? 
  • What do you think it takes to be a successful brand ambassador? 
  • What experience do you have as a social media creator? (if applicable)
  • What experience do you have in event management? (if applicable)

Depending on the type of ambassador you’re recruiting, additional questions may also be appropriate during the brand ambassador recruitment process. For example, if you’re recruiting a blogger ambassador or social media creator, you might ask what types of content they create and what tools they use to do so. 

Or, if you’re trying to recruit certain demographics of ambassadors, you might tailor a question accordingly. For instance, if you’re seeking student ambassadors, you may want to ask about their involvement in on-campus clubs and leadership roles. 

Building relationships with potential ambassadors 

Before asking someone to be a brand ambassador, it’s best to create a rapport by engaging with that person in other ways first.

• An easy way to engage with potential social media brand ambassadors, or with potential blogger-ambassadors, is by leaving comments on their content. 
• If you’d like to recruit a customer, you might have another personal conversation first to build rapport (thanking them for helping your brand grow is always a good idea). Or, invite them to share your brand in other ways first, such as through a customer referral program. 

This will help you build a relationship with the potential ambassador before making your request, so the eventual ask doesn’t seem like a cold email or cold DM. Rather, when you have an existing relationship with the person, it will be easier for them to say “yes” to your request. 

Your rapport will also help make the process of working together much smoother overall – and this connection and teamwork are essential to a successful ambassadorship. 

Only once you’ve cultivated a relationship, and earned the trust of your prospect, should you ask them to become an ambassador for your business. 

How to ask someone to be a brand ambassador? 

You can ask someone to become a brand ambassador once you’ve established rapport with them and determined that they would be a good fit for your business.

Send them direct messages via email or their social media accounts. Zoom is also another direct contact channel you may use, but it’s not as common.

The message (personal note) you send, or conversation you have, is known as an ambassador invitation. 

In an ambassador invitation, you should:

• Thank the ambassador for sharing your brand previously. 
• Let them know why you think they’re a good fit for your brand:
  • Mention that you share a niche and/or audience with them, to demonstrate how relevant the offer is. 
  • Highlight their posts or actions that align well with your mission and values, as further reasons that they should sign on. 
• Go into the details of what ambassadorship will mean for both parties. 
• Ask them if they have any questions about your business or the ambassadorship. 

Be sure to cover the following program details: 

• What kinds of payments and rewards are available?
  •  Many ambassadors will promote you for free, but rewards are extra motivation that recognizes dedicated ambassadors. 
  • Rewards should be motivating to your potential ambassadors. 
  • Cash, store credits, product discounts, free products, gift cards, or other tangible items of value are all potential reward options.
• How often will ambassadors receive rewards? Once a week, monthly, or on some other schedule? 
• What other benefits will they gain from the program beyond tangible incentives, such as training, public recognition, or leadership experiences? 
• What type of support will the ambassadors receive from your brand? 
• What will be expected of ambassadors? 
  • What duties will the ambassador perform?
  • Will they promote you online, offline, or both?
  • Will they need to use any specific social platforms or create specific content types?
  • Will they need to plan and/or run offline events?
  • Will you be setting weekly or monthly metrics goals for them? 
• What will the program look like, and/or how will it run?

Some of the requirements and responsibilities of being a Bumble Honey campus ambassador. 

Templates for asking someone to be a brand ambassador

To simplify the process of asking someone to be a brand ambassador, we’ve created two templates that cover all the essentials. One template is longer and best suited for asking via email. The other is shorter, so it’s great for a social media DM.

Template for asking via email (the long template)

Template for asking via social media (direct message)

Wrapping up 

So, that’s it! You now know how to ask someone to be a brand ambassador, and you’ve got some great tips for selecting the right people to represent your brand. You also know how to recruit brand ambassadors, where to find them, and what questions to ask.

Once an ambassador says yes to your request, and decides to represent you formally, have them sign a brand ambassador contract where they agree to the terms of the program.

And what comes after the contract? Managing the ambassadors you’ve recruited, and keeping them in the loop, are your next tasks on the list. 

For more details on how to get started with your brand ambassador program, including brand ambassador management essentials, check out our brand ambassador program template. 

And it’s well-known that people highly trust what their peers have to say about a brand, far more than any messages your brand directly puts out. 

