MackCollier.com

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This Is (Probably) Why Your Brand Ambassador Program Sucks

Every week I field calls and conversations with companies about starting a brand ambassador or advocacy program.  Almost every time, the company explains that they are excited about the idea of launching a brand ambassador program as a way to generate sales for the brand.  They tell me how they have fans and they think they need a program to better connect with those fans so the fans can sell for them.

This makes complete sense.  Then the conversation typically goes something like this:

Me: “So what’s in it for your fans?”

Company: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Well you want your fans to start going out and actively selling for you, that’s a lot to ask of them.  What are you prepared to offer them in exchange for being a part of this program?”

Company: Long pause…”Well they are our fans, I just assumed they would be happy to help us!”

Just as communities do not form around the idea of being monetized, your fans are not waiting for you to take advantage of them.  You have to give your fans a compelling reason to be involved in your program.  If they don’t care about your program then they won’t care about selling your product to other customers.

So when you create a brand ambassador program, give special thought to what your fans get from being involved in the program.  Your goal is to create a set of benefits from being in the program that are so compelling to your fans that you have so many fans wanting to be involved that you have to limit membership.

A Real-World Example of How This Works

Your company sells lawn care products, and you want to create an ambassador program for the fans of your products that are designed to kill bugs in their lawns.

From the company standpoint, you want to do things like give your fans special coupons so they can give them to customers that they meet in their day-to-day activities.  You want to have a way to collect feedback from your fans when they talk to potential customers, and you want to be able to track sales generated from your fans.

That’s all company-oriented.  So what do your fans get from being involved in this brand ambassador program?

Since your fans are already buying your products to kill pests in their lawns, it’s obvious that these customers spend a lot of time maintaining their lawns.  So your company could offer them materials, seminars, etc that help teach them how to create and maintain a more beautiful lawn.  You could teach them why certain lawns attract certain pests, and how to eliminate them.  You could partner with chains such as Lowe’s and Home Depot to offer special Fans Only workshops on lawn care.

The best part about all of this is as you are teaching your fans how to better maintain their lawns, you are also educating them on your lawncare products.  Which means you are teaching your fans a new set of skills, but you are also teaching them how to better sell your products.  Because once your fans understand why certain pests are damaging to their lawns, they will be able to better sell your product, because they will know that it eliminates those pests.

So by creating benefits for your fans you are not only increasing their loyalty toward your brand and the program, you are also empowering them to be better salespeople for your products.

When you are creating a brand ambassador program spend as much if not more time on what your fans get from being involved.  The more you offer your fans, the more you can ask of them.  Never assume that your fans will happily jump through hoops for you simply because they are your fans.  Think about who your fans are as people, and how you can give them skills and empower them to better succeed in their day to day lives.  And do so in a way that relates to your product and why they love your brand to begin with.

 

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 6 – Making Your Fans Comfortable, Introverts & Why @DaleJr Is Winning

Hey y’all, it’s already Episode 6 of the #FanDamnShow!  In this episode I talk about:

  • Why it’s important to understand who your fans are and making them comfortable working with you
  • The difference between working with introverts and extroverts
  • The importance of giving your fans options for working with you
  • Why some introverts are really extroverts online! (It’s complicated…)

All this in just over 10 minutes in this episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!

 

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All Topics For #Blogchat in August Plus @ScottMonty and @ProBlogger!

BlogchatCoHosts

UPDATE: Here’s the transcript from the #Blogchat on blogging gear on August 3rd.

#Blogchat’s amazing co-host lineup  for 2014 continues as this month we welcome ProBlogger and Scott Monty!  In fact here’s the entire lineup for #Blogchat in August:

August 3rd- What’s the best blogging gear?  We’ll be talking about all the cool gear and toys we use to make our blogs amazing. Whatever you love, whether its a premium theme or a a DSLR camera for taking amazing pictures, we’ll chat about it and share reviews and tips.

August 10th – How to get your blog READY to generate an income with ProBlogger!  So many bloggers want to make money from their blogs, but it doesn’t happen overnight, you need to plan a monetization strategy.  Darren will take to us about the prepwork that goes into getting your blog ready to make money!

August 17th –  How to create and maintain a blog focused on your favorite hobby or passion with Scott Monty!  Scott is well-known as a social media thought leader and of course did groundbreaking corporate social marketing work with Ford for many years and has now joined SHIFT Communications.  You know all that.  What you might not know is that Scott is an avid Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, and even has an amazing blog and podcast devoted to his love of Sherlock Holmes!  Scott will talk to us about that passion for all things Holmes and how to balance a vibrant career with finding time to maintain a pretty awesome ‘hobby’ blog.    

