Brand Ambassador Programs: How They Drive Brand Promotion

Back in the day, brands would turn only to mass media advertisements to put their company’s name on the map. But today, word-of-mouth marketing with the help of Instagram influencers might be the better route for brand promotion online. That’s why plenty of companies invest big money into finding an effective brand ambassador to help them meet their goals.

An ambassador is more than just a pretty face promoting a brand through social media content. They also help reach a wider audience and reel in potential customers while educating them on a brand’s key offerings. They also engage a brand’s loyal customers to keep them in the loop about the brand’s latest launches and projects.

But how does an ambassador do all that? Today, we’ll delve into the ins and outs of how a brand advocate can help boost a business. Keep reading to learn the responsibilities of these influencers and how to become a successful brand advocate.

What Is a Brand Ambassador, and Who Can Become One?

First things first—what is a brand ambassador, anyway? An ambassador is someone a brand appoints to represent their brand, whether online or offline. They embody the brand essence of the company and work to put the brand in a good light.

Many times, being an ambassador means promoting the brand as a part of its marketing strategy. This can come in the form of creative, fantastic PR to build positive sentiment for a brand. But most of the time, it’s to drive sales and encourage buyers to be loyal customers.

So, who can be an ambassador for a brand? Technically, anyone can do the job so long as they can be loyal to their partner brand.

Brands can tap industry experts to be their ambassadors and speak for them at events or on social media posts. Employees and staff can also do a good job of being ambassadors, especially if they talk to customers regularly. But more often than not, a brand will tap social media influencers to become their ambassadors.

According to a 2023 survey, 82% of brands believe that influencer marketing can attract high-quality customers vs. other marketing strategies. These creators already have a good fanbase, allowing the brands to reach a wider audience online. They’re also authority figures who can influence their social media followers and turn them into potential customers for the brand.

Any creator has the potential to become an ambassador (also often called a brand influencer). Whether you’re a macro-influencer with 300,000 fans or a micro-influencer with a couple thousand followers, you can do the job. As long as you can make an impact on how your followers see a brand, you’re well-suited for the task.

Common Tasks and Responsibilities of an Ambassador

When you land a partnership with a brand as its ambassador, you’ll have plenty of responsibilities and obligations to fulfill. Although the contract differs for every brand and influencer relationship, most of the duties will be the same. Here are the common tasks an ambassador will have when they start working with a brand.

Represent the Brand on Social Media Platforms Through Content Creation

The first job of a brand influencer is to create high-quality social media content that puts the brand center stage. Most of the time, these posts will be sponsored by the brand. On Instagram, that means having the “paid partnership” label plastered on the post.

Other times, ambassadors can make spontaneous, unpaid content that features the brand. This is called user-generated content, and it’s a lot more authentic than sponsored social media posts. According to a study, user-generated content drives almost seven times higher engagement than content by brands.

User-generated content is more common for ambassadors who aren’t big-time influencers. These include customer ambassadors—aka loyal customers that can also make an impact through word-of-mouth marketing.

Regardless of what kind of content the ambassador makes, its main goal is to drive brand awareness and customer engagement. So, an ambassador must have the skills to churn out exciting, interesting content every time.

Amplify Marketing Campaigns With Their Own Social Media Accounts

Brand advocates also help amplify their partner brand’s major marketing campaigns. The goal is to help the brand reach a wider audience to make their campaign more successful.

This might mean sharing the brand’s posts on their Instagram Stories for their followers to see. Posting content using the brand’s hashtags also helps amplify these projects. With these efforts, an ambassador could lead potential customers to the brand’s website or Instagram page.

The most eager ambassadors might even create their content to promote the brand’s project, but that’s not always necessary. Most of the time, cross-promoting and making noise about the brand’s campaign on your social media accounts is enough.

Promoting and Educating Potential Customers About Products

Another responsibility of a brand advocate is educating their followers about their partner brand’s products. That means they need a thorough understanding of these offerings’ key features, purpose, selling points and benefits.

There are plenty of ways to educate your Instagram followers about the products you’re promoting. An ambassador can create product-centric user-generated content to provide deep insights about a brand’s goods. They could also go on Instagram Live or Stories and hold a Q&A. They’ll invite their followers to ask any question about the brand’s products, which they’ll answer right away.

Drive Product Sales Using an Affiliate Program

Aside from raising brand awareness and product knowledge, companies recruit ambassadors to drive sales, too, ultimately. But these sales don’t just benefit the companies. Sometimes, brands will give their ambassadors a chance to earn commission from their followers’ purchases through an affiliate program.

Here’s how it works. A brand will give its ambassador a unique affiliate link that they can share with their social media followers. This link will lead people to the brand’s shopping website and give them a special discount or voucher. And if they end up buying something through that link, the brand influencer also earns a small commission. The brand makes a sale, the customer gets a discount, and the ambassador gets some cash. Everybody wins!

An ambassador will usually leave affiliate links in their bio or on the “swipe up” feature on Instagram Stories.