Brand ambassadors are one great way to get your brand name out there and foster this credibility. But finding them can be challenging. You want someone who can share your brand’s story and promote it in ways that align with your core values, in order to build trust in your brand among new audiences.

How to find brand ambassadors? We’ve got you covered. There are several different ways to start your brand ambassador search, which we’ll break down below. 

In this article, we’ll talk about: 

• Who is a brand ambassador? 
• Where can you find them? 
• What traits should you look for in a brand ambassador? 
• What are some different methods you can use to find brand ambassadors? 

Let’s dive in! 

What is a brand ambassador? 

A brand ambassador is someone who enthusiastically promotes your product or service in the long term. They love your brand, and will regularly share why they love you online, offline, or both. Most commonly, brand ambassadors represent brands via social media marketing strategies and event-based promotions. 

Having a brand ambassador program is not only about getting ambassadors to show how much they love your product or service, but also about building relationships with prospective customers through ambassadors’ conversations. They genuinely share the best qualities of your products and services, and their authentic experiences with your brand making their endorsements so powerful. 

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Where can you find brand ambassadors? 

When looking for brand ambassadors, it’s important to remember that they may not necessarily come at you with open arms. They are people with their own lives, and it’s up to you to show them how being an ambassador would be a good fit for them. 

Here are a few places where you can find potential brand ambassadors: 

• On social media: If someone shared about your brand before in their own posts, or reposted your social content on their account so their friends could see, they may make an especially effective ambassador. You could also take your brand ambassador search efforts to ecommerce marketplaces, forums, and communities relevant to your business, like Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, or Facebook groups. 
• On relevant blogs: If your product or service resonates with a blogger’s niche or topic of focus, you can reach out and see if they’d like to become your brand ambassador. This works best if a blogger has posted about you previously – they may be more receptive because they are already interested in you. So, focus on finding bloggers who have previously shared your products without prompting.
• Among your best customers: If your customers are loyal and have already shared about you – possibly even unprompted – they may be willing to become brand ambassadors for you. They already know and love your product or service – and can easily recommend it to their family and friends, who would also appreciate what you offer. Their word of mouth is powerful!
• Among niche experts: Try reaching out to people with authority in your industry and with a strong follower base. For example, if you sell sporting goods, it might be a good idea to enlist the help of athletes. 
• Within your company: Using employees as brand ambassadors can be a great way to promote your company and new products. If you don’t have an employee brand ambassador program in place, consider starting one. This allows you to guide how your employees interact with customers, and monitor what information is being shared about your brand. 
• Through ambassador databases: There are plenty of resources online with ambassador databases. By looking through these databases, you can find people who match your ideal ambassador criteria and reach out to work with them. 
• Through your own ambassador application: You can set up an application to find people who are interested in becoming your ambassadors. You’ll need to consider what information you want applicants to provide, and how you’ll encourage them to apply (we’ll cover this later in the article). 

What to look for in the ideal ambassador? 

To find your perfect brand ambassadors, use these factors to filter out your list of candidates. 

The ambassadors you choose: 

• Must be genuine, loyal users of your product. They should have a passion for your brand and be willing to share it with others. 
• Must be in the same niche as your brand, and/or appeal to a similar target audience. Someone considered an expert in your industry, or who has authority over an audience similar to yours, would be a good fit. 
• Must have strong relationship-building skills, as well as a talent for telling authentic stories.
• Must share your company’s values so they can represent you well in various situations and settings over a long period of time.
• Must have an engaged social media following. They should have dedicated followers who trust in them and comment on their posts, even if that audience is small.
• Must have a good reputation and always act ethically, as that will reflect well on your brand. You want someone who’ll represent you in a positive and professional manner. Make sure they haven’t acted shadily before, as unethical conduct from an ambassador can give your brand a bad reputation.
• Should be an exceptional communicator, with strong social media or blogging skills, a knack for offline conversation, or an aptitude for event planning. The exact online and offline skills they’ll need will vary depending on the responsibilities you would like to give your ambassadors. 

How to find brand ambassadors? 

Finding brand ambassadors can be challenging, especially when you’re just starting out. But it doesn’t have to be. Here’s how to find brand ambassadors: 

1. Create a brand ambassador application 

A brand ambassador application form shows professionalism and will increase the visibility of your program. After all, potential ambassadors can submit their information directly to you. It also makes screening and selecting applicants easier because they’ve answered key questions on what you need to know. 

