Influencers/Brand ambassadors are an important part of a marketing campaign. There are many successful brands that have used brand ambassadors and influencers to advocate for their brands and positively influence those around them. However, marketing power comes with responsibilities. In other words, they will incorporate your goods or services into their everyday lives and promote them in the same way that they would recommend a company to their audience. It is therefore necessary to know who is on your side and how your campaign will run. Choosing social media platforms that are in line can also help boost your marketing efforts. 

An influencer/Brand ambassador is someone who has a high level of popularity or authority within their industry. They usually gain their following because they have significant experience, success, or expertise in the field.

Advantage of Using Influencers/Brand ambassadors of your marketing

Influencers usually use social media to share their opinions. Their ability to influence others is innate. Influencers can be bloggers, content creators, YouTubers, or social media influencers. Other effective influencers include industry experts and celebrities, as many brands are gravitating toward their channels online and off. They may have 10,000 or more followers, but they are great at engaging audiences and spreading the word about brands.

Brand ambassadors are people you hire and maintain long-term relationships with. They promote your brand based on the deep knowledge you impart to them. A brand ambassador represents your company as an expert on your brand, product, and services, but can also be a spokesperson, influencer, or celebrity under contract with you. Their duty is to cooperate with your organization step by step, according to your schedule. Therefore, the public will be able to immediately connect with your brand. For example, Mrs. Khieu Sansana is the Harmony Valley Brand Ambassador and Public Relations, she is a well-known TV host, MC, Presenter, Reporter, Producer, and Director. she also becomes a prominent Public Speaker and Motivational / Self-Development Coach, having many students and followers.

Different Influencers/Brand ambassadors

Choosing an influencer in your audience can yield great benefits, although these are often temporary. Reaching out to them can be easy. Influencers can become brand ambassadors. Essentially, you hire them to represent your brand, create positive vibes, and increase awareness and sales. They are often able to achieve similar results as a brand ambassador.

When companies are looking for Influencers/brand ambassadors for their products or services, they are looking for people with the following qualities:

  • Brand Ambassador 
    • Understanding and appreciation of marketing 
    • Established web presence
    • Passion
    • Communication Confidence
    • Professionalism
  • Influencers 
    • Audience served
    • Engagement level
    • Voice 
    • Nature of working ties with a brand
    • Duration of work relationship

How to Find Influencers?

It’s hard to identify the right influencer to work with, so here are some tips on how you can find the right person to help you grow your brand awareness and reach.

– Google Search

An influencer already creates content in your field and reaches your target audience. So, Google searches for industry-related terms and keywords will surface experts in those areas.

Analyze articles related to various topics in your field. Find out who you know and who has already made an impact in your field.

– Social Media

Regardless of whether you are targeting social media influencers, most will have some sort of social media presence – their profiles are a great way to learn more about them.

Using social media, look for keywords and phrases, specific users and hashtags, and tagged audience members (brands or social users may have tagged influencers you might want to work with). 

For example, Mr. Hak Kimthong, an entrepreneur in the real estate industry, has a social media profile on a site that provides information sharing and posts about his work related to his industry. The standard profile of his social media platform contains everything other users easy to get in touch with him.

– Referrals

Make use of your existing professional and personal networks. Seek out KOLs on social media and ask your team who they have recently followed who regularly post content that’s in line with your brand and image. If you’ve worked with influencers before, ask them if they can connect your business with other influencers they know.

– Blogs

It is also very useful to read blogs to find influencers – both bloggers and their sources. Find out who is mentioned in the blogs. Perhaps the blogger is reviewing their work, quoting them, or asking them to contribute.

– Talent Agencies 

Unless you’re looking to hire a specific celebrity influencer, it’s unlikely that you can send them a direct email or call them. It’s probably best to go through a talent agency or work with an agent to determine whether or not a celebrity will work with your brand and for what price.

How to become an influencer in your industry

– Know your niche

Determine what specialized area within your industry you want to focus on so you can establish yourself as an influencer within that field. Choosing a niche that aligns with your passions and strengths will allow you to show off and hone your skills. here are some examples that your might be interested includes: including Travel, Fashion, Lifestyle, Sports, Food, Beauty, Skincare, Gaming…

– Choose Social media platforms

In order to grow your following, it is vital to select social media platforms that are appropriate for your niche and targeted audience. 

Consider also what type of content you plan to publish and which platforms will work best for your needs when choosing social media platforms. In Cambodia, popular social media platforms for influencers include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter…

– Be consistent

In addition to publishing quality content, make sure you provide it consistently to keep your following. You should be able to provide regular updates to your audience-sometimes it takes a while to succeed, so you have to be persistent. Inactivity could result in them unfollowing you or forgetting you altogether.

– Have an opinion

Make sure you are sharing your own thoughts, even if they are different from what everyone else in your industry is sharing. This will set you apart from the thousands of other articles, posts, and other types of content out there. The public is likely to be more loyal and attracted to unique, authentic voices rather than those who simply repeat popular talking points.

Can your employees and customers be your influencers?

In the above section, we discussed the importance of marketing through hiring influencers or brand ambassadors who are well-known in their field. Last year, however, we saw a number of companies begin to leverage employee and customer parties as brand influencers. Have you considered pushing your employees and customers on your brand? If so, how powerful could they be as your influencers? The answer is they “Should” be considered, since they already know about, like, and own your product. As a result, it is easy for them to start being influenced. Particularly your employees, who have invested time and creativity into growing your business. This factor alone gives your staff genuine credibility. As people who are already involved in the development of your product or service, employees can be natural advocates. More importantly than that, you need to choose who can be the one to be influenced by this quality point of them on their passion, good speaking, comfortable in front of the camera, persistent.

So, develop your business’s plans to build influencers and brand ambassadors for your business today so they can help you build new and lasting relationships with your target audience.

Hire an influencer marketing agency to build your influencers and brand ambassadors. IMPACT Advertising can help you grow your influencers and your business.