There is a tendency to associate brand ambassadors with corporate brands and companies. After all, we often see celebrities endorsing the products and services of corporate companies. We see them in various media promotions for the product or service that they represent. In that regard, we will agree that brand ambassadors are, in effect, models or endorsers of a brand.
However, compared to models or endorsers, brand ambassadors have a weightier responsibility towards the company or organization they are representing or promoting and to the audience that they are endorsing the products and services too.
Unfortunately, not a lot of people have a clear idea about what brand ambassadors are and what they do more so in the context of non profits and social enterprises. Just like in the case of for profit companies, organisations need brand ambassadors who can sell them to different stakeholders and more importantly donors as well as potential partners.
There are no fixed categorizations of brand ambassadors. They may be employed by the organization, or they may even be working as freelancers. It is also possible that they are volunteers, not getting monetary compensations for promoting the products and services of the organization. More often than not, their efforts are borne out of genuine appreciation for the mission or the social impact. In many cases, the only form of compensation they get is recognition or bonus gifts from the organization.
The good news is that there are no fixed qualifications, either. They could be students, housewives, office workers or professionals. As long as they are passionate about your mission and social impact, they can be brand ambassadors.
Brand ambassadors are useful in providing and increasing the visibility of a brand, boosting market awareness of the brand and, consequently, raising funds for the organization. The role of the brand ambassador is to strengthen and solidify the relationship between the organizations products or services and the stakeholders.
You will find brand ambassadors making their promotional moves and stunts on various channels such as blogs and personal websites, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, to name a few. Social media has risen to be an effective field for creating buzz for brands in recent years, and brand ambassadors are fully utilizing these channels to promote their products or services of choice.
Word of mouth remains to be one of the best forms of advertising, and that is where much of the brand ambassador’s power lies. By sharing success stories or saying even just one or two good things about your organization, they can change public perception of the product or service, and even convince non-partners to come on board.
More often than not, brand ambassadors have already established themselves as public figures online, having cultivated solid online reputations. This means that they already have a large following and an extensive social network. This is why they are also often referred to as “influencers”, because with just a single blog post, status update, or tweet, they can reach a large number of people whom they can influence into checking out your organization, or its products and services.
Brand ambassadors promote a product or service because they truly like or enjoy it. They endorse a brand because they respect it. Organisations will also definitely find it a great morale booster to have someone promoting them with sincerity. They like you, and you do not even have to pay them to say good things about you! All you have to do is to continue creating high-quality products or providing excellent service!
Every organization can greatly benefit from brand ambassadors. No doubt we do alot of amazing work and some times we don't even know how to tell our success stories. Finding people who enjoy telling your stories will enable you reach people that you would otherwise not be able to meet. Finding the right ambassadors takes time but it is worth the investment. The returns will be greater and more long lasting than the time and effort invested in cultivating those relationships.
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