Even so, you may need to be a well-established brand for an application to work best for finding ambassadors. 

Be sure to link to this application whenever you promote your ambassador program. Also, optimize the application page for keywords like “(your niche) brand ambassador,” so prospective ambassadors can easily find it via search. 

Ensure your application clearly explains the rewards on offer (what’s in it for the ambassador), as well as the requirements of being an ambassador. This way, people will know what to expect if they become an ambassador, and what they’ll get out of the program if accepted. The content that leads into your form should provide everything a candidate would want to know before applying, so they can make an informed decision. 

Exactly what information should you ask brand ambassador candidates for in your application? Here are the essential sections to include: 

• Name 
• Email 
• Address 
• Phone 
• Birthdate (especially if you’re looking for ambassadors who are within a certain age range) 
• Links to social media profiles (you should specify which platforms they should have accounts on, if you require this) 
• Links to websites or blogs 

You should also ask questions to screen applicants’ suitability to represent your brand. These may include:

• Why they love your brand/what they love about your brand 
• Why they want to be your ambassador 
• How they’d promote your brand (what they’d do to create brand awareness)
• How they live out your brand’s values
• What previous experience they have creating or managing content and events (depending on the tasks you expect ambassadors to perform)

Finally, spread the word about your brand ambassador application and invite interested people to apply. This can be done through newsletters or other emails to customers, social networks, banners on your website or blogs, and anywhere else that makes sense for your business. You can also have your current ambassadors encourage prospective ambassadors to apply!

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2. Encourage your customers to become ambassadors 

Another way to find brand ambassadors is by maximizing your existing loyal customers. You can use several ways to encourage customers to sign on and represent you officially. 

First, look for customers who have engaged with your social media content or have already shared about you willingly. The more they’ve already shared about you, and the more follower engagement they have, the better. 

Another way to create ambassadors is to start informally. Start a customer referral program first, where you give every person who signs up a unique referral link that they can share with friends and family. Give them rewards when those referrals become new customers. 

As you continue to grow your base of advocates, you can personally approach customers who seem most enthusiastic about your business (those who share you the most) and ask them if they would like to be official ambassadors for your brand. Note that formal ambassadors should get bigger incentives in exchange for their efforts, as compared to the incentive you offer in your referral program. 

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On top of that, using a personal note, you can directly reach out to customers who purchase from you the most. The more customers purchase from you, the more likely they will be willing to promote your business as an ambassador. You can let them know why you think they’re a good fit, how much value they can add to your business, and what’s in it for them. 

Finally, a few days after customers have made purchases, you could email them asking if they would be interested in representing you as ambassadors and include the link to your application. You could even offer them some kind of incentive, like free products, for joining you. 

Or, you could ask your customers to share your products on social media, then reach out to those who do and invite them to be long-term ambassadors. 

3. Run social media searches 

Try searching for terms related to your brand, or checking who has tagged your brand, on the social networks your audiences frequent most. Or, look through branded hashtags, as well as other niche hashtags that potential customers might use. 

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Direct message anyone who has already shared your brand and who seems like a good fit. Ask if they would like to represent you as an ambassador, and send a link to your application. 

Ideally, your shortlist should only include people who have previously shared about you. But if someone isn’t as familiar with your products yet still aligns with your niche and audience, you could reach out with a free product and encourage them to share that product on social media. Then, DM anyone who does share in a way that aligns well with your brand, and ask if they’d like to be a long-term ambassador.

As mentioned earlier, you can also comb through your customer database and check out their social profiles. If they’re regularly active on social media, and share relevant content, follow them and screen them further to see if they’d make a suitable brand ambassador.

Be sure to investigate potential ambassadors’ posting style (does it fit with your company’s voice?) and the values they display (are they in line with yours?). Follow them and read through their most recent posts as they come through your timeline, to ensure they are a good fit. Check out how these people interact with others on social media platforms, or leave comments of your own on their posts to see how they engage with you. 

4. Try brand mention software 

Brand mention software (sometimes called social listening software) searches the web for references to your brand or related keywords. It’s a more streamlined way to find mentions than manual social media searches, and goes beyond social to scour the entire web. A brand mention tool will send you notifications whenever someone has mentioned your company online – whether that’s posting about it on social media, mentioning it in a blog post, or sharing you elsewhere. 

