I recently ran a couple of great client events with a celebrity DJ as the special guest. She was a perfect draw card for our young audience and with the right venue and invite strategy; the events were an overwhelming success.
The crowd came to see our DJ, but also had a great series of experiences at the event which ensured the client’s objective of “more than food and booze” were met.
However, as a business owner myself, I realise that you can’t always afford to spend money on big-name brand champions. But that doesn’t mean that you need to settle without either.
Also, a big-name ambassador might not be right for you anyway. If the fit isn’t right then the message will get confused and your audience can get a little lost.
In a small to medium business it can be hard to find the fit or the money. But, sometimes, your brand ambassador might be closer than you think:
- Think about your social media and those on your sites that already champion your brand.You will find that these supporters often engage with other consumers and give positive feedback, or in some instances answer to the critics for you. Engage in dialogue with them, ask them what they think of your offering and get their opinions and advice.
- Think about loan programs/freebies/specials and offers for supporters. Make them the champions of your brand. Word of mouth is really powerful.
- Find some early adopters who might like to test or try your product/service and then invite them to comment either privately or publicly.
- Very importantly, think about your staff, what are they saying externally about you and your company. There are all sorts of ways to get your staff motivated to champion your brand or business and in my experience these are definitely worthwhile activities.
Finding the time and the resources to get involved in some sort of ambassador program is often hard and this is especially so for small to medium businesses. Having said that though, making the time to do a few simple things to help encourage positive word of mouth and ‘chat’ about your business or brand can not only be invaluable, it can make a big difference to any business.
Who among your loyal customer base could you empower toward becoming your your own champion?
Alicia Beachley is Founder and CEO of April5, an independent and specialised multi-service marketing agency. Alicia has over 16 years agency experience and is on the Executive Committee of the Australasian Promotional Marketing Association (APMA).
