Brand Ambassadors and Their Difference From Affiliates and Influencers

Brand ambassadors, influencers, and affiliates are terms that may be thrown about interchangeably, but they all have different goals in the context of promotion. What ambassadors can do, affiliates and influencers can’t, and vice versa.

One of the key things that make ambassadors even more powerful is social proof. Consumers are often convinced that the content people share is more honest than ads, even if those ads are promoted like organic advice. In fact, only one in ten Britons trust social media ads, showing the importance of ambassador support.

via GIPHY

Read on to learn more about brand ambassadors and how brand ambassadorship can help generate more clients for your business.

Who Are Brand Ambassadors?

A brand ambassador is more about the “advertise the lifestyle” type of marketing. Through their words, deeds, and way of life, these people advertise and represent the corporate style of the chosen company and only then their products.

So, to become a brand ambassador, focus on companies with a similar lifestyle.

 

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Here are two real-world examples: 

• In addition to being the worldwide ambassador for the Ninja brand, David Beckham serves as the President of the British Fashion Council (BFC) and its ambassador. In both roles, the former football star uses his celebrity status and lifestyle.
• The athletic wear company Lululemon has thousands of smaller-scale ambassadors on social media who spread goods to people who like to work out. By using their brand ambassador platform, Lululemon aims to attract prospective bloggers who share their company values.

Source: Kinoyoga

If you want to find brand ambassadors for your company, it’s important to choose people who truly live by your company’s beliefs, radiating the same energy. And the good news is that there are a lot of bloggers who are actively looking for brand collaborations.

Here’s an example of how brands find ambassadors: 

 

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Brand ambassadors are particularly valuable in the realm of affiliate marketing when taking the role of bloggers and reviewers:

• Businesses that have blogs get 67% more leads than those that do not
• About 23% of the time people spend online is on social media sites and blogs

Brand ambassadors can establish trust, raise brand recognition, and cultivate emotional bonds with the brand’s audience. Eventually, their credibility allows them to generate leads.

What Do Brand Ambassadors Do in Practice?

Brand ambassadors try to motivate and involve their followers in a variety of ways, but what makes them special is the connection they forge with their brand. Unlike affiliates, ambassadors are closely tied to the brand, often being its face.

Promotion-wise, ambassadors can utilise social media, email, website, blogs, and any other sources where they have an established following and value to offer. Speaking of the value, it’s at the heart of ambassadorship: promoting unrelated products that have nothing to do with the chosen ambassador is a bad strategy that usually bears no fruit.

As for affiliates, these are the payment options across niches:

Source: Marketing Hub

In contrast, here’s how ambassadors are usually paid:

Type of Compensation	Description
Commission	For every sale, the brand ambassador receives a commission.
Free products	Smaller-scale ambassadors may receive the brand’s products or services as a partial or full payment for their services

Brand Ambassador Management in a Nutshell

Combining brand ambassadorship and affiliate marketing may be a very effective tactic. But how can you be sure it will work?

Let us look at some important tips for managing brand ambassadors well:

1. First, set precise tasks and goals: Clearly define your expectations about the campaign, whether a complicated one or a few social media posts.
2. Then, invest time in thorough research: Instead of risking your reputation by selecting random people without specific knowledge or experience, dedicate a few more days to shortlisting the candidates.
3. Provide comprehensive information and resources: Make sure referral marketing ambassadors have all the resources they need: Product samples, marketing materials, and access to relevant social media accounts if needed.
4. Utilise tracking tools: Using the affiliate marketing software and the right tracking tools can help tie revenue back to specific ambassadors and identify high-performing ambassadors if you’ve partnered with several. Likewise, you’ll take the guesswork out of marketing attribution.

 

Typically, ambassadors use brand-related videos, rankings, reviews, or other content that includes links to the company:

Source: Naturally.nish

A study done in the UK in 2023 found that 69% of retail marketers cited that the main benefit of influencer marketing was that it raised brand recognition:

Source: Statista

Brand ambassador influence marketing is already in use by many companies.

Sephora is among the most well-known examples. Launched its brand ambassador program, they united influencers who were passionate about beauty products. Over 70,000 Instagram Stories and over 10,000 in-feed posts were created during the application process.

Social Media Brand Ambassadors vs. Influencers

Although brand ambassadors and influencers are often confused, and both terms imply bloggers promoting brands and specific products, their goals and methods are quite different.

Brand ambassadors, by definition, are driven by a genuine passion for a product or brand. In their social media posts, financial gain isn’t always the driving force.

On the other hand, influencers are usually more concerned with making money and often putting it ahead of a brand’s reputation. Besides, often, their audience is more general; accordingly, they have less targeted reach.

Social Media Ambassadors vs. Affiliates

Both brand ambassadors and affiliates post links to drive recognition and sales, but that’s all they have in common.

Genuine affection for a brand and desire to build trustful relationships with their followers is what motivates brand ambassadors. On the other hand, the possibility of financial gain is what drives affiliates the most. They could quickly flip-switch to another network if it offers larger commissions and unique offers.