Brand24 and Awario are examples of brand mention tools. These programs can help you find expert-type ambassadors like reputable bloggers and other content creators who have a presence online, but not necessarily on social media. 

5. Search influencer or ambassador databases 

A pre-vetted influencer database or ambassador database provides information about potential brand reps’ social media accounts, including the size of their followings, niches, reach, and engagement rates. These databases can help you find brand ambassadors that are the most relevant to your audience, as you can easily filter the pool of ambassadors based on your preferences. 

Remember, though, that some social personalities would rather sign on for short-term assignments than long-term commitments (in other words, they are only influencers, and don’t want to be ambassadors). So, when searching an influencer marketing database, look for people interested in building a long-term relationship with your brand rather than just executing one short marketing campaign. 

6. Look to your employees 

If you want employees to be ambassadors, promote your ambassador program at company meetings, on Slack, and on other internal communication channels. If you don’t have a formalized employee ambassador program yet, consider implementing one as soon as possible. 

Also, try sending personal ambassador program invites to your employees via emails and direct conversations. And be sure to make it easy for your employees to join the program. 

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Wrapping up

If you weren’t sure how to get a brand ambassador, we hope this article has helped. We know it can be challenging and time-consuming to find the right brand ambassadors for your company, but it’s definitely worth the effort. 

Now that you know where and how to find brand ambassadors, and what to look for during your brand ambassador search, it’s time for the screening and recruitment stage – where you convince potential ambassadors to sign on. For more information on how to do that, check out our guide to screening and recruiting brand ambassadors. 

But building a brand ambassador program from scratch can be challenging if you don’t know where to start. Having an ambassador program template to work with can make the process a lot easier, and that’s why we’ve created this guide for you.

In this article, we will cover:

• What a brand ambassador program is
• Why you should start a brand ambassador program
• What a brand ambassador program template is, and why you need one
• What you should include in a brand ambassador program template

What is a brand ambassador program?

A brand ambassador program is a formalized program where you recruit people who love your brand to represent and promote your brand in the long term. These representatives help you expand your brand’s reach to a larger audience. 

Aside from being loyal to your brand, brand ambassadors should ideally have authority in the same niche as your company, or have an audience that matches your own. A niche or audience match means that you’ll get to leverage an existing, good-fit fan following, which is already warmed up and ready to buy or go further down the sales pipeline. 

Brand ambassadors will promote your brand online (such as through blogs or social media) offline (such as through trade shows and events), or using a combination of both online and offline channels. 

An ambassador program standardizes how you work with all your ambassadors – how you want to engage with your brand ambassadors and how you expect them to promote you. You set goals, train ambassadors so they’re equipped to achieve these goals, and measure your results. Generally, brand ambassador programs are centered around achieving objectives like increasing brand awareness or reach, generating new leads, or increasing conversions. 

Use our detailed template coming up later in this guide to help you formulate a successful brand ambassador program, from identifying and hiring exemplary brand ambassadors to tracking and measuring performance.

Why start an ambassador program?

At this point, you may be wondering whether it’s worth going through the motions of starting an ambassador program. Here are some compelling reasons why many businesses, regardless of size and scope, are choosing to create their own ambassador programs:

Ambassadors’ authentic promotions are trusted.

Potential customers will usually look for information about a product or service on social media, and check for authentic reviews, before they make a purchase. It’s also well-established that people trust the reviews and opinions of people they know over any kind of promotion your brand does. When an ambassador they already love makes that recommendation, they’re more likely to buy, because they see the recommendation as genuine.

Ambassadors have already built an audience for you.

Ambassadors generate warm leads by nurturing relationships with a network they’ve already built. When you start a brand ambassador program, a lot of initial legwork has already been done. Brand ambassadors expand your reach to a ready-made customer base without you having to build it yourself. 

Ambassadors are relationship-focused.

Ambassadors also take the time to nurture their leads. Rather than focusing on generating a sale by any means necessary, they’re committed to fostering relationships with their audience first.  This means their audience is warm and ready to buy.

Ambassador programs are cost-effective.

With an ambassador program, you only pay when you see results. Most marketing strategies require you to commit valuable dollars and resources at the outset, before you know how effective they’ll be or if your spending was worth it. You also have to go through the process of reviewing and adjusting your marketing campaigns to optimize for costs. Ambassador programs are a lot more cost-effective in the long run, as you can choose to only pay your ambassadors after their efforts bring in leads or sales. This way, you’re practically guaranteed a positive ROI.