August 24th – How to get more interview requests from other bloggers.  Interviews are a great way to get more exposure for your blog and to help build your reputation as a thought leader.  Ann Smarty from MyBlogU will join us to help us learn how to get more interview requests and get more exposure for our blog and ourselves!

August 31st – OPEN MIC!  You know the drill, we’ll chat up any blogging topic you like.  Same great taste, now with 25% fewer calories!

Also, I mentioned Ann Smarty from MyBlogU is co-hosting on August 24th.  MyBlogU is also sponsoring #Blogchat in August!  Ann is building a platform for bloggers where they can connect with peers, get media exposure, and learn how to create better content.  You can learn more about MyBlogU here, and you can join for free!  Watch this video to learn more about MyBlogU:

 

See y’all on Sunday!

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 5: Addressing Customer Complaints Head On

I love Patagonia’s content marketing and I love its blog The Cleanest Line.  Recently, Patagonia took to its blog to address customer complaints about its shipping.  And the post ended up being pretty popular, in fact customers commented thanking Patagonia for the post!  Learn what Patagonia did on the fifth episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!

 

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Learn About Creating a Content Strategy For Your Blog Tonight With @JoePulizzi at #Blogchat!

JP_Headshot_2012

If you missed tonight’s #Blogchat here is the transcript.

Our all-star lineup of special guest-hosts for the 2nd half of 2014 begins tonight as Joe Pulizzi co-hosts #Blogchat!  Joe is known as ‘The Godfather of Content Marketing’ and runs the wildly-successful Content Marketing World events.  The next CMW is in September in Cleveland.  I spoke at the first one in 2011 and it’s a wonderful event.  And if you’re thinking of attending, register and use code BLOGCHAT to get a $100 discount!

Here’s what we’ll be discussing tonight(all times Central):

8:00-8:20 PM – How do we get started creating a content strategy for our blog?

8:20-8:40 PM – How does a blog fit into our larger content strategy?

8:40-9:00 PM – What’s next in content marketing?  What should we be focusing on?

Thrilled as can be to finally have Joe co-hosting as everyone in #Blogchat will lean a ton about improving their blogging efforts by creating a solid content strategy.  See y’all at 8pm Central on Twitter and check out the other all-star co-hosts joining us in the coming months!

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IKEA Shuts Down Popular Fan Site IKEAHackers

A few years ago, the band Blink 182 was getting ready to release its new single.  It went to YouTube and found thousands of instances where fans of the band were illegally using its music in homemade videos.

The band cataloged over 100,000 instances of copyright infringement by its fans, then instead of sending lawyers after them, Blink 182 made the video for its new single from videos created by its fans.

Then the band thanked its fans.  For stealing its music.

This example is in contrast to how IKEA recently reacted when it discovered a popular fan site called IKEAHackers.  The site, which is where fans of the brand share their ‘hacks’ for making its products better, has been delivered a Cease and Desist letter from IKEA.  According to its lawyers, the brand objects to the fact that the fan running the site has inserted advertising on the site in an effort to offset the costs of maintaining it.  As the site’s owner explains:

Needless to say, I am crushed. I don’t have an issue with them protecting their trademark but I think they could have handled it better. I am a person, not a corporation. A blogger who obviously is on their side. Could they not have talked to me like normal people do without issuing a C&D?

IKEAhackers.net was set up in 2006 and truly not with the intent to exploit their mark. I was a just crazy fan. In retrospect, a naive one too. It is not an excuse but that was just how it was when I registered IKEAhackers. Over the last 8 years the site has grown so much that I could not juggle the demands of a full time job and managing IKEAhackers. It also costs quite a bit to run a site this large. Since IKEA® does not pay me a cent, I turned to advertising to support myself and this site.

To clarify, IKEA has every right to do what it feels is necessary to protect its brand and its images and likeness.  My guess is that’s the true motivation behind IKEA’s actions, and it feels if it spins that it doesn’t like the site due to the advertising on it that it might lessen the negative PR hit.

It’s also worth noting that this story will be hot for about 3-4 days, then most people will forget about it. Except for fans of the site, many of which were also IKEA fans.  Were.  

I mentioned the Blink 182 story at the start because it along with the IKEA story is a perfect example of the difference between how most rock stars view its fans and how most brands view its fans.  Both the brand and the band saw that its fans were acting in a way that could be viewed as damaging to its image and even copyright infringement.  But while Blink 182 saw fans illegally using its music as a possible opportunity, IKEA saw fans running the IKEAHackers site as a possible threat.  

