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Monday’s Marketing Minute: a16z’s Can’t Be Evil NFT License, NCAA Prez Embraces Brand Ambassadors, Starbucks Adds Web3 to Loyalty Program

Happy Fall, y’all! Temps are still a bit warm but calendar says September so I’m calling it Fall.  Hope everyone has an amazing week, here’s a few marketing and business stories I read over the last week that caught my eye:

 

Investment firm a16z is pushing it’s Can’t Be Evil license as a way for NFT holders to allow others to use its token and build upon it’s image and properties.  The license is free to use and apply to NFTs, and the hope is that it will become a standard license for NFTs to help holders protect their IP rights, as well as more easily allow others to build upon and remix and share that IP within the confines of the license.

 

Kristi Dosh had an interesting sit-down recently with NCAA President Mark Emmert on a variety of topics. Obviously, NIL was a big focus of the conversation. Emmert lamented the fact that paying student athletes could change their role in the eyes of the law to being employees of a university.  Which opens up the SA and university to a lot of legal issues that neither side may want to entangle themselves in.

Emmert suggested that a better alternative may be to explore the idea of universities employing more Brand Ambassadors.  Emmert suggested that universities focus on quantifying the amount of brand value that its SAs are creating, and then compensate SAs from that ‘fund’ based on each SAs contributions, which could be measured using some formula or criteria.  Colleges have used ambassadors for years, but the idea of treating student athletes as ambassadors is a new untouched, so it will be interesting to see how this idea could play out as the NIL era emerges.

 

Starbucks is looking to incorporate NFT technology into its existing loyalty program.  This idea of brands incorporating NFTs into loyalty or ambassador programs is something I’ve talked about here before. In general, the Starbucks Odessey program will leverage the additional functionality that NFTs can provide into the structure of the loyalty programs it has used in the past.

This is a good start, but as more brands begin to incorporate NFTs and blockchain technologies into ambassador and loyalty programs, members will begin to want more.  As more web3 savvy customers become involved in these programs, they will expect their NFTs to grant more than digital perks and discounts.  They will expect their tokens to grant ownership and even governance over the programs.  Watch for this to become more common in the coming years.

 

So that’s it for this edition of Monday’s Marketing Minute, I hope everyone has a fantabulous week!

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Beyond Bored Apes; How Businesses Can Use NFTs as Digital Membership Cards

While more businesses are experimenting with using NFTs, the majority of the use cases remain centered on the digital collectibles/art angle. As brands begin to gain a better understanding of the underlying functionality made possible with NFTs, we will see more robust and dare I say relevant business examples.

Case in point: NFTs can be used by brands as digital membership cards. Not just digital membership cards, but dynamic ones at that, membership cards that evolve and change based on the member’s participation and activity within the program.

Why Use NFTs as Digital Membership Cards?

It’s a valid question, I mean whether you are using membership cards for your organization or as part of a brand ambassador or loyalty program, these members already have a card they carry in their wallet, right?  Or maybe they even have a digital membership card on an app.  Why is it better to use an NFT as a digital membership card?

There’s a few reasons:

1 – Eliminates the need to mail out physical membership cards. They are easy to lose, hard to track who has one and who doesn’t.  Plus the associated printing and mailing costs.

2 – Physical cards are more likely to be stolen or used fraudulently. A digital membership card helps alleviate this concern.

3 – Digital membership cards are more dynamic, and can more easily foster a connection with the brand. With a physical card, the connection is more to the card itself, and any discounts or features it entails. A digital membership card makes it easier to facilitate real-time communication with the brand and receive relevant updates.

 

But why use an NFT as a digital membership card instead of an existing one? 

Many of us already have our membership tied to a digital membership card on our phone in a wallet or maybe in an app. For instance, I have the Chick-fil-a app on my phone. It has all my rewards program integrated into it.  I can see how many rewards points I have, what those points can be spent on, etc. This is a natural evolution of the membership card as associated digital technologies have matured.  If this program was around 30 years ago, there would be no app, any tracking done would have to be on the physical card itself. This is why punch cards were so popular for so many years, and are still used to this day.

But as digital technologies evolved, then we could track activity associated with a membership card digitally via an app, for instance. This makes it easier for the brand and customer to see and track activity, and make adjustments on the fly. For instance, the local Chick-fil-a store manager can send me a reward at any time, straight to my app. In a pre-internet world this could be done, but via mail or an in-person visit.

With NFTs, we have the next evolution of memberships. NFTs take many of the conveniences we have with existing digital membership cards (portability in an app, ease of use and ability to add points and offers) and expands on it.

 

digital membership cards

Your NFT is Your Identity

One of the key aspects of a successful brand ambassador or loyalty program is to make the members feel special.  Because they are. I wrote about this recently, but one of the key drivers of customer loyalty is if the brand treats the customer like a VIP. The NFT can store not only your membership level and privileges, but also your identity and standing within the program. If you were one of the first 10 members to an ambassador program that now has 100,000 members, that’s part of the digital DNA of your NFT.  That’s recorded, along with the benefits that you have as a result.  If you attend brand events, the NFT can not only act as your ticket, but it can also verify your attendance and involvement.

Additionally, the NFT can be a collectible. Unlike a digital membership card that’s incorporated into your photo app, an NFT serving as your membership card can be collected and traded.

Let’s go back to the previous example of being one of the first 10 members of an ambassador program that now has over 100,000 members. That not only entitles you (if the brand is smart) to much better perks and utility than newer members, but it gives you a lot of clout within the community itself. You are an OG, and that’s recorded in your NFT.  So it means that within that 100,000 member community, your NFT has value.  Maybe you want to sell that NFT to another member of the community.  You could do that, and pass along the benefits (and clout) that comes with the NFT.