What is an ambassador program template? Why do you need one?

A brand ambassador program template is your detailed plan that helps you develop a successful ambassador program. Think of it as a skeleton that enables you to flesh out the steps you need to take and how you will take them, before you launch your program or even look for ambassadors. 

There are several reasons why a template is recommended for developing an ambassador program:

• Goal-setting: A template lets you map out your ultimate goals and pencil in the smaller milestones to help you get there. Having goals in place gives you concrete aims to steadily work towards. You can set goals specifically for program results, the types and number of ambassadors you want to hire, and your overall vision for how you want the ambassador program to function.
• Setting standards in place: An ambassador program template is where you pre-plan all the criteria for how you work with all your ambassadors, the operational aspects of your program, what your ambassadors are expected to achieve, and how they will achieve it. It can include things like how to ensure the messaging for your product or service is always on brand, and what ambassadors should avoid saying.
• Measuring your marketing success: Successful marketing takes planning and measurement. Are your results measuring up to your goals? A template provides the framework for your program and a place to define your goals, so you can better gauge success when the program is live and know if it’s working how you expected.

Download our free brand ambassador program template

Ready to plan out your own brand ambassador program? Use this free downloadable template to fill in all your essential details, so they’re organized in one place.

Refer to the sections below if you need more details on what to cover. 

What to include in a brand ambassador template?

Now that we’ve defined a brand ambassador program template and why you need it, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what it should contain.

1. Overview

Your overview should ideally include a timeline of when you want your program to launch. It should also outline all the elements that you’ll need to have in place before you launch. 

While an overview isn’t always necessary, having a bird’s eye view of the structure you’re trying to create is recommended. It may be more viable to come back to develop your overview once you’ve worked through the entire template and have more details established.

2. Goals and KPIs of the program

One of the most important aspects your brand ambassador program template should cover is your goals, supported by measurable KPIs. Your goals may vary, but at the end of the day, make sure you clearly define and establish these objectives in your template. 

Some examples of common ambassador program goals are:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Generating new leads
• Expanding your reach
• Promoting specific products
• Encouraging customer loyalty

Unless substantiated by KPIs, defining these goals on their own can make it hard to determine how far you’ve come along in achieving them. So at this point, determine how you will further refine these goals with KPIs. KPIs can be individual to your business, but here are some examples of KPIs to help you get started:

• Post impressions: This is how many times an ambassador’s content gets displayed in front of your audience. Another way of looking at this is ‘post reach,’ which is the total number of people who see the content.
• Post engagement: Engagement is how many people have interacted with an ambassador’s post. It can come in the form of likes, comments, or even shares. This is a good indication of how many people connect with your ambassador.
• Leads, based on who clicks an ambassador’s link: If you give ambassadors links to your site, it’s easy to track which prospective clients gave their information, and want to engage further with your brand. 
• Conversions: Conversion refers to a specific action that a prospective customer takes – in this case, as a result of ambassador marketing. You decide what the term conversion means for you, whether it’s a purchase or a lead giving their information.
• Revenue from ambassador referrals: How much are you actually earning through the ambassador referral process, relative to other channels?

3. Plans for ambassador tracking and software

An ambassador program is only as good as its tracking and measurement capabilities. How will you quantify the results of your program and see how they stack up against your goals? What system do you plan to have in place for this purpose?

You could manually track your ambassadors’ marketing efforts using spreadsheets, but that can be time-consuming, and there’s always the potential for human errors. Not all actions lend themselves well to being tracked manually, and compiling the data and interpreting it in the form of business intelligence can be a complex exercise. Also, when multiple people handle your spreadsheets, conversion tracking can pose a significant challenge. 

The recommended alternative is automation, in the form of brand ambassador software. 

There’s much more to this type of software than merely automating mundane, repetitive tasks, and getting rid of errors, delays, and missing information. You will have access to powerful tracking features in a centralized format that makes it easy for you to understand, at one glance, how your ambassadors are really doing. Campaign performance analytics is your best friend when it comes to figuring out whether you’re achieving your goals and identifying stumbling blocks. 