That’s an incredibly important distinction.  And it brings up another equally important distinction between most brands and most bands.  Most brands have little to no connection with its fans, so as a result they don’t understand them and they don’t trust them.  While most bands are connected with its fans so they do understand them and do trust them.  Blink 182 understood that its fans weren’t trying to hurt the band with its videos on YouTube, they were trying to help the band.  IKEA apparently doesn’t see the IKEAHackers site as being helpful to its brand, instead it sees it as being hurtful.

How could IKEA have handled this situation as if it were an opportunity instead of a treat?  If the brand was really worried about advertisements on the site, then make a deal with the fan running it to have her remove all ads, and in exchange IKEA would sponsor the site for the amount she would have earned in ad revenue.

That turns a negative PR event into an incredibly positive one for IKEA.  It generates new fans for the brand, and everyone wins.

It also validates to IKEA’s fans why they were right to be fans of the brand.

The lesson: When you feel your fans are acting in a way that could hurt your brand, understand that your fans love you, and look for a way to work with them, instead of against them.  The only thing worse than ignoring your fans, is giving them a reason to stop loving you.

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 4: How and Why Online Communities Form

Welcome to the fourth episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show!  Yesterday during the #Bizheroes chat on Twitter, we were discussing the power of communities.  I wanted to talk about that a bit more in this episode of #FanDamnShow.

Here’s the transcript from yesterday’s #Bizheroes chat, please let me know what you think about this episode!

 

Here’s a direct link to the show and you can subscribe in iTunes if you like!

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Here’s the #Blogchat Co-Host Lineup For July Through November

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend as much time as I would like with #Blogchat recently.  This is due mostly to client work and also launching my new podcast The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show.  But all that is about to change.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s your lineup of #Blogchat co-hosts for the second half of the year:

BlogchatCoHosts

Here’s the schedule and topics (subject to change) for each co-host:

July 6th – Joe Pulizzi – How to Create a Content Strategy For Your Blog

August 10th – ProBlogger – How to Build a Blog Worth Monetizing

August 17th – Scott Monty – How to Build an Awesome Hobby Blog (This will be a LOT of fun!)

September 14th – Ann Handley – How to Weave Storytelling Into Your Blog and Improve Your Writing

October 5th – Jay Baer – Your Blog as a YouTility, Creating Content That’s Useful For Your Readers

November 2nd – Gini Dietrich – Why Your Blog Can Be Your Company’s Best Friend During a Social Media Crisis

November 9th – Kerry O’Shea Gorgone – The Legal Ramifications of Blogging: What You Need to Know

December – TBA

Are you excited about lineup as I am?  It’s worth noting that I asked 8 people to co-host #Blogchat, and the 7 you see above accepted.  The 8th person has tentatively agreed, just waiting to see when their schedule will allow them to join.  That’s because these are all experts and thought leaders that are giving of their time, but they also understand the value of connecting with the #Blogchat community.  Y’all do an amazing job of supporting #Blogchat and that’s a big reason why we are lucky enough to have such amazing co-hosts to learn from.

Also, here’s the topics for the rest of June:

Tonight (June 8th) – Breaking Blogging’s Unwritten Rules (Posts shouldn’t be too long, you should post at least once a week, etc)

June 15th – How to Get More Comments on Your Blog

June 22nd – Your blogging strategy for the second half of 2014

June 29th – OPEN MIC

Also, if you are interested in sponsoring any month from July-December, check out the #Blogchat Sponsorship page as there are new terms and rates available.

See y’all tonight starting at 8pm Central!

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show Episode 3: The Difference Between Rules and Guidelines in Social Media

Welcome to a third ‘marathon’ episode of the Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show that clocks in a just over 11 minutes! I talk about:

1 – Kerry O’Shea Gorgone’s amazing opener and her podcast for Marketing Profs called Marketing Smarts.

2 – How Club Carlson saw big gains on Twitter by breaking one of the biggest rules for how brands are ‘supposed’ to use Twitter.

3 – Why you should view most of the ‘rules’ for using social media as really being guidelines for how your company should be using social media.

Here’s the direct link to the show.

And you can now subscribe in iTunes!

As always, let me know what you think here, via email or on Twitter with the #FanDamnShow hashtag!

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The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show, Episode 2: The Power of Amazon and Online Reviews

Thanks SO much for the feedback on the first episode of The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show, I really do appreciate it!  If you have any feedback on this episode please leave a comment here, email me or leave it on Twitter with hashtag #FanDamnShow.

In this episode I’ll be talking about how you can leverage online reviews on Amazon and other sites in two ways:

1 – Learning how you can improve your product and marketing by examining reviews left for competing products.

2 – Learning how you can improve your product and marketing by examining reviews left for your own products.

All this in just 8 minutes!  Hope you enjoy and here is the direct link to listen to this episode or you can below as well.