The value that the NFT has amassed reflects the work that the member has put into helping grow the community and program. So it’s a way for the member to monetize the time and effort they have put into the program. Or if the member wants to help onto their NFT, they could receive tokens associated with their work and length of time in the program. This is another form of compensation which is easier to facilitate via an NFT vs existing digital technologies.

 

Is your business ready to create its first NFT? This article tells you how to get started.

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The Top Concern CEOs Have in 2021 and Beyond is…

remote work…managing remote teams. Numerous surveys of CEOs have found that the C-Suite and upper management at many companies are struggling to maintain productivity levels among remote teams. This makes perfect sense, since many businesses were forced to adopt remote learning out of necessity due to precautions over covid. Remote working isn’t something that many companies can embrace and see seamless results. But unfortunately, many businesses didn’t have a choice in 2020, and were thrown into the fire and had to adopt and adapt to remote work for their teams as quickly as possible.

Add in that many companies had to layoff or furlough employees as cost-savings measures, and it often made the remote work environment even harder for businesses to manage.

Remote work affects extroverts and introverts differently

As your business is reviewing your options for keeping your remote workers engaged and productive, don’t overlook how being isolated at home can impact the mental health of your workers based on them being extroverts or introverts. Suddenly being forced to work from home for months or even a year can be a bit depressing to all your workers. But keep in mind that your more extroverted workers thrive off in-person contact and collaboration. With that suddenly being taken away from them, it creates a negative impact on feelings, and can even lead to depression. On the other hand, taking introverted workers from an in-office work environment and having them work remotely, may actually increase their productivity. So if some of your newly remote workers seem to be less productive, consider that maybe they are extroverts who are simply missing the in-person contact and collaboration that they thrived off of.

 

Remote work is here to stay

Recently, Buffer surveyed remote workers to find out what they thought of the process. There were some interesting takeaways that your company should be aware of. Such as:

  • Almost 98% of respondents said they want to continue to work remotely, at least part time, for the rest of their working careers
  • 97% of respondents would recommend working remotely to others

What this means is that from this point forward, when your company courts candidates for open positions, those candidates will want, and likely expect, that you offer them the possibility of working remotely. If you can’t offer candidates remote work in most positions, it will begin to become a detriment for your company. Obviously, some jobs can only be done in-person and on site. But there are many jobs where you may want the candidate to be on location at all times, that could actually be done remotely, if necessary. You need to consider that starting now, it’s become necessary to offer a remote option for any work that can be done remotely. Not offering a remote option for such work will cost you qualified candidates to competitors that can offer them such possibilities.

 

Remote workers are facing difficulties

Remote work comes with some issues for both the employer, and the remote employees. According to Buffer’s State of Remote Work in 2021, some of the issues that remote workers identified as problems include:

  • Not being able to unplug – 27%
  • Difficulty collaborating and communicating with co-workers – 16%
  • Loneliness – 16%
  • Staying motivated 12%

These difficulties that remote workers are facing seem to overlap a bit with the concerns that CEOs have toward remote workers, don’t they? CEOs are worried about managing remote workers and keeping them productive and engaged. While remote workers are facing difficulty collaborating with co-workers and loneliness. And I think a lack of motivation can tie into those feelings of loneliness and struggling to collaborate and communicate with your team.

All of this points back to finding ways to better communicate and engage your remote workers. This seems to be a problem that runs through multiple issues that both workers and management face.

First, consider again if you are dealing with introverts or extroverts as your remote workers. Introverted workers are more likely to enjoy working remotely and the autonomy that comes with it. You may likely see their productivity actually increase. On the other hand, you may see the opposite for extroverts that are suddenly put in a position of working remotely. Extroverts thrive off in-person contact are likely more productive and happier with their work when it involves in-person collaboration. So you will need to think about how you can work with them to help facilitate the interaction with their co-workers that they are missing with remote work.

 

Consider adding ways for workers to engage outside of work

One of the best things your company can do to build morale and keep your employees motivated is to give them ways to engage with each other outside of work. We become more productive when we actually like the people we work with. Focus on finding ways to facilitate engagement among your workers and time for them to be social that doesn’t revolve around their work.

Some ways to do this could include:

  • Slack channels devoted to any topic OTHER than work
  • Facebook groups devoted to non-work topics
  • Zoom birthday parties for co-workers
  • Organizing online gatherings for workers such as playing games together online, participating in hobbies such as sports, genealogy,

Another option is to create an Employee Advocacy/Ambassador Program that can contain some or all of these elements. Such programs are designed to allow your employees to promote your business to customers and potential candidates, but it can also be used to keep your employees engaged and motivated.

 

GE created an employee ambassador program to recruit better job candidates

I did a write-up on GE’s employee ambassador program two years ago here. This particular program was focused on helping GE better promote its brand and working environment to potential job candidates. But the employees who were involved in the program became more engaged and excited about working for GE. We all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We all want to feel useful and that we are playing a role in something important.

And I think an employee ambassador program helps your employees better understand what your business is doing and why its important. Let’s be honest, if your workers understand your company’s mission and the positive impact it makes on the world, that motivates them to work harder on your behalf. Too many people hate their jobs mainly because they feel as if their work doesn’t have a higher purpose or meaning. On the other hand, if you believe that your business is making a positive impact on the world, it motivates you to work harder to see that impact take hold.

Adopt a proactive mindset toward remote work

Since remote work is now a reality for business, embrace it as an opportunity to grow. How can you incorporate remote work into your company’s culture in order to improve it? What are the opportunities to leverage remote work as a way to actually increase productivity? We’ve already talked about how offering and embracing remote work could help the hiring process. Another example is your company’s annual retreat. Having your teams meet in-person for the first time in months or possibly even a year could have a huge positive impact on bonding, communication and culture.

Remote work is here to stay, so embrace it as a potential asset to your business, not as a problem to be dealt with.

