What is a Brand Ambassador?
I checked Wikipedia and other sources and decided to use this description, because it somewhat fits in with my thoughts:
“Predominantly, a brand ambassador is known as a positive spokesperson, an opinion leader or a community influencer, appointed as an internal or external agent to boost product or service sales and create brand awareness. Today, brand ambassador as a term has expanded beyondcelebrity branding to self-branding or personal brand management. Professional figures such as good-will and non-profit ambassadors, and brand advocates have formed as an extension of the same concept, taking into account the requirements of every company.”
It’s more common today, I believe, to see a brand ambassador as a person who does not necessarily get paid to spread the word in a positive manner about an organization and their products/services. These people are customers and trusted connections who truly believe in the brand they share with others. They have built trust which in turn led to loyalty and they are happy to spread the word.
Why be an Unpaid Brand Ambassador?
There are many reasons why people are happy to promote brands, but are not employed by the brand or get paid to promote the brand, here are two examples of the most simple reasons:
- The customer is loyal to the organization and wants to share with their family and friends so they too benefit from an excellent experience.
- Social media platforms are an example of how people build relationships, and can be seen sharing brands, thereby promoting products and services, because they believe in the brand.
Down the line the person who is sharing a particular brand could benefit if they have a business of their own, such as:
- A marketing company
- Someone who blogs for a living
It has been known for individuals to gain referrals once they are seen as a trusted brand ambassador, paid work. But not for being a brand ambassador as such, more so for the skill set they already have.
My First Mini Cooper
The feature photo in this blog is a photo of mine, my very first Mini Cooper, here in Canada. As you can see I have my brand showcased on it. I have no problem being BMW Mini’s brand ambassador as I am absolutely thrilled with my car and with the customer service at BMW Mini Grand River, here in Waterloo Region, of Ontario, where I live.
What Does a Brand Ambassador Look Like?
I must say though, that in order to be a brand ambassador you must be an influencer of sorts:
- Know how to build relationships and show a transparency that exudes trust. In other words enjoy getting to know people, know how to ask questions and of course answer questions.
- Have a distinctive online presence, such as Twitter, with followers who see you as someone who is trust worthy. Having a credible online presence means your connections listen to you, read your tweets, take you seriously. It’s not about numbers it’s about quality over quantity.Are you being heard?
- Be professional, otherwise your brand might impact the brands you are promoting ( not for payment) might be impacted in a negative way.
I am skimming the surface here for the purpose of keeping this post short and interesting, but you get the idea.
In the simplest terms a brand ambassador likes and trusts something or someone, a personal brand or corporate brand. They are happy to tell others how much, and they share whenever they can.
My example of how I see myself as a brand ambassador is because I share information, products and services I really believe in and trust, with others.
A great example of this would be Elite Training Facility, where I signed up for personal training sessions. I built a relationship with the owners of this gym, via networking. Both of the owners are members of the Small Business Community Network (SBCN). It took me a year to really build the trust and find out the information I wanted, in my own time, before I actually signed up for a personal trainer. I connected to Elite Training Facility on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and the more I read about this organization the more I liked and trusted both owners. After completing almost 40 personal training sessions I now spread the word because I believe and trust in this particular brand. The experience I have enjoyed is excellent. I see myself as a brand ambassador for this business.
Whether you see yourself as a brand ambassador or a person who likes to refer brands that offer the best experience, products, and services does not matter. What is important is that we give credit where credit is due and we share how wonderful we believe certain organizations are.
As always please let me know if you have any questions and feel free to share this blog post, thanks.
