How To Turn Brand Ambassadors Into Your Biggest Selling Tools

Brand Ambassadors are such an invaluable extension of your marketing and sales force. These consumer advocates have an interest in advising a brand with everything from the product/service, customer service improvements, adding value and conveying great experiences to their audiences. Their reviews, content and opinions carry weight far beyond traditional marketing efforts. Chosen and managed correctly, they often know more about your brand than the brand manager. They often step in to answer customer service questions, come to the defense of your brand and contribute tips and tricks that can help customers make purchase decisions. In fact, Brand Ambassador-created content is clicked and shared more often than paid advertising.

Brand Ambassadors are your new assistant brand managers. They already have an “ear to the ground” about the rumblings within the interwebs. How do Brand Ambassadors know what the “average customer” says and feels about your brand? They know because they ARE the average customer. Brand Ambassadors don’t need to rely on case studies and metrics, they tell you the word on the street.

• Brand Ambassadors naturally help create loyal fans through their passion and knowledge.


• Brand Ambassadors help create emotional relationships between the brand and its customers.


• Consumers trust authentic voices on blogs and other forms of social media more than they trust a spokesperson or traditional advertisement.


• Brand Ambassadors humanize the brand, creating stories around your product by creating authentic, organic content.


• Include Brand Ambassadors on your website and social channels and they will bring their audiences to yours.

First and foremost, Brand Ambassadors want a relationship with you. They want communication. They want you to get to know them as more than a Twitter handle or a Klout score. And that means work. You can’t build the relationship just through emails and tweets. It means phone conversations, Skype, Google Hangouts and if possible, in person meetings. Think of it as dating, you get to know someone by asking questions, listening and understanding their likes and dislikes. You don’t instantly trust and bond after one date.

Here are key ways to build the relationship:

Open Your Doors

Brand Ambassadors want relevant information combined with great product experiences and promotions that are shareable. By knowing more about who they are, you can give them information that is relevant to them which makes it easier for them to create natural stories about the brand.

• Keep Brand Ambassadors abreast of editorial calendar needs and opportunities for content planning


• Invite them in as part of your inner circle


• Ask their advice in surveys/focus groups/one-on-ones


• Invite them to your events

Make It Personal

When reaching out to Brand Ambassadors, don’t start every conversation with “Hey, I have this thing I want you to do.” Ask about their dog, their cat, their family or if they’ve been fishing lately; but to be able to request something you will have to get to know them. And when possible, pick up the phone or do a Google Hangout with them. Don’t leave it all to e-communications.

• Ask them for quotes and include them in your press releases when appropriate


• Interact with their social channels via your brand’s channels


• Include links to their owned channels off of your owned channels


• They love it when you run advertising on their sites

Build Trust

Brand Ambassadors want the science, the reviews, the price comparisons, all the information you can give them to make their job easier. They’ll love you for it because you are trusting them. The information helps them build trust with their audience.

Keep It Simple

Understanding how busy they are is crucial. Make any copy presented concise and consider the usability of every application, interface and website, it has to be easy to navigate. Communication needs to be simple. Make expectations clear. Say “Here are some talking points you are welcome to use for your blog post” instead of “Enclosed is a press release.”

Celebrate

Be sure to include your Ambassadors and Advocates in brand wins. They are part of the team and helped build the brand’s success.

The traditional path-to-purchase funnel is no longer valid. Social media and technology have blown it apart. No longer linear, the path-to-purchase has been replaced by the “Path to Influence” where Brand Advocates and Brand Ambassadors have the power to make or break a brand through word-of-mouth influence, but if you work with them, treat them as part of the brand team, they can help you drive sales and customer loyalty.

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/social-selling/turn-brand-ambassadors-biggest-selling-tools-0636215?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=turn-brand-ambassadors-biggest-selling-tools