Small Business' guide to finding Brand Ambassadors

What are Brand Ambassadors?

Brand ambassadors on Instagram are engaging people that could influence your target audience. Working with brand ambassadors on Instagram is a great way to get your product or service out to more people. You can essentially piggyback on to their reach and you also receive content you can use for your page which helps to make your page more engaging.

 

The price?

This really varies. Depending on your product, some people will do it for your product/service alone and you don't need to pay them £cash. The cheapest way would be sending them sample products, then you just lose out on shipping costs. You can also send brand new products.

For bigger bloggers, you will need to pay them too. This could be in a lump sum, or on a commission basis for the number of sales they bring in. I think it's important to set a budget in mind and then talk to the bloggers. Many of them do it for a living so you shouldn't expect things for free.

How to find them

The best way to find a brand ambassador is to ask people to repost or comment/tag if they are interested. Reposting would be the best way to raise brand awareness, so make sure the brand awareness post has your logo prominently in the post.

An example of a brand rep search. I would advise not asking to tag people as that could be flagged as spammy behaviour.

Then it comes down to reviewing them.

Filter out the people that are not in your geographical area.

Choose brand ambassadors based not just on how many followers they have, but how much engagement they get. See how active they are on other social media sites and whether they blog. You can calculate their engagement rate by using number of engagement on a post divided by number of followers. Also ensure they really are in your niche. If you are a local Personal Trainer, do you really need a nationwide nutritionist? Or would it be better to find a local influencer willing to try out your service and help you promote it?

And that's pretty much it. You can work with an Instagrammer on a one off basis, or on a continuous basis. It's best to put an end date in so you don't have to have an awkward chat if things aren't working out.

I worked with a company once who used an impressive management system. The influencers had to agree to a certain number and type of posts and signed the contract. In return, I received free training for my friend and me, 3-course meal at a lovely restaurant and free drinks at the after party. By having a contract involved, the influencers took it far more seriously. The company also gave us pointers on the type of content they would like to see so it was easier for us when it came down to posting.