Why Brand Ambassadors are
so Important for Your Business
Almost as good as being ambassador to the Bahamas!
(Okay, if we’re being technical about things, it isn’t as good as that… but our goal is to get you brand ambassadors, not turn you into one.)
Listen up! Today we are talking about brand ambassadors and why they are so important for growing your business.
And we’re going to kick this off by breaking down exactly what is meant by “brand ambassador,” starting with the ambassador part.
See, when the term is used in a conventional sense, an ambassador is a diplomatic individual who represents an organization—often, a government—and works with other diplomats. Typically, governmental ambassadors reside in the nations for which they are ambassadors and…
Wait, they actually reside in the nations for which they are ambassadors?
Hold on a second while we go see what it takes to be ambassador to the Bahamas!
BRB.
Dang it, apparently the position’s already filled.
(Stephanie Bowers is super lucky this blog post wasn’t scheduled to be written a couple of months earlier!)
Anyhow, as we were saying, governmental ambassadors get to spend all day soaking up rays on a beach and enjoying tropical drinks perform valuable services for their respective nations.
Also, we’re pretty sure they get diplomatic immunity, which allows them to do whatever they want.
When we talk about brand ambassadors, there’s no diplomatic immunity on the table. If your brand ambassadors do any crimes, they will have to face justice.
(Sorry about that, aspiring brand ambassadors.)
Now, there are other vast differences between the political position and the brand ambassadors we’re discussing today, but a commonality is this:
A key difference in this particular aspect is that governmental diplomats consciously signed on for the post.
Before moving ahead, it’s worth noting that brand ambassadors aren’t misled, brainwashed, or anything unethical like that at all. Rather, they are simply doing what they do naturally – telling other people about products and services they like.
As you’ve noticed, we delve into pop psychology and sociology from time to time here at CP Solutions, and that means answering things like “what actually drives humans to do this?”
After all, unless you’re getting a commission check—and companies like Apple, Coke, and Ford don’t cut commission checks to their customers—why bother talking about brands?
Easy: because it demonstrates value.
Someone who talks about a particular brand A) feels like they’re “in the know” and/or B) has something to offer other people.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the overwhelming majority of us care—to varying degrees—about what other people think about us.
Remember, at the end of the day, we’re social creatures – a fact that is instrumental in understanding human motivation (which, in turn, can lead to more effective marketing for your brand).
Let’s Talk Branding
Clearly, the part of “brand ambassador”—and there are only two parts, so this would be hard to miss—we haven’t touched on is the brand part.
We’ve previously written a blog post on brand loyalty and you can check it out, or feel free to stay here for a quick recap.
(Either way, you’re still our favorite person reading this blog post right now at this very moment – and that’s not something we tell just anyone!)
So brand loyalty is what you can call it when a person absolutely loves, for whatever reason, a particular brand and will usually choose only their products from within a certain market, and possibly even buy just about every new product the company offers.
Even though there’s a decent chance we haven’t met in real life yet, we feel confident in saying that you probably know at least one person who has brand loyalty to Apple, Inc.
Actually, author Simon Sinek discusses why Apple, specifically, has a legion of brand ambassadors in his 2009 book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.
(You can watch this TED Talk if you’d like the CliffsNotes version.)
Brand loyalty is a powerful force – one that can even overcome logic. It is the reason Apple enthusiasts will camp out and wait in long lines for a phone they could more easily buy just a couple of days later. Even if you’re a fan, you must admit that this is fairly illogical behavior when you think about it.
But here’s the deal: This kind of brand loyalty isn’t logical and doesn’t originate in the head. Instead, it’s anchored in the heart.
Going back to Start With Why, Sinek’s general premise is that on account of our brain’s structure—wherein the emotional part is at the core and the rational components on the outer fringes (in the frontal cortex)—we actually base our decisions more on emotions.
When you think about it, that explains why we sometimes say we made a decision “because it just feels right.”
(If anything, we all probably don’t say that enough.)