Attend Brand Events and Hype Them up Online

Some brands include on-ground events in their marketing strategy to create buzz and noise about a project. They’ll often invite their ambassadors to these events for two reasons. First, it’s a treat they get for working so hard on promoting the brand. Second, they are responsible for creating social media content to amplify the event online.

Ambassadors might also be stationed at exhibits and stalls at an event for product demos and interviews. It’s also a great way for them to meet their fans if the event is open to the public.

Brand influencers can also open doors to other partnerships and projects when attending these events. Aside from showing up for the brand and strengthening their relationship, they also have tons of networking opportunities. They can meet other people in the industry that they can collaborate with in the future.

Help With Crisis Management if the Brand Faces Controversy

Lastly, an ambassador also lends a hand in crisis management. If their partner brand were to face controversy, brand influencers might step in to help create good PR online. They can be fantastic at turning negative sentiment around for brands that are going through it.

They can do this through social media posts that stand in solidarity with the brand. After all, their job as an ambassador is to reflect the brand’s values and identity. Showing up to support the brand only makes sense.

Ambassadors can also spread proper information in case their partner brand has fallen victim to fake news. This is crucial for brands that need to deliver pertinent information to a wider audience. They can also answer any questions their social media followers might have about the situation.

How To Become a Brand Ambassador in 3 Steps

Are you an aspiring influencer who wants to land a brand partnership with your favorite labels? We’re here to help you get your foot in the door. Here’s how to become a brand ambassador in three steps.

1. Grow Your Social Media Presence and Follower Count

The first thing you want to do is grow your social media presence. You must be an established figure on Instagram with a sizeable follower count.

And it’s not just a large following that brands look for when hunting down influencers. No brand will recruit you as their ambassador if you can’t make an impact on your followers. So, make sure your engagement rates are high as well. You can do that by perfecting your social media marketing strategy and consistently producing relevant, high-quality content.

2. Do Research on Companies With an Excellent Brand Ambassador Program

When you’re established on Instagram, you’re ready to move on to the next step—finding brand ambassador programs to join.

Some influencers might be lucky enough to receive invitations straight from their dream brand. But others have to sign up for ambassador programs they want to sign up for. You shouldn’t apply for just any program. Do your due diligence and research which companies have good programs available.

You can create a shortlist of brands you want to work with. Then, do a quick audit of their websites and social media accounts to see if they have any noteworthy ambassador programs. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when looking for brands to work with:

• Do they have good, long-lasting relationships with their existing ambassadors?
• Do they give their influencers links for an affiliate program?
• Would you actually use and recommend their products to your social media followers?

3. Lodge Your Brand Ambassador Application to Companies You Want To Work With

Lastly, lodge your brand ambassador application. Based on your research, narrow down the brands you want to be an ambassador for. Send them your pitch via email. Explain how you would be a great asset to their influencer marketing strategy. If you can, include your media kit so that they can see your previous work and what content you make.

You might not hear from every single brand you reach out to, but that’s okay. Every aspiring brand influencer has to start somewhere. Just be diligent in sending out those pitches. Before you know it, you’ll be an ambassador for some of your favorite companies.

How Much Is the Average Brand Ambassador Salary?

No matter how fun being an ambassador sounds, at the end of the day, it’s still a job. You still have to make a living out of your task of promoting a brand on your social media accounts. But how much do influencers make? How much is the average brand ambassador’s salary today?

Compensation is different for every ambassador. Some brand influencers might be paid more compared to others, depending on their overall reach and scope of work. Brands might also pay ambassadors more if they include an exclusivity clause or have additional tasks, like hosting brand events.

The pay structure also varies from person to person. Some ambassadors charge a flat project rate, while others prefer an hourly fee. Most of the time, social media ambassadors will charge per post.

According to 2022 research, the average fee for one promotional Instagram post is around $1,170. Nano-influencers might make a little over $900 for one post. Meanwhile, mega-influencers might make upwards of $6,000 for their social media content.

Of course, there’s no hard-and-fast rule about ambassador rates per post. If you’re looking to work with a brand as their ambassador, charge them what you think you deserve. Consider factors like your follower count, engagement rate, and content quality when you give your rates.

Be a Successful Brand Ambassador With the Help of Path Social

A brand advocate and ambassador needs to be well-equipped with social media marketing skills to do their job properly. They must know how to produce social media content that will put their brand partner in a good light. They need to understand the brand’s marketing strategy to help amplify major campaigns with social media posts. And, of course, they must have the power to engage and sway their followers to patronize the brand.

But none of these skills will make you an excellent ambassador if you don’t have a solid social media presence. After all, you can’t reel in potential customers for your partner brand if you don’t have loyal followers. That’s where Path Social comes in.

Our proprietary targeting algorithm finds your niche audience and serves your social media content to them. This allows you to rake in tons of new, highly engaged followers who actually enjoy your posts. With a solid fanbase that loves you, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an effective brand ambassador. Start growing your community and reach your brand influencer dreams today with Path Social!