With brand ambassador software, you can create trackable links, and attribute every lead and purchase to an individual ambassador. The software will also track the specific actions that ambassadors have taken during the referral process, reward ambassadors, and provide thorough campaign performance analytics. Some software can even be integrated with your other favorite tools from your marketing stack. This makes it easy for you to organize your marketing efforts, plus gain granular insights from individual marketing systems without missing a beat. 

Referral Rock software can help businesses of any size to set up ambassador tracking in days. It’s also a tool that’s flexible enough to run referral, affiliate, and partner programs. Overall, it’s a great brand ambassador software if you’re looking for ease of use, extensive features, comprehensive metrics, and excellent customer support. 

4. Type(s) of ambassadors you want

Next, which types of ambassadors do you plan to recruit? There are many types of brand ambassadors to choose from, and not every type can and will suit your business. 

Here are some of the most common types of brand ambassadors:

Student ambassadors: Student ambassadors are perfect if you’re trying to find more customers in the 18-25 age group. These ambassadors promote your brand on a large scale throughout their college campus, more intimately through smaller student associations and networks, and online to their audience of peers on social networks.

Employee ambassadors: Who better than your own employees to promote your brand? They know your brand inside out and understand your brand culture and vision. These ambassadors will usually promote you to their circle of friends, family, and associates. One risk of employee ambassadorship, though, is it could come off as too salesy.

Customer-ambassadors: These ambassadors are your best customers, handpicked and trained to promote your brand more formally. Unlike employee ambassadorship, which can come across as inauthentic unless carefully moderated, customer-ambassadors are usually seen as much more believable and legitimate. A new customer would always prefer to buy if they see that a peer has endorsed the brand.

Experts in your field: As field experts are the go-to people for advice, tips, and information in their niche, an endorsement of your brand from a related authority speaks volumes. It’s a great form of brand ambassadorship to target if you want the validity and credibility that comes with being associated with an expert. 

Authorities among an audience (includes, but isn’t limited to, celebrities): Audience authorities are not as knowledgeable about your niche as bona fide experts, but they have significant audiences who trust them wholeheartedly and who align with your own target demographic. Celebrities can fall under the audience authority category. But it’s usually easier to work with authorities who have a smaller (but still sizable and trusting) audience – like content creators.

Social media personalities (content creators): Social media influencers and content creators come with their own followership that can vary in size depending on their popularity. They’re already experts in online promotion, and have an audience that regularly engages with their content and hangs on their every word. So, if they’ve already shown love for your brand more informally, they can be an invaluable ambassador type.

Affiliate-style ambassadors: Affiliate marketers are a force to be reckoned with. If you haven’t considered affiliate-style ambassadors yet, they’re definitely worth looking into. Affiliate ambassadors promote your products or services in exchange for commissions or other incentives. They’ll offer a unique discount code to audiences, which tracks all the purchases that the affiliate ambassador encouraged. Remember to choose affiliates within your niche, and who have an existing audience that matches yours.

Event-based ambassadors: These specialist ambassadors might come into the picture when you want representatives to kick off or significantly scale your offline marketing efforts. These ambassadors leverage event-based experiences (such as conferences and guerilla pop-ups) to create and build relationships with your target customers. For this reason, they function as the face of your brand. When choosing an event-based ambassador, ensure their core image and personality align with your brand values. 

5. Expectations for ambassadors

Now, nail down your expectations for your ambassadors. What do you want them to achieve? The more specific, the better.

If they’re promoting you online, determine the ideal platforms they should be using, how many promotional posts they will make, the nature of these posts, and the time frame they’ll need to be published within. Also. work out how you will track ambassadors’ efforts, whether that’s by distributing tracking links or by sharing discount codes.

If they’re promoting you offline, determine what types of events they should be promoting you at. Will you require them to plan the actual events or guerilla marketing efforts? Or will they just represent and talk about your brand at events planned by others?

6. Rewards and benefits for ambassadors

Next up, determine what types of rewards and benefits you will provide to your brand ambassadors. These rewards must be highly motivating and appealing to your ambassadors, and worth the time and energy that ambassadors are investing in your brand. At the same time, the rewards should be sustainable for your brand to pay out in the long term.

