Brand Ambassador vs Influencer: Who do you need for your next collabo?

A brand ambassador is someone who loves your brand and reps it with no monetary compensation but receives other incentives, like free products. An influencer collaborates with your brand for a limited-time campaign.

Using both forms of marketing can benefit you in different ways.

Increasingly, I see companies swapping influencers with brand ambassadors. The need for long-term relationships as opposed to a one-off social media post is the most common argument I hear from them. And while, yes, brand ambassadors do typically form more long-term relationships with brands, I wouldn’t dismiss working with influencers too.

What does a brand ambassador do?

A brand ambassador is someone who has a close-knit relationship with your brand and leverages any influence they have on social media (or their overall social circle) to let people know about it. Your brand ambassador will ideally be someone who already uses and loves your brand, even if they’re someone with a small to medium following.

Brand ambassadors usually have a long-term relationship with the brand they’re promoting, extending for, at least, a year. During that time, they will work on things that build brand awareness and showcases your product or service in the best light.

Most importantly, your collaboration with them could have other means of compensation than money. Free products, discount codes, and merchandise are all acceptable means of paying your brand ambassadors for their time and trouble.

What does an influencer do?

Social media influencers are a diverse group of content creators. They usually have a niche and a specific target audience, depending on the kind of content they create. From lifestyle, sport, and fashion, to travel, education, hyper-specific food and diet influencers, your brand can find collaboration with one or more of them rewarding.

Types of Influencers

Influencers have widely varying degrees of reach and, well, influence. I would classify them thus:

Celebrities: Usually have a claim to fame outside of social media with multiple million followers. Their level of engagement with followers is usually low.

Mega influencers: The highest tier within any specific niche. They have a wide reach of multiple million followers but can also engage with their followers, even if not personally. This is usually done through a social media team that handles these interactions.

Macro influencers: The following tier within a niche, with a following of 100k up to 1 million followers. They can be considered well-known within their niche but are usually obscure outside of it.

Micro influencers: They have a relatively smaller following of 10k up to 100k.

Nano influencers: These usually have a few thousand followers but boast the highest levels of engagement with their audience.

An influencer usually uses their platform to share content relevant to their niche and, subsequently, highlights products and services their target audience might be interested in. This makes influencer programmes a super effective marketing strategy to directly address the audience your brand needs to reach. Even though these campaigns are usually short-lived, they can boost sales for specific merchandise drops or increase engagement when you need them to.

Strategies for effective collaboration

Here are some tips I recommend for working with influencers and brand ambassadors:

For Brand ambassadors

Choose someone who loves your brand

Choosing brand ambassadors who already know and love your product or service gets you over halfway there, as they know what to say to make your brand look good.

Create better incentives

Most brand ambassadors don’t need to be paid to represent your brand, especially if they’ve been doing it out of their own volition before you pop into the picture.

I personally think being generous with the incentives you offer helps you create a rewarding environment for your collaboration, making your partners more willing to continue with it in the long run. Also, it could incentivise others to join your ambassadorship programme

Be Involved in the Process

Once you finalise the agreement, a brand ambassador will usually take over with the kind of content they usually make, requiring your sign-off only when necessary. But if you’re a smaller brand and you have the means to be more involved in formulating the content they share, go for it.

For Influencers

Pick your collaborator according to brand values

You might know the general audience you’re aiming for, but you need to pinpoint how you can reach them effectively and without creating too much negativity. Not all influencers are the right fit for your brand, even if they’re within the same niche you’re targeting. Collaborating with someone who doesn’t represent your brand’s values or has too much controversy surrounding them can do more harm than good.

Legal and ethical considerations

For a fruitful collaboration, there are a few legal and ethical aspects worth clearing up at the very beginning. These include:

Disclosure: Your collaborators must fully disclose the nature of your partnership to avoid legal action against the brand ambassador or influencer.

Scope of work: You should be clear about what the agreement entitles you to “control” about the influencer’s content promoting your brand.

Term: This clarifies how long the agreement stands.

Compensation: This outlines what the ambassador or influencer receives in exchange for their services.
Exclusivity: This delineates how long the influencer should exclusively promote your product.

Grounds for contract termination: This clause pinpoints specific instances that lead to contract termination without further compensation. It’s better to include every scenario that can lead to this outcome to avoid litigation for breach of contract.

Last line

Working with an influencer on a short-term campaign can provide value to your brand that outweighs your initial investment. However, there’s no denying that a long-term relationship with a brand ambassador with a relevant target audience is necessary for a consistent influx of conversions from their audience.