 

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What is a Customer Feedback Loop and Why Should it Be a Part of Your Brand Ambassador Program?

Customer feedback comes in many forms:

  • Surveys the company sends out
  • Calls to customer service
  • Social media responses or complaints from the customer
  • In-person feedback from customers in retail locations

Often, this feedback is used to solve a current issue the customer is having. But what if a customer’s feedback isn’t focused on an immediate need? What if the feedback is an overall criticism or appreciation for the brand? What if the feedback is focused on an ongoing situation the customer encounters when dealing with the brand, either good or bad?

Many brands focus on the ‘customer feedback’ portion of a customer feedback loop, but forget the ‘loop’ part. The idea is to acquire feedback from the customer, then consider that feedback and either act on it, or not. But either way, the customer should also receive feedback from the brand as to next steps.

So when it comes to facilitating a customer feedback loop. the two most important considerations are the most effective ways to collect feedback from the customer, then the most effective way to relay feedback from the brand, back to the customer. Thus, facilitating the ‘loop’ portion of a customer feedback loop.

Feedback solicited from and given to another customer is typically more valuable than customer feedback solicited from and given to the brand. The reason why is because customers trust other customers more than the average brand.

How Do You Integrate a Customer Feedback Loop Into Your Brand Ambassador Program?

Too many brand ambassador programs simply position its ambassadors as a new promotional channel. So before you think about integrating a customer feedback loop into your brand ambassador program, you need to shift your focus into all the different ways that your ambassadors can help your brand

  • As a promotional channel
  • As a customer service channel
  • As a customer feedback loop
  • As a way to educate other customers about and defend the brand

To only think of ambassadors as megaphones for your brand is incredibly short-sighted and honestly unfair to the talents that your ambassadors possess. So your brand needs to think about the value that can be created by your ambassadors if you empower them to solicit and collect feedback from current and potential customers. Think of it as free marketing research that your ambassadors can conduct on behalf of your brand.

So how could this work for your company? Let’s use a simple example. Let’s say your brand launches a brand ambassador program, and creates a smartphone app just for its ambassadors. This app would be a tool to empower ambassadors when they connect with other customers. It would include things product information and reviews in case the ambassador encounters a potential customer who is considering a purchase and needs more information. It could also include functionality that lets the ambassadors give detailed feedback not only on interactions with the brand online and offline, but also, feedback on customer interactions. Ambassadors could file reports on interactions they have with customers, offering suggestions on how the brand should respond, etc. The brand could then notify the ambassador that they received and processed their report.  It could even ‘escalate’ the report to contact the ambassador directly.

The process could look like this:

1 – Ambassador engages a customer either online or offline

2 – Ambassador records feedback from the customer

3 – Ambassador shares customer feedback with the brand

4 – Brand acts on the customer feedback and communicates steps taken to ambassadors

 

That’s it. And the great part is, this is new customer feedback that the brand otherwise would not have access to. This feedback can be incorporated into existing business processes to increase sales and reduce costs. So start thinking about how your ambassadors can perform additional roles for your brand past that of simply being a direct sales channel.

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Want to Create a Brand Ambassador Program? Here’s 10 Things to Remember When You Do

Brand Ambassador Programs, Social Media

Your family owns 5 bakeries across the northern part of your state. The bakeries have developed a reputation for creating delicious cakes and pastries, speedy deliveries, and exceptional customer service. Which has resulted in a lot of happy customers!

You manage the social media presences for the five bakeries. You are monitoring the Facebook page for your bakeries today, and as usual you have several new comments from customers. These comments are almost always positive, and today’s mentions are consistent with a typical day:

Sarah: “The birthday cake we bought for my son’s 10th birthday party was delicious! It made the party, I had three moms come up later and ask for the recipe, and I was tempted to claim I made it, but gave them your address in the end (ha!). So expect Tina, Jess and Kym to show up soon!”

Tom: “You guys saved our Thanksgiving! As always, we were too ambitious in our dinner-planning and just didn’t have time in the end to bake the pumpkin and pecan pies we needed to finish off desert. You guys came through at the last-minute for us, even delivering on the day before Thanksgiving! As an added bonus, our out-of-town relatives loved both pies and said they would be stopping by as they leave town in a few days to take another home with them!”

Amber: “Have been a happy customer for the last 5 years, your double chocolate cakes and blueberry streusel muffins are my favorites, they always make our meals special. Are you planning on opening a location in Lancaster? All my friends have heard about how delicious your cakes and muffins are, so you have a ready customer base if you do!”

 

In reading these comments, a light bulb goes off: These customers have taken ownership of the sales, customer service, marketing and promotion processes for your bakeries. Without guidance, these customers have taken it upon themselves to help grow your business.

But what if you could give these customers guidance in how to better promote your business and grow your customer base? What if you had a way to work directly with these customers to give them the tools they need and WANT to help share why they love your business with their friends, family, and other customers?

That’s where a Brand Ambassador Program comes in. Over the last few years, companies have begun to realize the benefits of having a way to connect directly with their most passionate customers to drive business growth.  While customers as a whole don’t trust brands, they do trust other customers.  Especially passionate customers that love their favorite brands.  While a marketing message from a brand will likely be ignored, a passionate recommendation from a fellow customer will be taken far more seriously.

This has a lot of companies researching how to create a successful brand ambassador program, and how to work with brand ambassadors. Let’s start with some definitions:

What is a Brand Ambassador? A brand ambassador is a person who works to promote and represent a brand in its marketplace. Brand ambassadors are often current customers who were already advocating for brands before they started working with them, but some brand ambassadors are chosen because they have a large following or are viewed as influencers. Brand ambassadors have a working relationship with the brands they represent, and are given instruction on how to interact with customers in the marketplace, based on the business goals for that brand.

