I often see businesses marketing their products or services online without a personal connection to their audience. They post on the brand’s LinkedIn page, Facebook, and other social media but have little to no engagement because the audience perceives them as a company just trying to sell.
But you need people’s engagement and trust to sell effectively. Unfortunately, you’re getting none. There is more than one way to combat this issue. In this post, we’ll focus on brand representatives and how their roles can help. Keep reading to learn more.
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What Is a Brand Representative?
A brand representative or brand ambassador is the face of your brand. They promote your brand both offline and online to your target audience. They’re also responsible for maintaining the company’s reputation as a business people can trust.
They offer a consistent, authentic, and engaging approach to representing your brand. This ensures your brand’s message is not only delivered as a company to person but also person to person, or better still, friend to friend.
This all leads to the end goal of promoting and maintaining a strong brand image across all channels.
What Does a Brand Representative Do?
A brand representative is a big part of people’s perception of your brand. Some of their duties include:
Content Creation
Brand representatives may create content to build brand awareness, engage followers, and attract potential customers. They can do this through blog posts, tweets, videos, or other content formats that appeal to your audience.
This is even more effective when the brand representative has a strong online presence. They can then influence their followers to engage with your brand.
Maintaining a Positive Company Image
Another duty of a brand ambassador is to present your brand positively and support overall brand management. They represent your brand on social media platforms, trade shows, and other events. They also have to maintain a positive personal brand because whatever they do reflects either negatively or positively on the brand.
Product Demonstrations
A brand representative requires good knowledge of your product or services because part of their job is demonstrating your products and showing people what to expect. This hands-on approach to promoting your brand facilitates trust.
Host and Attend Events
Your brand representative must attend industry events to represent the company and occasionally host events to promote your brand. These events foster communication between potential and existing customers, increasing awareness and more repeat customers.
Drive Sales
Your brand rep may not help drive sales immediately unless they have influence. However, they can help nurture prospects and convert interest into purchases through online engagement, product demos, and in-person interactions.
Humanize Your Brand
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a brand representative puts a face to your brand. They present your brand as a relatable “person” who can become a trusted friend to your target audience. This changes the public perception from viewing your company as “just another business trying to sell something” to “a friend we can trust to solve XYZ problems.”
Types of Brand Representatives
There are several types of brand representatives that you can choose for your business. The differentiation is mostly based on the individual’s status. Here are some of the common ones:
Brand Advocates
Brand advocates are satisfied existing customers who actively promote your brand through online and offline word-of-mouth marketing. They typically have positive experiences, which they enthusiastically share, making their endorsement credible. Plus, their strong belief in your brand, due to their experience, compels them to defend it in the case of criticism.
Brand Influencers
Brand influencers are individuals with substantial followings online. An example of a popular influencer is MrBeast. However, there are more niche-specific influencers with smaller followings. You can collaborate with these influencers to create content that showcases your products while leveraging their reach to build brand awareness and boost sales.
However, unlike brand advocates, who may not charge for representing your brand, influencer collaborations often involve a fee or incentives.
Celebrity Ambassadors
As the name implies, celebrity ambassadors are celebrities that represent your brands. For example, Ryan Reynolds, the Deadpool star, is the face of Mint Mobile. With a celebrity ambassador, you increase your reach to their audience and build credibility.
Employee Ambassadors
Employee representatives are employees within your organization who promote your brand. They share positive insights about your brand with their personal and professional networks. Their endorsements also carry weight because not many employees care about their brand outside of work. So when they promote your brand, people will perceive it as genuine.
Affiliate Ambassadors
Affiliate ambassadors promote your brand’s products or services in exchange for a commission. They often run blogs or social media channels where they share their affiliate links, reviews, and other promotional content to drive sales and traffic.
How To Find a Brand Rep That Aligns With Your Brand
If a brand representative is what your company needs, see some ways to find one that aligns with your company’s goals:
1. Define Your Ideal Brand Representative
You can’t use just anybody as your brand ambassador. So, before you start, you must define who your ideal brand representative is. Do they have to be an authority in your niche? How many followers should they have? How involved do you want them in your business?
While you make brand-specific requirements, some criteria are non-negotiable. For example, brand ambassadors must have great people skills. These skills are necessary to interact with potential customers and represent your brand at events.
Furthermore, the brand representative should have passion for what you do, or at the very least, be able to communicate your brand offers passionately. This ensures they carry out their duties with positive energy. The positivity reflects on the brand and attracts people.
Also, being a brand ambassador is a full-time job with no working hours. Your brand ambassador must represent the brand wherever they find themselves. This also entails keeping a positive personal brand that doesn’t hurt the company’s image.
2. Find Potential Candidates
When you define the type of people you want to represent your brand, the next step is to find candidates. Here’s how you can do it:
Look In-House
Before you start looking outside, check among your employees. Employee brand ambassadors are among the best choices because they help you save on training and acquisition costs. Your employees already have valuable knowledge about your company’s offerings and goals. So, it’s much easier for them to represent the brand and share their experiences.
Plus, if your employees enthusiastically report positive experiences with your brand, it significantly boosts your brand reputation.
Encourage Loyal Customers to Become Ambassadors
Another good place to look for brand ambassadors is your clientele. Your most devoted customers can do the job perfectly. Their genuine experiences with your brand and products can positively influence other people’s perceptions of your brand.
Start a Brand Ambassador Program
Instead of manually searching for brand ambassadors, you can create a program where interested candidates apply on your website. They will provide links to their social media accounts and blogs. Then, you review and select those that fit your ideal profile.
Use Digital Marketing Agencies to Find Brand Reps
The easiest and most efficient way (depending on your experience) to find brand ambassadors is through digital marketing agencies. Rather than going through the trouble of searching, screening, and onboarding potential reps, the agency will do the work for you.
All you have to do is provide information about what your brand needs. They can even help you define the ideal brand representative that will effectively drive growth.
3. Provide Training and Communicate Your Expectations
After shortlisting your ideal candidates, the next step is to provide sufficient training to familiarize the candidates with your brand.
As a best practice, send samples to your candidates so they can experience your product firsthand. This applies to both new prospects and those already acquainted with the brand. The latter will appreciate the freebies.
Also, communicate your expectations as well as terms and conditions to them.
Let Vivian Agency Handle Your Influencer Marketing Efforts
A brand representative plays a vital role in connecting your brand with end users. But you have to find people who care about your brand to make it work. You can check with your employees and customers or call for ambassadors from the general public.
Alternatively, Vivian Agency can handle the search for you. Our years of experience and numerous influencer and affiliate marketing success stories make us your go-to partner for the job. If you’d like to know more about how we can help, schedule a meeting or reach out to me via our contact page here.