Understanding “Why” So You Can Get to “How”
There’s a decent chance you’re able to start connecting the dots and seeing how this all fits together, but this is really quite important and we want to further drive the point home.
More than that, we don’t want you to miss out on the power of brand ambassadors.
Even more than that, we have this great statistic and this is simply a great place to bust it out:
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen (the namesake for the “Nielsen ratings” television execs obsess over), 92% of shoppers place more trust in word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends over any type of advertising.
Sure, 51% is technically a majority, but 92% is an overwhelming, undeniable majority – to the point it’s not too far off from a full consensus.
And that statistic is courtesy of a highly regarded, reputable source considered to be a leader in the field of consumer information collection and measurement.
(Heck, if you take a moment to think about your life and how you respond when your best friend recommends a product, you don’t even need to know that stat comes from a credible source!)
As if that wasn’t enough, the only type of “marketing” where potential customers forgo research and head straight into an outright purchase is the powerful “friends referring friends” factor.
Once again, we are social creatures and this shapes and affects our behaviors – including spending money.
Let’s put “why” and “how” off to the side for a second and ask a quick “who” question:
Who is going around telling their family and friends about products and brands?
Brand ambassadors, that’s who.
How to Turn Customers into Brand Ambassadors (And It Doesn’t Even Take Magic!)
You might think the whole process of converting customers into brand ambassadors begins with offering an exceptional product or service, and that’s a completely logical deduction to make.
If you’ve been paying attention, you probably realize “logical” has already come up. As a refresher, human behavior and attitudes aren’t always logical, and that certainly applies in this context.
Your first step in converting customers into brand ambassadors is to establish why it is you do what you do—be it manufacture high-end smartphones or provide cleaning services for local businesses—and then make sure you promote it as part of your brand.
To quote Simon Sinek
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
If you read Sinek’s book or watch his TED Talk, you will see how he makes the case that Apple was able to establish them as a company that “thinks differently,” and this is their true appeal.
After all, they aren’t the only company that makes fantastic computers, phones, and tablets (etc.); they just happen to have a brand that resonates with people who want to be unique and portray a certain coolness factor.
Now, would this work for them if they made terrible, malfunctioning products?
No, of course not!
And this means your answer about how to have brand ambassadors wasn’t entirely wrong. (Which we feel good about saying because we previously had the same thought you did.)
So, once you have a clearly-established sense of purpose and are confident in your product or service, you are ready to take the next steps in converting customers to brand ambassadors.
The key at this point comes down to value and trust.
Your company needs to provide value for your potential customers, current customers, and brand ambassadors at every touchpoint. How can you do this?
Well, it’s 2018 – so you need to have a website that is easy to use and looks awesome. When visitors are on your site, they need to quickly and easily understand 1) where they are, 2) what they can do there, and 3) why they should do it.
If you need to upgrade your website—and if it’s been more than a year since your last upgrade, you do—or somehow have been able to be in business without one, it’s time to take care of this.
Whereas your website is a key pillar of your marketing efforts in the modern world, there is so much more.
For example, you need to stay in contact with customers and provide valuable information to them if you want to cultivate a strong following of passionate brand ambassadors. And for your marketing efforts to be truly effective, every piece of content—webpages, blog posts, emails, videos, graphics, online ads, etc.—needs to be on-point and properly branded.
That can all be a ton of work, but we have some good news – you don’t have to do it yourself!
Instead, you can focus on the day-to-day matters entailed with running your business, and then actually enjoy your free time instead of trying to write your own blog posts, maintain the email database, edit videos so they don’t look like a five-year-old took them, etc.
Your Journey to a Thousand Brand Ambassadors Starts with a Single Step – Contacting Us Today!
(That is how the ancient proverb goes, right?)
Listen, you didn’t start your business just so you could spend all your time marketing it. Let CP Solutions use our team’s skills, talent, and experience to provide you with marketing that produces results.
Contact us today so we can start collaborating on your brand ambassador-producing marketing strategy! Simply call (833) 622-0907 or connect with us online right now.