What is a Brand Ambassador Program? A brand ambassador program is a business program that organizes brand ambassadors and creates an ongoing, working relationship between the brand and its ambassadors. A brand ambassador program is used to manage the ongoing, working relationship between the brand and its ambassadors, and provide ongoing training and instruction for its ambassadors, as well as support. Most brand ambassador programs work closely with other areas of the business, such as marketing, sales, customer service, and product design.

So if your company is considering launching a brand ambassador program to connect with your brand advocates and ambassadors, here’s 10 things to remember:

1 – Spread the word internally as well as externally.  Getting internal buy-in is just as important, if not moreso, than getting customers excited about your efforts.  If your brand advocacy program doesn’t have INTERNAL advocates pushing it along, its chances of success are going to be greatly reduced.  Launching a brand ambassador program takes time and energy.  Immediate ROI will be very hard to prove, it’s a long-term process.  Which is why it pays to have a team of people that are pushing for patience.

2 – Research, research, research.  You’ll have to invest a lot of time in discovering WHO your brand advocates are.  You might think you know who they are, but there’s rarely a ‘one-size-fits-all’ view.  You’ll also have to monitor ALL conversations with your customers.  Not just online conversations, not just offline ones either.  Look at both.  Also, make special note of the customers that go the extra mile to connect with you, the ones that write you letters, even if they sound negative.  Companies often confuse passion for the brand with negativity aimed at the brand.

Whenever I talk to companies who are curious about launching a brand ambassador program, one of the first questions is “How do we find our brand ambassadors?” The good news is, potential brand ambassadors will often find you! Customers who are good candidates to be ambassadors for your brand will often proactively reach out to your company. They will email you with feedback on your brand, they will respond to you on social media, they will call your customer service department with feedback.  Ideally, you can select enough qualified ambassadors for your brand by simply cataloging the customers who are already connecting with your brand proactively.

3 – Start small, grow big.  You don’t have to have a million members in your brand ambassador program.  In fact, I’d rather have 10 truly passionate brand advocates than 10,000 members that are merely ‘meh’ toward the brand.  If you start small and select those that are truly passionate about your brand and its vision, the growth will come organically as these passionate people will help you identify others just like them.

Additionally, it simply makes good business sense to start small with your brand ambassador program, especially if this is your company’s first attempt at such a program. Whenever you take on any new initiative like this, especially when working directly with your customers, there will be mistakes made. This is why I advise my clients that if possible, start with a small group, nail down the process, then you can expand the scope of the program after you’ve worked the kinks out. In other words, start small, nail the process, then grow.

Here’s an example of how this could work. Let’s say your company has fitness centers across the United States, your company has 425 centers and operates in 23 states, but you have the most locations in the Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta markets. Instead of rolling out a comprehensive, nationwide brand ambassador program with 500 members, it might make more business and logistical sense to launch a 10-person brand ambassador program for just the Chicago market. After spending the first year perfecting the program and process for the Chicago market, in the second year you could launch brand ambassador programs for the Los Angeles and Atlanta markets. After nailing down the processes for these markets, your company can then roll out a comprehensive, and nationwide, brand ambassador program.

4 – Make membership exclusive.  This ties into the previous point, but you don’t want ALL your customers to be members of your brand ambassador program.  You want to give them hurdles to jump, obstacles to overcome.  In other words, you want to weed out the customers that aren’t committed to the brand, or the program.  The true advocates for your brand will already be doing much if not all of what you would require of them as members of the program.  It also pays to cap membership, and to give the existing members a huge say in who the future members are.

5 – Connect with your advocates and create ways for them to connect with each other.  Your advocates are special people, you don’t want them on an island, you want them connected.  Create a central ‘homebase’ for the current members of your program, but also stay connected to other advocates that aren’t yet members.  And make your existing ambassadors aware of these advocates, and have them ‘vet’ them for possible membership in your formal ambassador program.

6 – Pay your ambassadors.  This is one of the biggest misconceptions about brand ambassadors.  They DO want to be compensated but most do NOT want to be given money.  Sure, we all love money, but for a true brand advocate they usually want other things.  Like access, empowerment, and acknowledgement.  A few years ago when I worked with Dell on its #DellCAP events, the customers weren’t paid to come (travel was covered), but they were given access.  For example, they got to tour Dell’s Social Media Listening Center, then they got to spend 30 minutes talking to CEO Michael Dell.  That’s pretty heady stuff for a Dell advocate.  When they go back home, their friend might brag about having the latest and greatest Dell laptop, while they can respond with ‘Oh yeah, well Dell invited me to their world headquarters and I got to chat with Michael Dell himself!’  That’s a great example of rewarding your advocates.

Here’s another example: I once worked with a software company to design a brand ambassador program for its users. The majority of the users of this software were small business owners. After surveying its users, the software company discovered that these small business owners were desperate for social media and content marketing advice. So we created a series of webinars just for members of the brand ambassador program that would have a different expert deliver a webinar on a different marketing topic to brand ambassadors. This benefit had nothing to do with the software company, it was completely focused on what would be valuable to brand ambassadors. If you’re brainstorming ideas for possible benefits you could give your brand ambassadors, check out this exhaustive list of benefits that Harley-Davidson offers members of its HOG group.

7 – Give your advocates direct access to the brand.  The members of your brand ambassador program should be given direct contact with multiple key executives within the brand.  In fact, I would suggest making 1 or more of the ‘top’ members of your brand ambassador program part of the team that’s responsible for reporting on the progress of the program to the C-Suite.  The idea here is to make sure that the voice of your brand’s biggest defenders and advocates is always heard at the company, from the top down.

8 – Create a feedback loop between the brand ambassadors, and the brand.  I outlined the process for this loop in this post.  You need to have a way to let your ambassadors have direct access to the brand, as mentioned above.  But at the same time, the brand needs to respond to the brand ambassadors and give them feedback on their feedback.  Additionally, the brand needs to take the feedback from its ambassadors and distribute that feedback internally and not just silo it among the employees that are working directly on the brand ambassador program.

