brand ambassador

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is an advocate of a particular company's products and services. Brand ambassadors have become increasingly trusted sources of information as the age of the customer has gained currency. To that end, many companies solicit brand ambassadors to promote positive customer sentiment in stores, on websites and at events.

A brand ambassador's tasks may include the following:

• organize and host retail demonstrations;
• coordinate display areas with local store managers;
• review products online; and
• blog about how a particular company provides a positive customer experience.

What do brand ambassadors do?

Brand ambassadors play an important role in marketing campaigns that seek to attract new customers. In marketing, brand ambassador may actually be a paid position and job title.

The purpose of hiring a brand ambassador is to grow brand relevance, ensure proper product or service positioning and drive increased sales within a specific territory or segment of targeted accounts. Typically, this type of brand ambassador is responsible for driving brand growth against specific key performance indicators (KPIs) and the metrics for success are data-driven.

In sales, the term brand ambassador is used more loosely and may be used to describe anyone in the company who interacts directly with the public. In a retail setting, for example, an ambassador's responsibilities may include the following:

• personally greet visitors;
• provide visitors with information about products and product maintenance;
• ring up sales; and
• gather customer feedback to share with the leadership team.

Brand ambassador management software

Many customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience management (CXM) software packages include features to help marketers document and report on brand ambassador management (BAM) initiatives. The programming allows marketers to create custom rewards programs that can be used to motivate brand advocacy from loyal customers.

Management features typically include an executive dashboard that shows the following attributes of each influencer:

• estimated reach;
• a list of assigned tasks;
• the proposed rate of compensation for each assignment; and
• the status of each assignment.

How to become a brand ambassador

Advocating for a favorite brand can be a rewarding experience and influencer relationship management (IRM) campaign managers are always on the look-out for influencers who have the time, interest and ability to become full or part-time ambassadors.

Typically, brand ambassadors are financially compensated for interacting with the public. Remuneration may either be direct or indirect. Indirect compensation may be provided in the form of discounts, free access to products or free access to events. Direct compensation may be issued through gift certificates or payroll checks.

Websites like Socialix can be useful portals for end users who want to harness the financial power of their social media efforts on a part-time basis. Full-time positions usually require a bachelor's degree in marketing or communications, as well as an above-average number of social media followers and demonstrated experience in content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).

Editor's note: This article was written by Lauren Horwitz in 2019. TechTarget editors revised it in 2023 to improve the reader experience.