5 Reasons Businesses Have Adopted Retail Ambassadors
-
T-ROC Staff
-
Jan 4, 2021 -
8 mins read
Five Big Reasons Brand Ambassadors Are Essential To Any Retail Business.
If your brand isn’t using ambassadors, it’s time to consider putting together a brand ambassador program. Good news, there are companies that can help!
Advertising and marketing are certainly necessary tools for building a brand. However, in a day and age when consumers are overwhelmed by an endless stream of content and messages blaring at them from all directions – online, on television, over social media, and just about anywhere else we can possibly turn – the power and effectiveness of marketing tends to get watered down.
The reality is that as consumers, we have collectively reached a point where it’s difficult to know who or what to believe. Even worse from a branding perspective, with the amount of information we’re being asked to process in our daily lives the content often resembles white noise. It all blends together, and nothing really seems to jump out at us as relevant or important to our individual lives.
Brand Ambassadors are a way for brands and retailers to connect with customers in ways that matter to them.
So what exactly is a Brand Ambassador?
First of all, a brand ambassador is not a salesperson. Ambassadors rarely transact sales with customers. They don’t work in retail stores or roam the sales floor on a daily basis. Instead, a brand ambassador is an individual hired by a brand to represent the voice and personality of the company to its customers. A good brand ambassador is a vocal advocate of the brand who is an expert in the brand’s messaging, products and personality. Sometimes they are celebrities. Sometimes they are people with large social media followings. But what all good ambassadors have in common is a deep understanding of the brand and a natural ability to connect with consumers.
Brand Ambassadors Break Through The Clutter
Brand ambassador programs help companies break through all those marketing messages flying around out there. In fact, a good ambassador program doesn’t really look or feel like marketing or advertising. It feels like one person sharing insight with another. It feels personal to the consumer and this is a big advantage when it comes to building a loyal following for any brand. What follows are five big ways brand ambassadors make a difference for the companies they represent.
- Trusted Brand Expertise
Effective brand ambassador programs feature compelling ambassadors who consumers can trust. These individuals are not selling the brand. They’re actually using the brand and advocating for it because they genuinely believe in the product or products it represents. For example, say your company is a health and fitness brand. Sure a good television commercial or a captivating website can surely help you build awareness. However, having an educated and reputable fitness guru tout the benefits of your products on her social media channels can create a lot more buzz than a commercial, and, chances are, you’ll generate that buzz a lot more affordably than purchasing a chunk of media time.
- Building and Protecting Your Rep
With so many social commerce channels out there, every brand and retailer in business today is susceptible to bad press, poor reviews and, most detrimentally, false defamation. Thanks to social media channels and websites, such as Yelp and other consumer review forums, we all have an opinion and a place to share it. This can mean trouble if a particular individual or group has a beef to pick with a brand – whether the reasons for that beef are valid or not.
A brand ambassador can defend a brand by sharing first-hand experiences and opinions that dispute those negative reviews. After all, as a third-party advocate, a Brand Ambassador has a voice that is likely more reputable and persuasive than the party slinging the dirt.
- A Personal And Human Touch
People would rather connect with a human being than a faceless brand. Good brand ambassadors reach out to a company’s audience on a personal level. They become the face and voice of the brand, resonating with consumers on a level that’s just not possible through conventional marketing and advertising.
In fact, a powerful brand ambassador program is able to augment sales and marketing teams by connecting with consumers on an individual level and convincing them to consider the brand.
- Publicity – Over Social Media And In Person
Brand Ambassadors have to be experts in social media and maintain a strong following. They are experts at posting over channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, a strong brand ambassador program leverages the following and influence ambassadors have by inviting them to make appearances special events, in-store promotions and other marketing initiatives.
In fact, in many cases ambassadors become the big draw, hosting special marketing events. It’s a way to increase loyalty among existing consumers and attract new ones interested in connecting with their trusted advocate in person.
- Increased Inbound Traffic To Your Website
It only makes sense that the more traffic a brand website gets, the better chance that brand has of increasing sales. Brand ambassador programs drive added traffic to websites by leveraging the online presence of its ambassadors.
We’ve already talked about how brand ambassadors must maintain a strong presence over social commerce channels. Many also boast their own websites and regularly blog on various topics, including the brands they represent.
By integrating links into their blogs and social media posts, ambassadors can direct their followers to a brand’s website. Imagine a trusted friend or family member telling you that you should check out a certain website. You’d probably do it right? Well, brand ambassadors become trusted voices to their followers in much the same way.
By leveraging the online presence its ambassadors have built, brands are able to do more than reach new and existing customers. They’re able to convince them to act and that’s a powerful way to increase website traffic and conversions.
Ambassadors Grow Brands And That Grows Sales
Brand ambassadors effectively become the voices and faces of a brand. They, in fact, embody the brand’s identity. This is why good brand ambassadors aren’t interesting in delivering sales pitches or hard selling potential consumers on the merits of a product or product.
Rather, a brand ambassador’s job is to connect with consumers on a personal level. Ambassadors represent brands that they actually use because they add value to their lives. The primary reason brand ambassadors are so effective in marketing is that the genuinely believe in the brands they represent. This comes through to their followers and there is no greater marketing tool than trust. Essentially, brand ambassadors take good-old-fashioned word of mouth advertising and use technology to expand it exponentially.
That’s powerful brand building – the kind that generates new trials and helps build long-term and loyal relationships.
How To Become A Brand Ambassador
Think you’d make a good brand ambassador? There are outstanding opportunities out there for those who possess the qualities it takes to succeed as an ambassador. These include:
Confident Communicator
The most important quality a brand ambassador must possess is the ability to clearly communicate and connect with people both face-to-face and over social media.
Strong Social Media Following/Skills
Most companies are looking for ambassadors who already have a strong social media presence. You should be active on all the social commerce channels and know how to optimize content. The stronger your social media following, the greater your chances of landing a great brand ambassador position.
Love That Brand
Today’s consumers are savvy. They will certainly pick up on any ambassador who’s not sincere or believable in the brand they represent. So, if you’re going to be a good ambassador make sure it’s for a brand you use, trust and think is great.
You’ll find brand ambassador positions on popular job search websites like Monster.com and Indeed.com. You can also find great opportunities with The Revenue Optimization Companies (T-ROC) by searching the company job portal.
Takeaways
In today’s world of information overload, brand ambassadors allow companies to connect with consumers in ways that ring sincere, trusted and personal.
The art of the sale has changed dramatically thanks to the success of e-commerce and social media. It’s no longer enough for brands to showcase their offerings through mass marketing and promotions. Instead, brands need to develop long-term and personal relationships with customers. They need to win their trust and be relevant to their lives in order to earn that coveted business.
Brand ambassadors are among the most cost-effective and results-proven way to make it happen. If you found this blog helpful, check out other key topics pertinent to brands and retailers at https://trocdev.wpengine.com/company/#blog.
T-ROC is the leading provider of premier staffing outsource, software, managed technology services, and consumer insights for the top global brands, retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and distributors. The company’s distinctive solutions address the entire lifecycle of brick and mortar brand and retail operations by combining retail expertise, best practices, and technology to help its customers achieve sales and operational excellence as well as a sustainable competitive advantage. As a Retail 4.0 thought leader, T-ROC enables companies with high-value products in the physical world to thrive through the digitalization of the physical shopping experience. To learn more about T-ROC, visit www.trocdev.wpengine.com.