9 – Give your ambassadors the tools to create something amazing.  Again, you want to start small and grow organically.  And you want that growth to be fueled by your existing advocates.  You want to embrace and empower your existing advocates, thus the creation of the brand ambassador program.  But you also want your existing ambassadors to have the tools to embrace and empower other advocates that aren’t yet members.  And tying back to the earlier points about giving ambassadors direct access to the brand, when your existing ambassadors find other advocates, they can immediately bring them to the brand’s attention.

10 – Transfer ownership of the program from the brand, to its ambassadors.  When you create a brand ambassador program, you need to realize that long-term, this will belong to your advocates.  You’ll always be there, and you’ll always have a voice, but the idea is that you want your most passionate customers to eventually take over this program.  Maybe you’ll start out with a ‘board’ over the program made up of 5 key brand executives, and 5 brand ambassadors.  But over time, as your ambassadors become familiar with the program and its function and goals, you need to let them have control.  Again, you don’t want the voice of your company to dominate this effort, you want the voice of your most passionate customers to have control, because those customers are going to be connecting with other customers.

 

 

But perhaps the most important thing to remember when creating a brand ambassador program is who you will be working with:

Every single day you’ll be working with customers that love you. Customers that love your brand as if it were their own, and who will work with you every day to see it grow and prosper. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty awesome to work every day with people that love you and believe in you. That’s exactly what happens when you create and launch a brand ambassador program.

 

BONUS: When you are ready to pitch your idea for a brand ambassador program to the C-Suite, make a plan that details exactly how the program will benefit the brand, and exactly how it will benefit the ambassadors who participate. Carefully and clearly spell out all the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that will be measured and tracked, as well as an explanation of why it is important to do so. Also, give a thorough timeline of the roll-out of the brand ambassador program, for at least the first 6 months of the program, 12 months is better. Assume that there will be a healthy amount of skepticism from upper management about the success of a brand ambassador program (since your brand has likely never launched one), so the eventual signoff by the CEO or CMO will greatly depend on how well you address these concerns head on.

So there’s some ideas to consider when you get ready to create and launch an official brand ambassador program.  This won’t be easy, and it will take a lot of time, but if you are committed to connecting with your most passionate customers and willing to empower them, the results will make program a huge success.  If you need help getting started, let’s explore how we can work together to create an ambassador program for your brand.

 

DOUBLE BONUS: Want to see a great example of an employee brand ambassador program?

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The Difference Between a Brand Ambassador and a Brand ‘Spokesperson’

brand ambassador, brand spokesperson The terms ‘brand ambassador’, ‘brand spokesperson’ and ‘influencers’ are used almost interchangeably these days, so let’s talk about how each group is different. Once you understand the differences, you will have a much better idea of how to use each in your marketing strategies.

A brand ambassador is a person who works to promote and represent a brand in its marketplace. Brand ambassadors are often current customers who were already advocating for brands before they started working with them. Brand ambassadors have a working relationship with the brands they represent, and are given instruction on how to interact with customers in the marketplace, based on the business goals for that brand. Typically, a brand will have multiple ambassadors, and their involvement with the brand is organized and executed via a formal brand ambassador program.

 

A brand spokesperson is a person who works to promote and represent a brand in its marketplace. Brand spokespeople are typically chosen because they have a following either online or offline. Often, these people are viewed as ‘celebrities’ and are often known outside the industry where the brand exists. The term influencer is used almost interchangeably here with brand spokesperson. An influencer is more often someone who has built a following online, whereas a spokesperson is more often someone who has built a following offline. In either case, whether a brand is working with a spokesperson or influencer, there is typically a financial relationship in place. In short, the spokesperson or influencer will leverage their following to promote the brand and drive attention to the brand.

 

How to Select and Work With Brand Ambassadors

In my experience working with companies to help them create brand ambassador programs and in talking to companies that have launched their own efforts, the ultimate success of the brand ambassador program is typically impacted by the selection process for the ambassadors.  Your brand ambassador program will be more successful, all other things being equal, if the people you choose as ambassadors for your brand are currently fans of your brand.  Existing brand advocates make the best brand ambassadors.  Brand advocates have a higher level of understanding and passion for your brand.  They are already actively promoting your brand to other customers, you are simply going to better organize and empower their efforts by making them part of a formal brand ambassador program.

Another option is the so-called ‘open cattle call’ approach to finding brand ambassadors.  Typically, anyone is accepted (first come, first served), and the incentives offered are a chance to make money or get free products, etc.  Often, it can be positioned as a chance to get free products from major brands, and maybe even be paid for creating content that promotes the brand.

The problem with the ‘open cattle call’ approach is obvious.  That person’s prime motivation for wanting to become an ‘ambassador’ for a particular brand is to get free products and to be paid for creating content that promotes the brand.  Basically, they aren’t participating because they love the brand, they are participating because they love getting paid.

When money is the primary motivation for being involved in a brand ambassador program, it changes the behavior of that person.  The ‘ambassador’ will typically create content that isn’t authentic and based on actual opinions, but instead will focus on creating promotional content that the person feels the brand will pay them for.  And readers of the content can easily see the disconnect, it would be odd if I suddenly started blogging about how amazing Luv diapers are (as someone who has no kids), and noted at the end of my post that I was paid to write said post.

On the other hand, existing brand advocates want to become ambassadors for your brand because their motivation is based on seeing your brand succeed.  They literally LOVE your brand and will usually jump at the chance to work with it to better connect with customers and help move the brand forward.  Although compensation is involved with them as well, brand advocates usually prefer more direct access to the brand and maybe advance access to upcoming products versus simply getting paid.  Brand advocates prefer access over cash in most cases.