To identify the best rewards, ask your brand ambassadors what they would appreciate the most. In general, cash is a great motivator. But aside from cash, you could also offer free products or product upgrades, or provide credits or coupons to be used towards your products. You can even give out branded swag. Some ambassadors may be willing to work for your brand without compensation in exchange for being publicly recognized partners. But compensation properly recognizes ambassadors, so every ambassador should be paid in some way.

Next, consider when and how you will transfer these rewards to your brand ambassadors. Do you want to reward ambassadors at a set frequency? If so, you’ll want to give a reward at least monthly, but twice a month can be a welcome gesture. Some businesses opt to pay out more frequently, such as once a week. It can be a great motivator to have weekly payouts. 

But, sometimes, having a set frequency may not be the ideal solution for your business. Another method is to pay based on very specific goals brand ambassadors have achieved. For example, would you rather pay or reward your brand ambassadors once they’ve achieved specific outcomes, such as the delivery of specific content or the completion of a given action? 

Alternatively, you can choose to give a reward whenever a sale has been attributed to a brand ambassador’s efforts. For example, should they be paid after a customer has purchased through the tracking link?

You may also want to layer your rewards so they’re even more motivating for your ambassadors. If so, plan how you will reward ambassadors as they reach higher levels of performance. For example, you can offer extra bonuses to the best-performing ambassadors at the end of each month or quarter. You can also look at increasing the value of the base incentives once an ambassador has surpassed specific lifetime goals.

Last but not least, look at other less tangible rewards outside of traditional reward structures to sweeten your recognition systems. For example, personalized thank you notes or emails are a great gesture. In addition, consider using leaderboards where ambassadors can see how their performance stacks up. If you go this route, be sure to publicly recognize top performers with spotlights, and give them added incentives.

7. Screening potential ambassadors

How will you screen and select potential ambassadors? It’s worth taking some time to decide your must-have, good-to-have, and/or optional brand ambassador skills and qualities. Ask yourself, what would make an ideal brand ambassador for your program? Make sure that every ambassador is a good fit with your brand values. The ideal candidate should also be a brand and relationship fit, someone with whom you could potentially engage for the long term. 

In terms of numbers, maybe you’re looking for a minimum amount of followers, impressions or engagement? Also, review their follower base to research the type of audience they have. Is their audience a match to your target audience? 

Next, you want to look at experience. If you’re not picky about the experience they have, you’ll want to chat with a potential ambassador to see if they have the potential and are trainable. If not, look for specific expertise in promoting brands or working at events, and find out what results they’ve been able to deliver for those brands.

You could research if potential brand ambassadors have promoted your brand on their own before, in an informal way. It’s a good indication that they’re already fans or loyal customers, who will authentically share their love for your brand.

Once you have a rough plan of how you want to go about your screening, figure out how you’re going to set up your selection process, including the questions you’ll ask ambassadors and how many ambassadors you aim to recruit. One option to consider is using any of the free tools that are available online to set up a screening questionnaire with a sharable link. In this case, you’ll ask all applicants the same questions via the questionnaire and shortlist candidates based on their responses. You can also choose to meet your candidates through online meetings before finalizing your choices.

8. Finding potential ambassadors

Brainstorm and finalize how you’ll find your potential brand ambassadors. You’ll be developing a plan to recruit the ideal people to promote your brand. 

If you’re a small business, it may be better to hunt for potential candidates yourself. One way to do this is to review your customer database and look up their social media profiles. See who’s been raving about you and appears to have influence in their circle. Another option, somewhat similar to this, is to look up brand hashtags and identify potential influencers. 

You could also leverage software and use databases to find more candidates. For instance, you could use a brand mention software that does the legwork of finding out who’s been talking about you or your brand online. You could also use pre-vetted influencer and ambassador databases available online that share information on their reach and engagement.

If you’re reasonably well established, you may want to consider setting up an application process online for potential ambassadors to apply if they have an interest. The content that leads into your form should provide everything a candidate would want to know before applying. Talk about your brand, what’s on offer, how and when they can expect to get paid, and other important information. If you have specific requirements for your ambassadors, make that clear on your invite. Remember to make the invitation enticing and exciting so more people will want to apply.

9. Recruiting ambassadors

Once you’ve decided how you’re going to find your ambassadors, the next step is deciding how you’re going to recruit them. Aside from using your application form, think about how you will invite and entice your top-pick prospective ambassadors to join your program.

