Why You Should Consider a Product Ambassador
When you’re looking to promote your business, it’s important to carefully consider available options to make the most of your money. Social media is a great way to spread the word about your business, and paying an influencer to post about your brand has become a popular promotion option. However, with some influencers charging thousands or even up to a million dollars for a single post, it’s easy for influencing to get out of hand. If you’re looking to promote your business but are wary of influencers, have you considered a product ambassador? Here are three things to consider to see if a product ambassador could be right for you.
Duration
An important difference between product ambassadors and influencers is the duration of time a promotion will run. While you can work with different influencers or even the same influencer multiple times, each post tends to be a one-off on a pay-per-post system. If you want to be promoted multiple times, you have to be prepared to pay for each plug, which can easily add up. Influencers can be a good choice for one-time or short-term promotions but aren’t always a strong option for the long haul.
On the other hand, collaborating with a product ambassador introduces a longer working relationship, with continuous promotion throughout the time you’ve hired them for. If you’re looking for a longer period of promotion or an ongoing series of promotions, a product ambassador is likely more cost effective for your brand. For a one-time promotion, an influencer with known results may be a better bet, but for anything long-term an ambassador is the way to go.
Ease and Expense
Another important factor in choosing between influencers and ambassadors is deciding what level of ease and expense is right for your promotional approach. To choose an influencer, you need to do a lot of research to identify a specialized market you want to reach. Then, you need to monitor social media to determine which users are popular in that market. Next comes calculating engagement, choosing your influencer, and reaching out—and let’s not forget negotiation of payment. Overall, influencers are a more time- and cost-intensive option.
Product ambassadors, however, are easier to hire and less expensive. They work on a traditional pay-per-hour or per event schedule and are hired like any other employee. Finding a product ambassador is as easy as listing an opening on job-hunting sites and waiting for applications to the position. This also allows you to set the amount you would like to pay for the promotion.
In Person vs Online Presence
The biggest difference between influencers and product ambassadors is the medium they use to promote your business. Influencers will boost your brand on social media where their following is. However, in everyday life, an influencer’s in-person reach is much smaller, and they are unlikely to promote your brand by word of mouth. An influencer posting online does have the benefits of longevity, visibility, and online linking, as well as access to a specialized market, however, it also has the traditional shortcomings of social media: a constant stream of posts that can often get lost in the mix, a lack of in-person reach, and a short duration.
A product ambassador may not be able to reach the same specialized market as an influencer, but they have a lot of other benefits! By being physically present, a product ambassador will have a much larger in-person reach and is more likely to tell friends and family about your product. Because they’re promoting your business in real life as well as online, they can organize or attend events, give out freebies, hang flyers, and more. Ambassadors are also great at capturing wider demographics; a college-aged ambassador will understand how to market to their peers and effectively increase your popularity in that age group. A familiar or friendly face can help drive brand promotion person-to-person or by word of mouth in a way that influencers can’t.
If you’re looking to hire somebody to promote your business, make sure you know what you’re looking for out of the promotion! By considering duration, ease and expense, and online vs in person presence, it’s easy to decide if a product ambassador may be right for your business.
Does your marketing need a boost? Social media need some help? Let the experts at Kraus Marketing take care of all your creative and technical needs. Contact us today!