So if your company is thinking about creating a brand ambassador program, carefully consider who you want to be involved as ambassadors for your brand.  Do you want to bring in existing customers that love your brand, or ‘brand spokespeople’ that have little to no natural affinity for your brand?  The smart bet is on your existing customers that love your brand and want to see it succeed just as much as you do.

 

How to Select and Work With Brand Spokespeople and Influencers

Over the last 15 years, I’ve worked with many companies on their influencer and spokesperson campaigns. In fact, I’m in a bit of a unique position as I have ample experience working with brands to help them create and launch influencer programs, and I’ve also worked with brands AS an influencer in their influencer programs. So I can speak to this topic from both the brand and influencer perspective.

The biggest mistake I see brands make in choosing an influencer to work with, is the brand only looks at the size of the influencer’s following. The second biggest mistake I see brands make when choosing influencers is to ignore how much engagement the influencer can create around their content. These two areas work in tandem, because it is very difficult for an influencer to have personal interactions with their followers once the influencer’s following reaches a certain level. The influencers ability to connect individually does not scale very well. (Note: the one exception to this rule seems to be Twitch streamers. They have found a very unique way to reach a mass audience, at scale.)

When I work with companies to select and vet influencers to work with, I tell them to focus on the following:

  • Always select influencers who are actual customers of your brand. The importance of this cannot be overstated, as you want to work with influencers that already use and love your products if at all possilble.
  • The influencer’s ability to drive engagement is always more important than their following. What is influence? It’s a person’s ability to create a change of behavior in someone else. If an influencer can’t create engagement around their content, then they likely don’t have much influence over their network. In other words, their ability to create engagement is a great indicator of their ability to influence others.
  • When possible, select influencers who have a long history of working with brands. These influencers are more familiar with the process and more likely to understand what the brand wants from the arrangement.

 

The Key Differences Between Brand Ambassadors and Brand Spokespeople/Influencers

  • Compensation: An influencer will typically be compensated financially. An ambassador can be compensated financially, or with other perks such as products or early access to new products, access to key executives at the brand, etc.
  • A brand ambassador is typically a current customer of the brand, an influencer often is not.
  • Brand ambassadors often have a long-time working relationship with the brand that’s organized via a formal brand ambassador program. Most brands work with influencers on a more limited or specific amount of time.

 

Hopefully this helps you understand the differences from the brand’s perspective when it comes to working with ambassadors, spokespeople, and influencers. I’ve worked with brands since 2008 as both an influencer, and in helping brands craft amazing ambassador and influencer programs. If you have a question about how these processes work, feel free to contact me:

 

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Case Study: Patagonia’s Brand Ambassador Program Focuses on Product Design and Development Over Sales

Did you know Patagonia has a Brand Ambassador Program? Probably not, but the brand has had an ambassador program since at least 2000. This makes sense when you consider that Patagonia has never made advertising of any kind a priority for the brand. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has often proudly proclaimed that the brand only spends one half of one percent of revenue on advertising.

Patagonia’s effort is a bit different from most brand ambassador programs in a few notable ways. Most brand ambassador programs, much to my disappointment, are structured largely to drive sales. Most brands view their ambassadors as potential promotional channels, with little or no thought given to how else these ambassadors could be leveraged to help the brand.

To be fair, Patagonia does use its ambassadors to promote the brand. But that’s not the only or even most important function that Patagonia’s ambassadors serve.

When you view Patagonia’s ambassador page, you’re immediately struck by how the ambassadors are organized based on the outdoor activities they excel at:

  • Climbing
  • Fly-fishing
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Surfing
  • Trail-running

These are athletes, and typically athletes that are well-known and respected among their peers. So in that regard, you may consider this as more of an influencer marketing effort than a true brand ambassador program. But Patagonia has an ongoing, working relationship with these ambassadors, and they are paid a salary for their involvement in the program.

So when you consider that Patagonia is working with athletes who are well-known and influential within their respective disciplines, a working relationship based on sales promotion is assumed. Which makes this quote from the brand on the role and responsibilities of its ambassadors very interesting:

"Patagonia's ambassadors are known for not only being athletes, but for being integral to the company's product development and product testing. The company's ambassadors work closely with the design department to test, refine and validate products in the harshest and most remote locations on the planet."


I loved seeing this because as I've often written about here, leveraging brand ambassadors as a product feedback channel is one of the smartest things a brand can do. I'm sure Patagonia's thinking here is to put its products in the hands of elite athletes with the thinking being that they can give better feedback on how the clothing functions in their typical activities. Patagonia then can take this product feedback and leverage it to improve the product's design, durability, and function.

It's really the best of all worlds for Patagonia. They've created a program where the ambassador have real input into the products they use. This means the ambassadors will be far more knowledgeable about the product and how it functions, which also helps them better promote it to other customers. Which is beneficial for Patagonia, since it's ambassadors are elite athletes who are well-respected and who are very influential among their peers.

Now How Do You Apply This to Your Own Brand Ambassador Program?

When it comes to the influencer vs fan debate, I've always said that the best of both worlds is to find an influencer who is also a fan of your brand. In a way, this is what Patagonia has done. They aren't just asking the ambassadors to promote Patagonia's products to their following (as you would with an influencer), they are also stressing that they want the ambassadors to use their products and give them feedback after they have done so. In addition, they've also carefully picked ambassadors who are already engaging in the same type of activities that Patagonia's customers are when those customers buy Patagonia's products. So the products are getting a real-world testing, which results in better feedback.

For your efforts, follow the model that Patagonia uses and focus on ambassadors who either already use your products, or who live a lifestyle similar to that of your current customers. Basically, you want to make sure that the ambassadors you pick are people that will be using your products in the same way that your customers would. This means that your ambassadors can give you better feedback and it means your brand can apply that feedback to improve the product. 

