Influencer Marketing vs Brand Ambassadors: Choose What is Right for Your Event
Social media seems to be running the world today. When promoting an event, social media advertising is a top priority on every promotion team’s list. But promoting on your socials only reaches your audience. To grow their audience more, many brands seek out brand ambassadors and influencer marketing.
A brand ambassador is someone a company hires to essentially advertise the company, its product, event, or message to the chosen ambassadors following. A brand ambassador does not necessarily need to have a large following; they just need to have the suitable following you are looking for.
Influencer marketing goes hand and hand with brand ambassadorships, but in this case, they do need a following. With influencer marketing, the social media influencer is not as involved as an ambassador would be, they post their social media post or pieces of content and that is all. They typically are not long-term partnerships like ambassadors are, there may be influencer marketing campaigns though depending on the company.
Different types of influencers you can seek out for influencer marketing.
| Nano - Influencer | Influencers with a following between 1k and 10k |
| Micro - Influencer | Influencers with a following between 10k and 100k. |
| Macro - Influencer | Influencers with a following between 100k and a million. |
| Mega - Influencer/ Celebrities | Influencers with a following of more than a million. |
It is obvious that the more followers they have the bigger the compensation, in 2022 Cristiano Ranaldo with a large fan base (474 million followers) earns anywhere from $800,000 to $1 Million per post on Instagram.
Although all ambassadors overall do the same thing, you can choose from different types of ambassadors.
Student ambassador programs are often a great way to go when picking a type of ambassador, especially if your audience is between 18-23 years old. Student ambassadors are very genuine and eager to spread the word. Having students guerrilla market, plan events on campus, post on social media platforms, and wear branded merchandise are simple tasks for them that reach thousands and thousands of your target audience. Compensation for student ambassadors can be anything from merchandise, discount codes, or payment.
Employee ambassadors:
Employee ambassadors, why not? They are already loyal to your company and know all the information needed. They know your brand’s values, your product or services, and who your audience is. This is a great way to go but remember that it may come off as not authentic. Yes, most of the other ambassadors are imbursed for their ambassadorships, but an employee may come off as just that, an employee. But, of course, an employee will promote your brand and talk good about it; they work for you. So, keep that in mind. There are many pros to having an employee ambassador but also some cons.
Powerful ambassadors:
Powerful ambassadors are celebrities, public figures, and athletes. Anyone who has millions of followers. These ambassadors are typically harder to get, especially if you are a smaller company. They come with a more significant price tag; they know what they post will receive a lot of attention. They are also brands in their own right so whatever they choose to advertise also reflects on themselves and their beliefs, so they need to be careful about what they are choosing to promote and with what company.
An ambassador in this range would post a story on social media about the brand or something as simple as posting a picture with the product in the shot and tagging the brand.
Below shows Tiger Woods, Woods has been in a long-term relationship as a Nike ambassador since 1996, some years earning up to 200 million from Nike.
Niche ambassadors:
Niche ambassadors are people like coaches, teachers, or any other person working in a specific field. A teacher could advertise a particular software that helps with grading, or a coach could advertise an energy drink. These work well because it is more personal advertisements. A teacher-to-teacher or coach-to-coach relationship is more personal than a celebrity posting on social media for their followers. Compensation can be from free software, merchandise, discount codes, or payment.
Event ambassador:
This is someone who will represent your brand at events. For example, if your company has a booth at a tradeshow, they will be the one to create relationships with customers and other potential brand partnerships. Someone who is outgoing and a people person is an excellent fit for this type of ambassador.
Below is a booth at a tradeshow, on the left you can see an event ambassador waiting to bring in and greet guests.
Formal ambassador:
This is the ambassador we mostly think of when thinking about ambassador relationships. For example, a celebrity being a part of an ambassador relationship for a makeup brand, being in their marketing campaigns, attending all their product launch events, and talking about the brand and their plans/goals. A contract can be involved with any ambassadorship, but it is essential with a formal one. There are more profound guidelines and information needed to be known by the ambassador.
Below shows Emma Chamberlain, a Louis Vuitton ambassador attending an event.
Informal ambassador:
This type of ambassadorship is a very open one. Anyone can join it. The person just needs to be able to share their brand with others. These typically have a referral program attached to them or an affiliate program. An effortless way to get ambassadors that are involved but not complicated to organize.
The compensation would be if you refer a certain amount of people, you get a discount code or free service. If you are doing an affiliation, you can offer a commission for how many people use that ambassador’s code at checkout.
Peer advocate ambassador:
Arguably the most accessible and genuine form of ambassador. They are your existing top customers. They are customer advocates who already love what you are trying to promote, so no convincing them to advertise will be included. They will be just as excited to be a part of your band as you are to have them. This is not about the follower count or being a mega influencer, these are real people "mouth marketing" in person or on social platforms creating deeper connections than an influencer campaign.
Compensation is typically merchandise, discount codes, or exclusive deals.
What is the difference between influencer marketing and a brand ambassador?
According to Majestic monitor, an influencer is someone who has influence over the opinions of a given market or industry. Whereas a brand ambassador represents a company and can speak to media outlets on behalf of the brand.
A brand ambassador is more in-depth in the company for a specific period. Their advertisements are planned more with the brand and their vision. On the other hand, influencers are typically compensated for one or two posts, videos, or stories on their social media accounts in their creative way.
How to find the best brand ambassador or influencer for your brand.
You need to remember your audience when picking who will be a part of your brand. What do they enjoy? Who do they like? Think of people who will connect with your current audience or bring in a new audience for you. Create a goals list of what you want out of this, write down everything you want in an influencer/ambassador, and lastly, research. Being in the industry yourself, you will already be following people in the social media world who might be a right fit. Before committing to someone, do personal research on them. You want to make sure their morals line up with you and your brands, as well as make sure they have not gotten into any trouble in the past.
Either route you choose to go will expand your audience and increase event exposure! Event Promotion
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