Almost as good as being ambassador to the Bahamas!
(Okay, if we’re being technical about things, it isn’t as good as that… but our goal is to get you brand ambassadors, not turn you into one.)
Listen up! Today we are talking about brand ambassadors and why they are so important for growing your business.
And we’re going to kick this off by breaking down exactly what is meant by “brand ambassador,” starting with the ambassador part.
See, when the term is used in a conventional sense, an ambassador is a diplomatic individual who represents an organization—often, a government—and works with other diplomats. Typically, governmental ambassadors reside in the nations for which they are ambassadors and…
Wait, they actually reside in the nations for which they are ambassadors?
Hold on a second while we go see what it takes to be ambassador to the Bahamas!
BRB.
Dang it, apparently the position’s already filled.
(Stephanie Bowers is super lucky this blog post wasn’t scheduled to be written a couple of months earlier!)
Anyhow, as we were saying, governmental ambassadors get to spend all day soaking up rays on a beach and enjoying tropical drinks perform valuable services for their respective nations.
Also, we’re pretty sure they get diplomatic immunity, which allows them to do whatever they want.
When we talk about brand ambassadors, there’s no diplomatic immunity on the table. If your brand ambassadors do any crimes, they will have to face justice.
(Sorry about that, aspiring brand ambassadors.)
Now, there are other vast differences between the political position and the brand ambassadors we’re discussing today, but a commonality is this:
A key difference in this particular aspect is that governmental diplomats consciously signed on for the post.
Before moving ahead, it’s worth noting that brand ambassadors aren’t misled, brainwashed, or anything unethical like that at all. Rather, they are simply doing what they do naturally – telling other people about products and services they like.
As you’ve noticed, we delve into pop psychology and sociology from time to time here at CP Solutions, and that means answering things like “what actually drives humans to do this?”
After all, unless you’re getting a commission check—and companies like Apple, Coke, and Ford don’t cut commission checks to their customers—why bother talking about brands?
Easy: because it demonstrates value.
Someone who talks about a particular brand A) feels like they’re “in the know” and/or B) has something to offer other people.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the overwhelming majority of us care—to varying degrees—about what other people think about us.
Remember, at the end of the day, we’re social creatures – a fact that is instrumental in understanding human motivation (which, in turn, can lead to more effective marketing for your brand).
Let’s Talk Branding
Clearly, the part of “brand ambassador”—and there are only two parts, so this would be hard to miss—we haven’t touched on is the brand part.
We’ve previously written a blog post on brand loyalty and you can check it out, or feel free to stay here for a quick recap.
(Either way, you’re still our favorite person reading this blog post right now at this very moment – and that’s not something we tell just anyone!)
So brand loyalty is what you can call it when a person absolutely loves, for whatever reason, a particular brand and will usually choose only their products from within a certain market, and possibly even buy just about every new product the company offers.
Even though there’s a decent chance we haven’t met in real life yet, we feel confident in saying that you probably know at least one person who has brand loyalty to Apple, Inc.
Actually, author Simon Sinek discusses why Apple, specifically, has a legion of brand ambassadors in his 2009 book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.
(You can watch this TED Talk if you’d like the CliffsNotes version.)
Brand loyalty is a powerful force – one that can even overcome logic. It is the reason Apple enthusiasts will camp out and wait in long lines for a phone they could more easily buy just a couple of days later. Even if you’re a fan, you must admit that this is fairly illogical behavior when you think about it.
But here’s the deal: This kind of brand loyalty isn’t logical and doesn’t originate in the head. Instead, it’s anchored in the heart.
Going back to Start With Why, Sinek’s general premise is that on account of our brain’s structure—wherein the emotional part is at the core and the rational components on the outer fringes (in the frontal cortex)—we actually base our decisions more on emotions.
When you think about it, that explains why we sometimes say we made a decision “because it just feels right.”
(If anything, we all probably don’t say that enough.)