Remember, leveraging your ambassadors to promote your brand is fine, but that's hardly the only way you can work with them in order to grow your brand. 

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Case Study: Why GE Started an Employee Brand Ambassador Program to Solve One Specific Business Problem

GE employee brand ambassador program

Proper planning is the easiest way to improve the efficiency of your campaign, program, or project. It’s imperative that you develop a clear strategy so that everyone involves understands precisely what they are doing, and what business outcomes they are working toward. In short, “Here’s what we are doing, here’s why it’s important”.

That’s why I love the reason for the creation of the GE employee brand ambassador program; because it was created to solve a specific problem the brand was facing.  The brand found that it was having difficulty recruiting for open positions. GE determined that a big part of the problem was a negative brand perception. Applicants viewed GE as a sort of monolith corporate entity, and employees weren’t very active online and weren’t doing a very effective job of telling the brand’s story. In short, applicants didn’t understand why they should want to work at GE.

What is an employee brand ambassador program?

Before we discuss what GE did, let’s define an employee brand ambassador program:

An employee brand ambassador program is similar to a brand ambassador program for customers, but instead, it focuses on the brand’s employees. The employees are the ambassadors, and they are given a way to connect with each other, as well as the brand’s management. Typically, employee brand ambassador programs are used as a way to give the employees the tools they need to better promote their brand to others, often via social media.

Here’s why GE decided to invest in an employee brand ambassador program:

A few reasons led us to create the brand ambassador program – like many change initiatives, they were rooted in limitations.

First, we had a $0 budget starting this adventure with GE. I looked around and asked ‘what do I have?’. One of the key assets we had was access was 350,000 colleagues around the globe.

The second challenge was our lack of polish in online profiles. I looked around at what our recruiters and hiring managers looked like online (not great). Many reacted with shocked expressions when I mentioned that candidates were doing their homework and googling them ahead of time. Connecting these dots for them helped set this initiative in motion.

Note that $0 starting budget. Unfortunately, this is a situation that brands, even global brands like GE, often find themselves in when launching a brand ambassador program. However, note that GE leveraged its employee brand ambassador program as an initiative to take what the brand was already doing, and make it better. The initial focus was on aiding HR in filling job applications more effectively. In short, GE was having to spend too much time trying to recruit employees, and it wanted to shift perception about and knowledge of the brand so that applicants were instead targeting the brand for employment. This would result in GE being more in demand among applicants, which would mean the hiring process would become easier, quicker and less expensive. Plus, the quality of the hires would improve.

Also note, since the core function of the GE employee brand ambassador program was to aid hiring, HR managers and talent acquisition was heavily involved from the start. HR managers were trained and then worked with employees to train them on how to improve their online profiles and how to better ‘humanize’ the brand:

We started with a small group of recruiters (that were in most need of help but also a group that I would call skeptics – I knew we would get all the feedback we needed). Then we incorporated their hiring managers. We held these sessions live and learned a LOT just from facial expressions. Of course there was no shortage of direct feedback as well.

We post-training surveyed through a quick online tool we have a GE. It included rankings for each part of the training as well as some open form fields for feedback. We maintained the same survey after the pilot to ensure data continuity/integrity and be sure we continued encouraging feedback. The open feedback helped us iterate and refine the training so it is highly tailored to our audience.

Also note that by having HR involved, it helps ensure the progress and growth of the employee brand ambassador program as a whole.  But note in the above quote the importance on collecting and acting on feedback from both the HR managers and the employees they were training. This is vital to the success of any brand ambassador program, collecting and acting on feedback, whether the ambassadors are customers or employees.

So What Were the Results?

Within the first month of leveraging its trained employee ambassadors to better tell GE’s story, the brand saw an 800% increase in applicants. Additionally, what GE has found is that since its employee ambassadors are more engaged online, it’s creating organic engagement that’s eliminating the need for purchasing traditional advertising to support the initiative. In Q1, 2017, social amplification from GE’s employee ambassadors created engagement worth $3 Million for GE, which reduced the amount of money spent on traditional social advertising to support the campaign to $0. Remember, if you smartly structure and execute your ambassador program as GE did here, it should improve your existing business processes and save you money.

One Final Note

This employee brand ambassador program was a vehicle for GE to take control of the conversation happening about the GE brand, among job applicants. There were several misconceptions that job applicants had about GE as a workplace and employer, so GE empowered its employees to tell the brand’s story through relating their own experiences working for the brand. This greatly enhanced the brand’s reputation among job applicants, and made it easier for applicants to relate to the brand and see themselves working there.

The program worked for GE due to proper planning, and focusing on how an employee brand ambassador program could take what GE was already doing (hiring), and make it better.

Want to learn how your company can create an amazing employee brand ambassador program as GE did? Then email me today.

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How to Structure a Welcome Pack For Brand Ambassadors

Recently, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association launched its first Brand Ambassador Program. You can learn more about the program here. I gave AMLTA some feedback on the program at launch, and they sent me the Welcome Pack they are sending their Brand Ambassadors as they enter the program. I wanted to share the contents with you here as I know many of you are considering a brand ambassador program for your own company or organization and this can help you figure out what to include when you reach out to your own brand ambassadors.

AMLTA promotes the North Alabama area and its ambassadors are a new tool to help local and regional travelers and tourists learn more about what makes North Alabama such a wonderful place to visit. These ambassadors will be helping to tell North Alabama’s stories and to help put a spotlight on what makes the area so special and unique.

 

What is a Welcome Pack for Brand Ambassadors?

A welcome pack is given to brand ambassadors as they agree to enter your brand ambassador program. Typically, a welcome pack will include merchandise associated with your brand, and other items designed to communicate to the brand ambassadors that you appreciate their involvement. Additionally, a good welcome pack will include guidelines and advice for creating social media content that promotes the brand, as well items that can be given to customers such as swag or discount codes. A good welcome pack will make ambassadors feel appreciated, but also give them the tools they need to create content that better promotes your brand, as well as connect with potential customers.

