In a brand ambassador program, there’s not much that’s more important than engagement. But how do you actually achieve ambassador engagement consistently over a long period of time?
If you’re thinking about launching a brand ambassador program or you just want to ensure that your current program actually keeps your ambassadors engaged for months on end, check out these 10 tactical and practical tips for running the most incredible program possible.
1. Set up the program with a clear structure and guidelines
Lay out how often you want ambassadors to participate, how many activities you would like them to do per month and what kinds of rewards and recognition they will receive. The clearer you are, the easier it is for ambassadors to be clear about what you expect from them and how they can best contribute.
2. Add a new activity for ambassadors every 1-2 weeks
When you’re engaged, they’re engaged too. Adding in new activities every so often means that there is something interesting for everyone.
3. Don’t add all new activities at once
Related to Tip #2, adding activities gradually is less likely to overwhelm ambassadors, so instead of telling them 20 different ways they could contribute, all at once, space them out to draw out the excitement.
4. Offer encouragement on great activities completed by ambassadors
Who doesn’t like some encouragement? When you give your biggest fans a little bit of thanks – whether that’s a quick comment or sending them a personalized message – they will truly appreciate it and stay engaged for the long-term.
5. Feature great activities outside of the ambassador community
Featuring great accomplishments by ambassadors outside of just the ambassador community only helps encourage fans more. Get maximum impact from your program by sharing the amazing contributions your ambassadors make.
6. Personalize recognition where you can
A little bit of extra attention never hurts. If you call out and recognize the best and most involved ambassadors, it will go a long way towards motivating them and towards motivating other ambassadors as well.
7. Make your ambassador community dynamic and exciting
Adding great content to your ambassador community, wherever you house it, allows you to offer examples to ambassadors and makes the community really vibrant.
8. Feature an ambassador of the week/month to recognize great ambassadors
We can’t state it enough. Highlighting accomplishments goes a long way. Instead of always asking ambassadors to do stuff for you, showcase the great things they’ve done to show you really appreciate them. Sometimes ambassador programs lose steam because the brand is always just asking for more and more. An ambassador program should be symbiotic and should offer value to both the brand and the ambassador.
9. Close activities that are less popular or time-bound
This allows you to offer new exciting ambassador activities and to focus on certain activities that might be right for a certain time of year or related to a product launch or something of the like. Some ambassador programs thrive with online only activities and others are more successful with in-person activities like events. Sometimes, you expect an activity to be really popular with ambassador and it’s just…not. That’s OK. Ambassador programs are all about optimization. Move on to bigger and better things!
10. Refresh the community from time to time
It might be every 3 months, it might be twice a year, it might be every semester. Ambassadors do get busy from time to time or priorities change. Adding in some new ambassadors helps shake up a community and bring in some new ideas and motivation.
If you’re looking for software to manage, engage and track your ambassador community, sign up for a demo here.
A version of this post appeared on the Upward Labs blog.
Image credits: Flickr, Nicholas A. Tonelli, Old-Growth Forest (2); Flickr, Matt Herzberger, Hooray for LOLCats