Influencers may be an attractive option for brands looking to broaden their reach, but if a creator isn’t able to promote the service or product, it can come off as inauthentic and turn consumers away.
Brands looking for a way to promote their products should look to brand ambassadorships (longer-term relationships with creators that already have familiarity with the brand). Here are three reasons why.
1. Brand ambassadors already love the product
Brand ambassadors are already invested in a product or service, making the partnership feel more authentic to consumers.
“The best influencers are the ones who are passionate about your brand,” said Sneha Lakkaraju, head of marketing and product development at Pandia Health, which sells birth control medication and acne treatment online. “If you have a mission they can get behind, that passion comes easier.”
Pandia Health has been working with several creators across social media platforms, including Tamra Moon.
“Tamra has been a huge advocate of Pandia Health, and her take on the brand has not only helped drive new customers but also helped our marketing team discover some new, interesting ways to talk about our product,” said Lakkaraju. “She shared narratives regarding her experience with birth control, reproductive health, and the stigmas around talking about reproductive health that resonated with her audience and helped our team generate content to answer some of the common questions she received.”
2. Brand ambassadors can integrate your brand into their content organically
“Long-term creator partnerships [like brand ambassadorships] allow brands to showcase a more robust, authentic narrative about the way in which their product or service can improve someone’s life,” said Brianna Ziegler, marketing manager at furniture rental company Fernish.
Ziegler said Fernish is working with Sruthi Jayadevan while she moves from Dallas to Los Angeles, giving her followers a close-up look at how Fernish helps consumers as they move from city to city.
Lakkaraju also emphasized the importance of brand ambassadors incorporating brand content into their everyday lives.
“[Ambassador] Chante Williams didn't necessarily make the product front-and-center in her posts,” she said. “Her posts would be focused on her day-to-day life, like reading in her room or walking through town, but Pandia's product was always in the background or our website on a computer screen behind her.”
Though it was a departure from Pandia Health’s normal content style, it was very effective.
“Her posting drummed up loads of conversations in her comments and produced some of the highest-performing ads of the influencers we worked with,” said Lakkaraju. “And in a way, it got our messaging across perfectly. Pandia's goal is to make getting birth control easy, so we fit seamlessly into the background of your everyday life.”
3. Brand ambassadors make for more seamless optimization and measurement
Longer partnerships with brand ambassadors enhance the ambassadors’ content, but they also create a better feedback loop, helping brands and influencers optimize campaigns, Angela Seits, head of strategic planning and insights at PMG, said during our virtual summit in December 2022.
“If you want conversion analysis, give your influencers the right tools to give you those metrics,” said Lakkaraju. “Discount codes, UTM links, etc., are great ways to connect social [accounts] to your conversion numbers.”
This helps both the influencer see how they’re doing and gives the marketing team a clear picture of what the influencer marketing funnel looks like and where to optimize.
A win-win: It’s not just brands that benefit. Jane Ko, social influencer and the blogger behind A Taste of Koko, said establishing long-term brand relationships helps her to better understand the brand and deliver more authentic content to her followers.
“I personally love longer-term partnerships and I am selective with the brands that I do want to be in a long-term relationship with,” she said. “It gives me more time to become familiar with the brand and authentically integrate [it] into my lifestyle if I’m not using them already.”
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