How To Tell A Real Brand Ambassador From An Impostor–In One Easy Number
Brand ambassadors may even charge for their ability to influence their followers. Some are worth it, and some aren’t.
The term “brand ambassadors” refers to people who influence their followers on social media. Some are unpaid, and presumably do this just for the pleasure of influencing other people. The second type of brand ambassador gets paid for using their power in getting the word out about your brand. Paying can be worth it sometimes, after all, brand ambassadors might purport to have 50,000+ followers. But how can you tell whether their audience is engaged, or not?
Related: Take a Cold Hard Look. Isn’t Amazon Selling Your Stuff Better?
Counting “likes” doesn’t always give you the full picture
At Socialike, our Manhattan-based social and digital marketing agency, we know how to measure response to all sorts of communications on behalf of our clients. Some upfront indicators are good, e.g. “Likes” do show that people were there to see the post and moreover, were willing to click the little “Like” icon. But rather than trust the number of Likes alone, you can use other methods to analyze the ambassador’s true influence.
A good rule of “Thumb”
Let’s use Instagram as an example.
Here’s a way to the judge success of a Instagram Influencer’s posts. Look at the person’s 10 most recent posts, and figure out the average number of Likes and Comments.
What you need to see. If you want to know if an influencer is giving you an engaged audience of followers, look for one number, followed by another. The first is a 3% engagement rate for Likes (average number of Likes on an Instagram post/total followers). Second number to look for–also very important–is a .01% engagement rate for Comments (average number of Comments on an Instagram post/total followers). If they’re scoring this high, it’s a good basis to judge whether an Instagram Influencer can be classified as an effective brand ambassador.
What if a person doesn’t show these stats? They may have fake followers since their audience isn’t showing engagement. They could have arranged for people to hit Like. This is completely different from a person delivering truly engaged customers–the kind who might spend money on your brand.
Read More: How Some Natural Products Companies Will Be Making More At Expo West 2016
If you’re not seeing those numbers, or especially if you don’t know what they mean, get in touch with Socialike. We’ll help you to find and assess the numbers that matter.
Call us at 646-757-0799
Or Email us at: hi@socialikeinc.com
We’re interested: Had any experiences with Brand Ambassadors (good or bad!) that you’d care to share? Add your comments below.
A SOCIALIKE BELIEF: it’s nice to be “LIKED.” But don’t be afraid to ask for Proof.
Stay tuned for more of our blogs.
Isaac Brody (aka“Ike”) is the owner and CEO of Socialike, a Manhattan-based creative agency that specializes in social and digital marketing. Isaac comments on trends in marketing. Socialike’s clients, whether they’re in natural products, hospitality or any other industry, get concepts that differentiate them–along with trackable results.
