Influencers vs. Brand Ambassadors vs. Brand Advocates
Influencer? Brand Ambassador?? Brand Advocate??? There are a lot of terms floating around concerning influencer marketing and for good reason. In an age of high media literacy and ad blockers abound, social media influencer marketing has proven to be more cost effective and successful than conventional banner ads and commercials.But what is an influencer, specifically, and what are the differences between them, brand ambassadors, and brand affiliates?
Influencers are those on social media whose personality, talents, style or niche knowledge has led to their garnering an audience of followers eager for their opinions and recommendations. Influencers can go on to become brand ambassadors or brand affiliates, so these titles are often used interchangeably. However, there are key differences in the three, and the category an individual falls into will dictate the type of relationship a brand will have with them.
So, Like, What Is an Influencer?
In the simplest terms, an influencer is an individual who has the ability to influence others. They can be doctors, athletes, celebrities, the most popular girl in school, anyone, really. But the most common definition relates to people on social media with a large amount of engaged followers who work with a brand to promote a good or service. Basic influencer partnerships often entail a simple post to an agreed upon platform, showcasing the product and utilizing suggested brand messaging and tags. The payment, amount and type of activation, and how much control the brand has over the content, will vary by influencer. These factors often depend on the influencer’s relationship to the product (Do they already love it or are they just being introduced? Does it fit well with their other content? Do your brand values speak to them? etc), and the size of the influencer’s following (mo’ followers, mo’ money..usually). Many times, basic influencer partnerships are a simple one-off activation or set of activations. If both parties are thrilled with the outcomes, further collaborations, including ambassador and advocate partnerships, can be discussed.
A social media influencer is usually paid with free product, an agreed upon lump sum, or a combination of the two. Payment is generally sent after the activation is live or, depending on the contracted agreement, partial or whole payment may be expected before any work is completed by the influencer. Pricing is calculated by post based on the amount of followers, engagement rate, and the activation requirements. Depending on the agreement the influencers are often free to decide what, how and when they post (many will only share in a way that fits in authentically with their other content – this is actually very beneficial for the brand, too! ). If you want more control over your partnership with an influencer it is wise to pursue them as a brand ambassador or affiliate, or make sure you are transparent with your expectations from the start.
Things to Know When Working With an Influencer:
- Their blogs and other social channels are their business, treat them as such.
- Unless contracted otherwise, they will likely give an honest opinion of your product, even if it is unfavorable.
- Authenticity to their audience reigns supreme. They value their own image and follower opinions more than making a brand happy.
- Sweeten the deal and everybody wins. Offer to boost posts or share their activations on your brand platforms. The more you do for them, the more they’ll do for you.
This activation by @beingthebrakenhoffs for LMS client, @kidfreshfoods, is a great example of a well paired partnership. The content is beautiful, fits with the influencer’s feed and lifestyle, and educates her audience on the product through specific brand messaging. The over 1,000 likes and 45+ comments doesn’t hurt, either.
Then, What’s a Brand Ambassador?
Brand ambassadors are influencers who represent and talk about a brand in a positive way to consumers, aka your hype man! The partnership between a brand ambassador and a company is more formal than that of an influencer. An ambassador is generally hired by the company for a certain length of time and a set of expectations are drawn out in contract form. The ambassador does not have the freedom to speak unfavorably about the brand as it is their ‘job’ to promote. Though large followings have their benefits, it is not always necessary for ambassadorship. Ambassadors can be very useful in target markets to promote the brand on a local scale and ‘activations’ often expand outside of social media to include retail events, PR opportunities and the like. Along with online influencers, experts in their field, like doctors, nurses, nutritionists, etc, also make wonderful ambassadors based on the trust they’ve built in their expertise.
Brands will need to devote more time and thought into who they work with as an ambassador. These individuals will represent the company, often without other representatives there, and need to be fully prepared to speak to products, company values, retail locations, etc. Education is key in successful ambassador relationships!
Payment can vary greatly depending on the individual, the length of the contract and the expectations of the partnership. If you land a celebrity as a national brand ambassador that will obviously be a vastly different budget than the local soccer mom influencer helping you push products in a niche market.
Things to Know When Working With Brand Ambassador:
- They can also be known as a spokesperson
- Keep them in the know. Constantly educate your ambassadors so they are prepared to represent the company accurately
- Be picky! Do their values match your brand values? Will their personality speak to your target audience? Does their appearance and style correlate with your brand image?
And, Brand Affiliates?
Affiliates are influencers who commit to activating regularly for a brand and receive back-end compensation for conversions. Your affiliate program can be customized to meet your needs, but the goal stays the same- to harness the power of influencers who truly love your brand and have a knack for spreading that love.
Affiliates are a great way for brands to utilize their online influencer relationships to capitalize on consumer conversion. These relationships offers brands an opportunity to truly track their ROI and see the effect different influencers, platforms and promotions have on an audience through unique, affiliate discount codes. For a brand to have an affiliate program however, there is a bit of back end preparation needed. Ideally a brand will have many affiliates and tracking their activations, commission, discount codes, etc can get a little busy. To manage, many brands start by setting up an affiliate marketing network like ShareASale to manage their affiliate offers, education and payment.
Commission varies by company, budget and affiliate expectations, but through our successful experience in affiliate programming, LMS suggests $15 commission per influencer, per follower that purchases a cart of $140+ value. Affiliate programming tends to be a win-win. The more effectively they promote your product, the more consumers buy through their link, the more money goes into their pocket (and yours!). Affiliates feel in control of what they share and how much they can make, and the company doesn’t spend any dollars on activations that don’t actually drive sales.
Things to Know When Working With a Brand Affiliate:
- Set them up for success. Constantly provide product, materials, content inspiration, new discounts etc to encourage sharing.
- Give a little more to those who give you a little more. Offer exciting rewards for hitting commission goals, going above expected activations, being a true champion of your brand.
- Offer a good deal! Consumers can be hesitant – give them an offer they can’t refuse. We suggest 15%-30% discounts for affiliates to share.
- Ensure the affiliate loves your product. It’s easy to promote what you love and actually use!
LMS saw great success with our Daily Harvest micro influencer affiliate program. In fact, it was pretty groundbreaking. At its height the program was over 600 influencers strong and drove 12%-15% of sales month over month. LMS was the agency of record from pre-launch through the first 3 years of their business. The micro-influencer program drove over 18 million impressions.
Let’s Go!
Collaborating with social media influencers to produce, distribute, and promote sponsored content is now one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach growing social media audiences. Want to build a network of quality social media influencers, brand ambassadors or affiliates? Well, let’s go! Connect with LMS today. We do some pretty rad work with pretty sweet results. Check us out and email imgame@wearelms.com go to get started today.