Their basic motivational differences also affect other facets of their marketing approaches. Commissions for affiliates are usually tied to the quality and quantity of generated leads, sales, downloads, subscriptions, etc. Affiliates also aren’t obligated to coordinate their post with the brand management, while brand ambassadors must negotiate every detail.

Here are the main distinctions between affiliates and brand ambassadors:

	Social Media Ambassador	Affiliate
Motivation	Genuine affection	Desire to make money
Compensation	Discounts, a flat fee, free products, a bargain, etc.	Commission for every sale, subscription, lead, download, etc.
Promotion type	Done through social media and offline	Done through affiliate links, banners, pay-per-click advertisements, display ads, etc.
Brand control	Brands have control over the promotional methods	Brands have less control over promotional methods
Relationship	Long-term	Short time to long time

How Social Media Brand Ambassadors Can Grow Your Company

Today’s savvy consumers have developed a strong immunity to conventional ads. They don’t click on banners or pay attention to promos, instantly recognising a marketing tactic that infringes on their privacy and personal space.

However, when ambassadors share their genuine experiences and opinions, the perception is markedly different. In other words, brand ambassador posts are often perceived as advice from a trusted, albeit distant, friend.

Expanding Reach

How can companies get the most out of their marketing budgets while still reaching as many people as possible? Partnering with brand ambassadors may be the answer,  an approach that often proves more cost-effective than traditional paid ads.

The secret to the success of cooperation with ambassadors is that they already have their followers, which typically include your “warm” and “hot” audience – people who are already interested in or ready to purchase. So, they may persuade their followers to utilise your product or service.

Word-Of-Mouth Marketing

As a rule, brand ambassadors provide relevant information to the audience, which makes them seem genuine and trustworthy. Generating buzz for your brand and providing memorable experiences can start a chain reaction.

Building Trust

A brand ambassador’s job is to serve as a reliable resource for information about a company’s goods and services. For this, make sure you provide them with all the information and the latest products they need so they can engage their followers in a meaningful, informative way.

How To Track the Performance of Your Ambassadors

The simplest way to track the performance of your ambassadors is to ask them to include tracking links in their posts while including the UTM parameters to identify the traffic source.

For a comprehensive picture, use a CRM platform that collects all information about your customers, including those referred by ambassadors. Well-tracked, segmented campaigns generate 760% more income, while A/B testing improves conversions by up to 49%.

How To Turn Employees into Brand Ambassadors

Getting employees excited about the brand so they work for and promote it at the same time is a brilliant idea. There may even already be some potential influencers within your staff.

Part of this strategy could be training employees to promote your brand and keep track of their progress. Free benefits like an additional week of PTO, 13th salary, etc., can be given to those who achieve the highest performance. In some cases, a company can even pay a separate brand ambassador compensation.

A more informal strategy could also be used, such as encouraging staff members to discuss the brand and share their experiences on social media. Here, it may be even simpler to monitor on-brand mentions.

However, make sure your employees are willing to participate. There’s no use searching for a brand ambassador among your team if they feel pressured to participate in this activity or while showing no affection.

Essential Brand Metrics To Track

Brand Mentions	For companies using brand tracking tools, it’s one of the most important metrics. It displays how often your business is mentioned online. In addition, it identifies trends and measures brand awareness.
Shares	This metric indicates how many times people share their content via social media. The more shares, the more people know about your brand, and the more people convert.
Social Media Engagement	This metric displays interactions with your media, such as shares, likes, and comments. It measures how effective the ambassador referral program is and provides you with a better knowledge of the best practices to generate even more leads.
Site Visits	This metric demonstrates how well bloggers direct users to your website from their social media platforms.

Tracking Your Brand Ambassadors with Phonexa

Here’s a checklist to start your marketing ambassador program:

1. Establish the marketing objectives
2. Determine the target audience
3. Identify the software you will use to run your ambassador program
4. Make a detailed role description
5. Provide the chosen ambassadors with branded materials and promotion strategies
6. Monitor your results to discover the most effective practices
7. Rinse and repeat: double down on what works and eliminate what doesn’t

 

As a business, though, you want to know how your ambassador program goes. For this, you need to track your partners, especially if they’re using links to promote your brand.

One surefire way to keep track of your ambassador campaigns is through automated link tracking software like Phonexa’s Lynx, which can ensure accurate link attribution and uncover valuable insights into the customer journey.

 

Another great tool for optimising and scaling affiliate campaigns is HitMetrix, a behaviour analytics and conversion rate optimisation tool. With HitMetrix, businesses can get insights into the on-site behaviour of their users and enhance conversion rates.

 

And if you’re using emails as a major part of your sales funnel, then Phonexa’s E-Delivery can become a game-changer. A/B automated testing, SMTP support, and ESP integration will help optimise your email campaigns while ensuring 100% deliverability.

 

But that’s only a small part of the eight-in-one performance marketing suite Phonexa offers, starting at £250 a month (online price calculator):

Order your comprehensive performance marketing software suite, or book a one-on-one demo with our experts.

Frequently Asked Questions