Understanding “Why” So You Can Get to “How”
There’s a decent chance you’re able to start connecting the dots and seeing how this all fits together, but this is really quite important and we want to further drive the point home.
More than that, we don’t want you to miss out on the power of brand ambassadors.
Even more than that, we have this great statistic and this is simply a great place to bust it out:
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen (the namesake for the “Nielsen ratings” television execs obsess over), 92% of shoppers place more trust in word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends over any type of advertising.
Sure, 51% is technically a majority, but 92% is an overwhelming, undeniable majority – to the
And that statistic is courtesy of a highly regarded, reputable source considered to be a leader in the field of consumer information collection and measurement.
(Heck, if you take a moment to think about your life and how you respond when your best friend recommends a product, you don’t even need to know that stat comes from a credible source!)
As if that wasn’t enough, the only type of “marketing” where potential customers forgo research and head straight into an outright purchase is the powerful “friends referring friends” factor.
Once again, we are social creatures and this shapes and affects our behaviors – including spending money.
Let’s put “why” and “how” off to the side for a second and ask a quick “who” question:
Who is going around telling their family and friends about products and brands?
Brand ambassadors, that’s who.
How to Turn Customers into Brand Ambassadors (And It Doesn’t Even Take Magic!)
You might think the whole process of converting customers into brand ambassadors begins with offering an exceptional product or service, and that’s a completely logical deduction to make.
If you’ve been paying attention, you probably realize “logical” has already come up. As a refresher, human behavior and attitudes aren’t always logical, and that certainly applies in this context.
Your first step in converting customers into brand ambassadors is to establish why it is you do what you do—be it manufacture high-end smartphones or provide cleaning services for local businesses—and then make sure you promote it as part of your brand.
To quote Simon Sinek
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
If you read Sinek’s book or watch his TED Talk, you will see how he makes the case that Apple was able to establish them as a company that “thinks differently,” and this is their true appeal.
After all, they aren’t the only company that makes fantastic computers, phones, and tablets (etc.); they just happen to have a brand that resonates with people who want to be unique and portray a certain coolness factor.
Now, would this work for them if they made terrible, malfunctioning products?
No, of course not!
And this means your answer about how to have brand ambassadors wasn’t entirely wrong. (Which we feel good about saying because we previously had the same thought you did.)
So, once you have a clearly-established sense of purpose and are confident in your product or service, you are ready to take the next steps in converting customers to brand ambassadors.
The key at this point comes down to value and trust.
Your company needs to provide value for your potential customers, current customers, and brand ambassadors at every touchpoint. How can you do this?
Well, it’s 2018 – so you need to have a website that is easy to use and looks awesome. When visitors are on your site, they need to quickly and easily understand 1) where they are, 2) what they can do there, and 3) why they should do it.
If you need to upgrade your website—and if it’s been more than a year since your last upgrade, you do—or somehow have been able to be in business without one, it’s time to take care of this.
Whereas your website is a key pillar of your marketing efforts in the modern world, there is so much more.
For example, you need to stay in contact with customers and provide valuable information to them if you want to cultivate a strong following of passionate brand ambassadors. And for your marketing efforts to be truly effective, every piece of content—webpages, blog posts, emails, videos, graphics, online ads, etc.—needs to be on-point and properly branded.
That can all be a ton of work, but we have some good news – you don’t have to do it yourself!
Instead, you can focus on the day-to-day matters entailed with running your business, and then actually enjoy your free time instead of trying to write your own blog posts, maintain the email database, edit videos so they don’t look like a five-year-old took them, etc.
Your Journey to a Thousand Brand Ambassadors Starts with a Single Step – Contacting Us Today!
(That is how the ancient proverb goes, right?)
Listen, you didn’t start your business just so you could spend all your time marketing it. Let CP Solutions use our team’s skills, talent, and experience to provide you with marketing that produces results.
Contact us today so we can start collaborating on your brand ambassador-producing marketing strategy! Simply call (833) 622-0907 or connect with us online right now.
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