• How will you contact them, whether that’s via email, social media, Zoom, or other channels?
• What will you say to them that will convince them to sign on?
• How will you reward them in return for promoting you?

Here’s one example of what you could tell them in your initial message:

Also, think about how you will formally welcome new ambassadors to your program. You could easily send them an automated email once they sign up. You could also do a Zoom call a few days later to personalize the welcome. 

Think about how you would like to be welcomed to a program, and apply that to your message. Send a warm greeting, basic information on what to expect going forward, and a quick overview of the ambassador’s role, responsibilities, and rewards. Finish with links to further resources, help guides, and contact information for any questions or concerns. 

10. Brand ambassador contract

Also, think about developing a brand ambassador contract template that defines your legal relationships with your ambassadors. Use this as a baseline for creating your final contractual obligations. Both you and the ambassador will need to sign off on the terms before you start the official engagement. Remember, a legal contract is your safeguard if and when disputes arise later.

While the following isn’t an exhaustive list, here are some of the most relevant items to include in the contract:

• The names of the parties involved.
• What’s expected from the brand ambassador (duties and responsibilities).
• Detailed guidelines for how the brand ambassador should and shouldn’t promote your brand
• The rewards on offer, terms of payment, and when the payments will be made.
• Obligations of your brand (how you’ll support the ambassador)
• Duration of the engagement – will it last for a fixed term like a year or two, or will it be an open-ended contract that goes on until either party decides to terminate the relationship? 
• Other legal terms and conditions such as confidentiality and governance of intellectual property.

For all the details on writing a brand ambassador contract, plus a free brand ambassador contract template you can fill out, don’t miss our previous guide. 

11. Training ambassadors

Consider which medium works the best for you for training ambassadors, whether that’s pre-recorded or live videos, emails, Zoom calls, or training via Slack. If you have an ambassador portal, you can house your training on the same platform. 

First, think about the content your brand ambassadors must know and develop your core training around these fundamentals. Consider covering:

• Product knowledge (in-depth knowledge about the product, including differentiators and unique selling points)
• How the ambassador program works
• Brand fundamentals (vision, mission, values, culture)
• Must-follow guidelines for promoting your brand and using your branding
• Recommended messaging to use, as a starting point 
• What to avoid when talking about your brand
• Marketing skills (speaking and engagement training, if needed for newbies)
• Social media training (how to create and upload content, how to develop the right type of content, creating high-quality photos, and so on)
• Event management training

Think about providing checklists, templates, and user guides to help your ambassadors stay on brand, and assets they can use to better promote you. 

Also, invest time in training your ambassadors to sound authentic but within the context of on-brand communications. You could even use open-ended prompts to kickstart the creative process, for example, “How do you use our metal water bottle for a summer workout?”

Check out these templates for inspiration:

12. Communicating with ambassadors

The last item you want to look at is how you will communicate with your ambassadors. When we talk about communication, we’re referring to long-term and consistent 2-way engagement with your ambassadors. On the one hand, you’re motivating and updating your ambassadors. On the other, you’re being continually receptive to feedback and keeping your ears close to the ground. 

The first aspect to cover is how you will inform your ambassadors about new product launches, changes in your existing product lines, and updates to your brand or program. There are a few different ways to approach this, and you can use one or all of the suggested options. But the more channels you’re on, the better. At the same time, you should be able to stay on top of all your communications. 

Email newsletters are good if you have a sizable email subscriber list. You can supplement with private groups formed on major social media marketing channels, like Facebook and LinkedIn, or messaging apps, like Slack. Another option, if you have a dedicated brand ambassador manager, is to hold regular Zoom meetings. This can provide a warmer and more personalized experience for your ambassadors. 

The next aspect to consider is how you will receive and give ambassador feedback. Provide email, private messaging, or contact form options for your ambassadors to get in touch with you to share their feedback or insights. You can also offer the same channel to answer any questions they have.

You could add a message asking for feedback at the bottom of your private social media posts for your ambassadors, within the body of your newsletter emails, or within pop-ups on your brand ambassador platform. Remember to thank your ambassadors for their input, and update them when you implement their feedback or incorporate their suggestions.

Conclusion

Developing your own brand ambassador program doesn’t have to be challenging. Use this ambassador program template to help you create your program and make it successful. Some thought and pre-planning can help you go a long way in creating a streamlined process that works like clockwork minus the stress and stumbling blocks.