With that definition in mind, let’s look at what Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association included in its Welcome Pack.

The Welcome Pack given to brand ambassadors includes:

  • Three t-shirts
  • One ball cap
  • North Alabama Activity Book
  • Spiral notebook and calendar
  • Flyer for connecting on social media
  • Spiral instruction book on how to use social media

Here’s the clothes included:

Welcome pack for AMLTA ambassadors

The three shirts and hat include the #VisitNorthAl hashtag as well as mentions the NorthAlabama.org website. This also gives the ambassadors clothing to wear when they are visiting sites and attractions around North Alabama. It’s worth remembering that with a program such as this, where a tourism association is using a brand ambassador program, the tourism association is attempting to get its member attractions and sites engaged in the program. By launching a brand ambassador program such as this, AMLTA is communicating to current and potential members in North Alabama that its ambassadors will help promote tourism in North Alabama. Sites and attractions around North Alabama will be able to more easily identify the program’s ambassadors, and see the value from their work. This will likely lead to members being proactive about working with the ambassadors directly to help coordinate trips and work with them on site. As the value of the program is more clearly communicated to members, those members will be more willing to participate and work with the brand ambassadors.

AMLTA also included a spiral Time to Get Social instruction book for its Brand Ambassadors. I just love this idea, as the book is designed to not only teach the ambassadors how to create content with social media, but to do so in a way that helps promote sites and attractions in North Alabama. The book gets into content creation, brand positioning and gives the ambassadors advice on how to best promote and showcase North Alabama via social media.

Social media guidelines for AMLTA ambassadors

If you’re launching a brand ambassador program, it’s vital that you give your ambassadors training and clear instruction on how to properly communicate with the people they will be interacting with every day. This instruction book on how to use social media is a fabulous example of a guidebook you could give your ambassadors to carry with them ‘in the field’.

 

When you are working with your brand ambassadors and giving them information and materials associated with the program, you want to focus on three areas:

  • Making sure the brand ambassadors are easily identified as such to other people
  • Making sure the brand ambassadors have the materials they need to promote your company or organization in a way that’s consistent with your program’s goals
  • Making sure the brand ambassadors have a way to refer other potential ambassadors to the program

When you create a Welcome Pack for your brand ambassadors, think about how you can create that pack with each of these areas in mind.  What would you give the ambassadors so they can easily be identified as such by others? What training or resources will you give them to better perform the tasks they are assigned? What tools will you give them to refer other potential ambassadors to the brand, or to spread the word about the program to others?

Hopefully this post gives you some ideas on how you could structure a Welcome Pack for your own brand ambassadors, especially in the tourism industry. To learn more about AMLTA’s brand ambassadors and program, click here.

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This is Why a Brand Ambassador Program is Your Best Way to Acquire New Customers

In 2013, Forrester did a study into which forms of content were most trusted by American shoppers. In short, Forrester found that if content originates from a customer or 3rd-party source, it is far more trusted than any content that originates from a brand.

The most trusted form of content was product recommendations from friends and family (70% of shoppers trusted).  Second was professionally written online reviews (55%) and third was consumer reviews (46%).

Communications directly from the brand were far less trusted:

  • Text messages from a brand – 9%
  • Ads on websites – 10%
  • Information on mobile apps from brands – 12%
  • Social media content from brands – 15%
  • Emails from brands – 18%

Clearly, the most trusted forms of content originate from the customer, the least-trusted forms of content originate from the brand. So why do most brands spend billions on creating the least-trusted form of content, while all but ignoring the most trusted form (content from customers)?  Why don’t more brands let their marketing messages flow through their customers?

In my experience, there’s two main reasons why most companies don’t leverage customer to customer communication:

1 – Most brands prefer to advertise for customers because they want total control over messaging. It’s that simple. Even if the messaging is far less effective (driving up costs exponentially), most brands will pay more to have more control over what the message is and how it is delivered.

2 – Most brands don’t understand their customers well enough to trust them to communicate on their behalf. Almost all interactions that the average brand has with its customers flow through customer service, and then it is a numbers game. Get the customer off the line as quickly as possible and move onto the next call. A wonderful chance to better interact with and understand its customers is often lost.

 

So the most trusted content originates from customers, the least-trusted content originates from the brand.  How does your brand manage this disconnect?

By building a brand ambassador program that lets you manage the message that your customers share with other customers. A brand ambassador program is a program that allows you to have an ongoing working relationship with your most passionate customers. This comes in many forms, but one of them includes working with your customers to help them better promote your brand. Your best customers are already promoting your brand naturally, by working with them directly you can give them the tools and guidance to improve their efforts and make them more effective and efficient.

Which also improves your ability to acquire new customers, since customer recommendations are the most trusted form of content, by letting your customers engage with other customers, you gain new customers. And the best part is, the customer acquisition comes at a much lower cost than if your brand invests in traditional advertising. Plus, a brand ambassador program allows your brand to have more control over its marketing messages between customers.

Look at Patagonia’s Worn Wear program that we discussed here yesterday. Think of the positive word of mouth that this program creates for Patagonia. Patagonia has created a way to connect directly with its customers, and during its road trip stops, it also gives Patagonia customers a way to connect with each other and share their love of the Patagonia brand.

This is a great example of why it makes sense to create a customer-centric program like a brand ambassador program.  You bring your customers in touch with the brand, and with each other. Those connections spark understanding, which sparks trust, which sparks advocacy.

And that creates word of mouth. Which means your happy customers are acquiring new customers for you.

Want to create happy customers by optimizing your digital and content strategies? Check out my Digital Optimization Playbook!