How to Build NEW Brand Ambassadors
Posted by Lindsay Fultz on Fri, Dec 11, 2009 @ 11:53 AM
A NEW brand ambassador is a passionate consumer that actively and willingly
promotes your brand, product or service through social media outlets
creating a “viral word of mouth” marketing campaign FREE of charge.
These people provide credible feedback and first hand knowledge of
whatever it is you offer and increase your company reach and
visibility. Sounds great right?
Where to start: “If you build it, they will come.”
To build NEW brand ambassadors you must first become one yourself!
Practice what you preach. What brands are you loyal to? Why are you
loyal to them? Tweet away! Champion a cause and let your voice be heard!
Be accessible:
One of the great things about social media is that “key” people are
more accessible these days. It used to be that if you had a question,
comment, concern or complaint your only option was to call a 1-800
number and listen to an automated teller ramble on while you press zero
over AND over AND over again trying to get to the operator and talk to
a live person. These days with just one tweet or post, key decision
makers are at your fingertips. So listen up, social media company
contacts whether it be CEO’s, VP’s, customer service and account reps,
sales and marketing managers, it is good business practice to make
yourselves accessible. Respond back to the good, the bad and the ugly
questions and comments of your “potential” consumers and current
customers because just as one tweet can make Dell 6.5mil, one tweet
from an unhappy camper can certainly lose you money.
Mutually beneficial relationships:
A couple other ways you can build new brand ambassadors AND mutually
beneficial relationships are through guest blogs and Twitter chat
sessions. Guest bloggers not only lend their unique voice to your blog
but they also bring their legion of friends, fans and followers to your
website. They get to separate themselves from the crowd and promote
their talent and brand while engaging a whole new network that may be
unfamiliar with them. With Twitter Q/A chat sessions companies have a
chance to gain valuable feedback on their products and services. Chat
sessions are a way for consumers to voice their opinions and feel like
they made a difference. Great for troubleshooting! It is also a
wonderful opportunity for a company to build rapport and earn trust
from consumers.
RTR: Rapport, Trust, Referrals
Rapport + Trust = Referrals: By being accessible and engaging with your current customers and potential consumers in your network you begin to build Rapport with them. By building rapport you gain their Trust. By gaining their trust, you get Referrals
which leads to a viral word of mouth marketing campaign. Just like in
face to face meet and greets, make sure you are genuine. Do not push
the “hard sell.” Remember, new brand ambassadors promote willingly and that the most solid relationships are mutually beneficial.
***picture courtesy of www.405club.ning***