So you are looking to amplify your brand with Brand Ambassadors... what we now call Influencers. As an experienced marketer you know this strategy is not new, but the rules have definitely change for brands and organizations looking to leverage what can be a very effective activation tactic.
Having experience in activating this tactic for brands since even before there was social media and beginning with My Space, yes back in the day, this was the first social influencer channel venue, I have continually adapted digital marketing campaign strategy to the channels, digital consumer behavior and trends of the moment.
Since there are so many campaign factors to consider, I am not addressing those here, I am simply providing the short list of guidelines that I review with potential brand ambassadors for campaign consideration. If they do not fulfill these criteria at minimum, they are likely not a good personality alignment with the brand. This usually means they would not be able to produce the campaign performance desired by the brand. Since the full range of their digital presence is a reflection on them, I also review the full range of their digital persona, including archiving a collection of their stories to share/review with the brand as that is usually where ambassadors differentiate their skill and professionalism to engage their audiences with key messages.
Top Tip: Meet your potential brand ambassadors IRL (in real life). This allows you to understand more about them and their potential scope of representing the brand. Typical examples include- you are just looking for Instagram promotion or looking for them to be able to have conversations and present your brand; you need them to be able to capture videos and create on-brand stories at events or at specific retail locations. By meeting them in person you will be able to rapidly assess if they are skilled in these areas.
The Basic Checklist
1. Industry Professionalism > the influencer conducts his/herself professionally on their digital presence AND in real life.
Digitally > Their social channels are appropriate for brand and campaign activation initiatives.
At Industry Events > the influencer conducts his/herself in a business-like manner with the brand, with other industry influencers and with the media. Influencer presents his/herself professionally at all times including wearing appropriate attire for the specified event or activation.
2. Campaign Performance > the influencer demonstrates that they understand they understand brand activation and public relations activation deliverables.
Digitally > in sponsored or collaborated posts, the brand, location and/or product is dominantly featured in the post, story, feature, blog post or collection delivering necessary activation metrics as defined by the campaign goals.
At Brand/Campaign Events > the influencer will follow the defined run-of-show promotion plan for the event including creating content to match the campaign storyboard and messaging base provided by the brand. The influencer will represent the brand in professional manner while providing content and messaging assets for the campaign.
3. Legal Compliance > the influencer states, and demonstrates on all their digital channels that they follow all the laws of the land (for all target geographies of the campaign) and are not an employee of the brand they are promoting. This includes all laws regarding advertising, marketing, digital, social media, data privacy, those generally within the scopes of the FTC and FCC.
4. Campaign Performance > the influencer will provide proof of campaign performance and results to the brand to receive payment.
Results > These vary based on the campaign and should be aligned with local engagement as that is what the influencer tactic is best used for. What is the conversion metric for the campaign and how did the influencer deliver on this conversion.
Documentation > The influencer needs to provide all assets created to brand including stories with performance metrics information for the tactic.
Following these basics will give you a good start to maximizing your brand ambassador aka influencer marketing investment, only one of the many tactics available for local engagement.