Ambassador, you’re really spoiling us!
What pops into your head when someone mentions an ambassador? If you’re from some parts of the world and were born after a certain year, then it’s going to be this ad which made the phrase ‘you are really spoiling us’ part of popular culture.
Titled ‘The Ambassador’s Reception’, the ad ran for eight years, so it must have been doing something for sales.
Anyway, today, for once, I’m less interested in chocolate and more in ambassadors for your business.
What are Business Ambassadors?
Business ambassadors are the people who promote your business. They might be employees or have a formal relationship with your business. This could include paid influencers and spokespeople.
You could also include customers or other people in your industry who love what you do and tell people about it.
Ambassadors help your business by telling other people how amazing it is and, possibly more importantly, how it could be of value to them.
To put it another way, when you share a photo of that restaurant you love on your social media or message your mate with an image of the menu, then you’re acting as an informal ambassador.
I’m Your Number One Fan!
Without wanting to come over all Misery, these people are your greatest fans. They want more people to have the same experience they have had, and unlike paid influencers, they are definitely 100% sincere.
They might do things like:
- Recommend you and your services to others
- Invite you to present at an event
- Share your content
So what can you do to support your ambassadors and make it easier for them to spread the word? Well, it depends on what you are, where you are and where your ambassadors are, but here are some ideas.
Stay in touch
Maybe you can get together over lunch or coffee to talk about what you’re both doing. Maybe it’s emailing or phoning regularly so that you know what they’re up to (and how you can support that) and they know what you’ve got in the works. At the very least, you should be commenting on their posts and replying to their comments.
Make it easy for them to share
Create great content, but get more creative. If you have a new brochure, are your ambassadors getting a preview? Are you getting them involved in beta testing new products?
Surprise and delight
Remind them of why your brand resonates so much with them. I got some ‘Don’t Be Boring’ stickers and postcards printed earlier this year. Yes, I took them to the House of Lords, the Small Awards and Downing Street, but I also sent some to the people I consider to be my key ambassadors.
Taking it a step further
Sometimes you discover that being brand ambassadors is a mutual thing. You’re promoting someone else’s brand and they’re promoting yours. If it’s proving successful, for either or both of you, that could be a good time to put a more formal agreement in place.
For me, the interesting thing is that once you start to consider who your brand ambassadors are, you might be surprised by how many there are. You might not be presenting them with gold platters of chocolate, but they are you’re biggest asset, so make sure that you are looking after them.