As the impact of social channels grows, the number of social media brand ambassadors continues to rise as well. Many brands are looking to these influencers to expand and boost the momentum of their social reach.
Typically, a brand ambassador is someone with a large following or strong community on social media who’s hired by a brand to help amplify brand awareness to increase sales or achieve other business goals.
Firsthand account of brand ambassadorship
My first brand ambassador opportunity came in 2020 with Coldest, a brand known for its water bottles and accessories. Since then, I’ve worked as an ambassador for several brands—including skin-care brands Good Molecules and Dove. Currently, I’m working with footwear brand Bearpaw and the NFL franchise the Minnesota Vikings. I’ve been focused on bridging the gap between these brands and college students as a campus brand ambassador.
So, I’m sharing an insider’s perspective on the popularity of brand ambassadors. I’ll explore what the role encompasses, how to pick ambassadors who are best suited for your brand, and the importance of transparency. Plus, I’ll reflect on best practices that brands can embrace to build successful partnerships with their ambassadors.
Popularity of brand ambassadors
Brand ambassadors are asked to fulfill various tasks. One of the most common is creating social media posts—often a photo on Facebook or a video on TikTok—to promote a product. A typical request for a campus brand ambassador specifically is hosting in-person events to draw attention to the brand’s product. Less commonly, brand ambassadors might simply use a product and give feedback without posting anything on social media. Ambassadors are also sometimes asked to serve as brand experts and help the brand’s social media team respond to comments and questions posted by the public.
The number of brand ambassadors continues to grow. For example, when I collaborated with Bearpaw, the brand was working with more than 100 college ambassadors. Dove’s fall 2023 campaign relied on over 250 college ambassadors. Those anecdotal examples illustrate how pervasive the role has become.
Monet McMichael (a makeup and lifestyle creator with 3.8 million followers on TikTok and 1.3 million followers on Instagram) and Alix Earle (a lifestyle creator with 7.1 followers on TikTok and 3.8 million followers on Instagram) are two of the best-known brand ambassadors. Their large followings made them attractive collaborators to brands like Google, Mac Cosmetics, and Tarte Cosmetics—and their success landed each on this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Importance of choosing wisely
Depending on its ambassador campaign goals, a brand might seek out a micro influencer—someone with 1,000 to 100,000 followers—for a more authentic and higher engaged audience. Or, to achieve greater visibility and a wider reach, a brand may partner with a mega influencer—someone with more than 1 million followers, like McMichael and Earle.
Ambassadors can bring momentum.
Unlike a traditional ad campaign, an ambassador campaign can help make a brand or product personable—which offers a deeper sense of connectivity and authenticity to consumers. And it’s extremely important for brands to choose ambassadors who reflect the image they want to convey to their customers.
For example, I was chosen as a Vikings ambassador because I was already posting sports-related content and building a like-minded community among my social footprint. Not only had I already established a sense of credibility for sports content, but I’m part of the much-pursued Gen Z and I’m a Minnesotan—making me an ideal campus ambassador for the franchise. That context gave me a significant head start in accomplishing the goals of the ambassador program, which included increasing the engagement of young fans.
Do your research.
It’s extremely important for brands to do their research prior to selecting an influencer for a partnership. They need to avoid working with someone who’s been involved in scandals or has a problematic past.
Recall instances when someone’s past (or sometimes even current) social posts or activities have conflicted with the values of a brand sponsor. Usually those situations have resulted in a quick parting of ways. (For example, recall Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte being dropped from partnership deals with Speedo USA, Ralph Lauren, and other brands after his exaggerated tale of being mugged at a gas station with his teammates during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.)
Brands should be diligent about seeking out ambassadors who will burnish their reputation among a target group rather than damage it by making memorable missteps.
The secret: autonomy
Stick to the truth.
Even as brands create campaign briefs for their ambassadors to follow, it’s crucial for brands to give their creator-partners the opportunity to share their perspectives on the products or experiences in ways that are authentic to them and their followers.
One of the main goals of brand ambassadorship is to showcase a product without giving the impression that compensation is the motivator. It’s not difficult to discern when content creators are reluctantly serving up brand-promoting content when they are not fully passionate about it.
Promoting a brand in a way that reflects their own personal tone and approach makes an ambassador’s endorsement more authentic and appealing.
Have some integrity.
Unfortunately, as a brand ambassador I’ve been offered additional money in exchange for improving a product review. Inviting an ambassador to lie breaks trust among consumers, the brand, and brand ambassadors.
Integrity has been the most important factor for me. I worked hard to build my online community, and the last thing I want is to lose their trust and have them disengage with my content.
If a brand wants ambassadors to cover certain features of the product or specific talking points, that should be discussed prior to establishing a formal agreement. Then both parties will know what’s expected from the start. And an ambassador shouldn’t sign on if they don’t resonate with the brand’s ethics and values.
Build a strong framework for a successful partnership.
One of my highlights so far has been working with the Vikings brand team. They provide a list of ideas they hope to see covered throughout the season. Then as an ambassador, I can choose what topics I want to address and how I want to share them with my audience.
Brand ambassadors are helping brands leverage the strength of social media to reach new audiences—especially among Gen Z customers, who are both savvy and somewhat suspicious of traditional marketing tactics. Thoughtful and strategic partnerships between brands and influencer-ambassadors bring authentic brand messaging to receptive consumers—and that’s a business win.
Fametta Zubah is a strategy intern at The Lacek Group and a strategic communications major about to begin her final year at the University of Minnesota. For more than 30 years, The Lacek Group has been perfecting the art and algorithms of brand devotion. We help world-class brands identify their highest-potential customers, engage them across channels throughout their life cycles, personalize each relationship for optimal long-term results, and measure the true effectiveness of those efforts.
We should link to Barb’s Gen Z post.