How To Turn Your Social Media Followers Into Brand Ambassadors
Article by Elaine
Brand ambassadors are not a new thing. From TV commercials to billboards, companies have always worked with influential people and celebrities and draw attention to their brand and increase sales. And while celebrity endorsements are still quite popular, a lot has changed with the rising popularity of social media.
Social media provides a platform for everyone, where they can easily get their fifteen minutes of fame and shape the opinions and preferences of their followers. Influencers, no matter how big or small, have their loyal armies of fans who are willing to purchase anything their idols endorse. Companies quickly realized this and switched to influencers to promote their brands – and it turned out to be a much cheaper option than traditional commercials.
But do you really need people with giant fanbases and six-figure numbers of followers to promote your brand effectively? Can your average customer be just as effective in raising your brand awareness? Keep reading to find out how to turn your social media followers into brand ambassadors.
Ask for UGC
In order to turn your followers into your brand ambassadors, you need to find a way to increase engagement and get them to share as much of brand-related content as possible. One of the best ways to do so is by encouraging your followers to create user-generated content.
The best thing about UGC is that it doesn’t seem overly promotional. In fact, it’s a fun way to gamify your marketing efforts and encourage your followers to engage with your brand on social media.
Here are a few ways you can achieve this.
Photo contest
You can incentivize your followers to create UGC by organizing a photo contest and asking them to create photos with your product, for example. They can then tag your brand and use certain hashtags to enter the contest.
Make sure that your contest challenge is fun and that the prize is lucrative enough that your followers will gladly share the contest with their friends. That way, you will gain even more attention on social media and establish a strong online presence.
Hashtags
A strong hashtag gameplan is essential for every successful social media strategy, especially ones that are aiming to recruit followers and turn them into brand ambassadors.
This is a great way to create traction around your brand on social media platforms such as Instagram or Twitter.
As mentioned before, hashtags are a great tool when organizing a contest, but it’s not their only use. You should create some evergreen hashtags that your followers will always connect with your brand, as well as some of the more temporary ones, relating to current events or holidays.
Custom filters
Ever since they appeared, Snapchat filters have slowly been taking over social media. But they are not only reserved for sending selfies with cute animal filters to your friends. Brands quickly got on board and started using filters and augmented reality to promote new products.
For example, makeup companies have been using them to give their customers the opportunity to try out their latest lipstick shades before purchasing.
If you don’t have a product so convenient to be made into a filter, there are still ways you can utilize custom Snapchat filters. For instance, you can create geofilters on Snapchat and encourage your customers to both visits your store and share a selfie with your brand.
Reward Loyal Customers
Everyone loves gifts and free stuff. That’s why you should consider sending your customers something to show them that you appreciate their loyalty. This can be a “just because” gift or you can choose to reward your customers for their birthday, holidays or any special occasion.
The gift itself doesn’t have to be particularly extravagant – it’s the thought that matters. You can even send just a simple “thank you” note to show your appreciation.
Whichever gift you choose to reward your customers, they’ll probably go straight to social media to express their gratitude. This will give you the opportunity to further engage with them in the comments and show the rest of your followers that you care.
Let’s go over some tactics you can use to reward your followers.
Send swag
Whether as a contest prize or a simple token of appreciation, you can also send your followers branded swag packs filled with promotional products such as mugs, pens, T-shirts, and customised key rings with your logo on them.
Branded products have proven to be extremely effective for raising brand awareness, as people usually either keep using them or pass them along – either way, you can rest assure that your logo will be flaunted around.
Give shout outs
Rewards for your followers don’t even have to be material. A simple thank you or a shout out on social media can do wonders.
Thanks to Facebook’s new top fans badges, you can now easily recognize who your most loyal followers are. You can also go through your Twitter and Instagram mentions and tags and find people who talked about your brand.
Give them some love back and tag them in your next post, thanking them for following and supporting your brand.
Create a loyalty program
Social media can be a great platform for promoting your loyalty programs. The benefits of these programmes are numerous. Besides rewarding your loyal customers, you also encourage them to buy more of your products or services. That way, you get both satisfied customers and repeated business.
Note that most of the consumers prefer loyalty programs and coupons that are easy to redeem, so make sure to keep it as simple as possible.
Back to basics
All these tactics can be extremely effective, but don’t forget to cover the basics as well.
Great product
All of the likes and shares will be for nothing if you don’t have a great product to begin with. Sure, a viral contest can get you some short-term attention, but you’ll have to offer something more substantial for the long run.
If your products are not on point, your customers won’t hesitate to tell their friends about it, both online and offline, and that’s not the kind of attention you want for your brand.
Great customer experience
Another thing to keep in mind is customer experience. From smooth checkout to great return policy, make sure to provide excellent buyer experience and offer impeccable support if anything goes wrong.
Have a 24/7 customer support, reach out to unsatisfied customers and offer refunds, be open to criticism and listen to your customers’ suggestions. That way you will show them that you’re a brand that cares about their customers and in return, they’ll care about your brand and be happy to advocate for it.
Are you already using any of these tactics? Make sure to combine them all to achieve the best results and turn your followers into satisfied customers and brand ambassadors.