Each day, two billion people are influenced by authentic social user generated content (UGC) and people. Given this fact, you shouldn’t think twice about implementing a brand ambassador program into your marketing strategy.

If properly executed, these influencers will bring you new customers, drive more sales and generate exciting and engaging content for your brand. Maybe you already have a program or are wanting to start one, either way, these six tips will help you grow and develop your brand ambassador network.

1. Recruit Social Influencers
It’s ideal if you actively seek out who you think will best represent your brand, instead of waiting for them to come to you. You want ambassadors who love what you stand for and will help tell your story through their passion for your products and services.

Create referral programs, social ads and influencer marketing campaigns to reach potential candidates and go after people who you feel are right for the part. By using a campaign to recruit brand ambassadors you can gauge their value by the results of their performance. Before you start the recruiting process, you need to first answer the question of who your ultimate brand ambassador is and what personas will influence your target audience the most.

2. Target Existing Customers and Your Social Audience
Combing through your social audience and current list of fans is a great place to start targeting for ambassadors. You should be able to quickly tell who some of your top influencers are from your social media account data. The ideal brand ambassador would be one of your loyal customers that also have a strong social media presence. Some of your best brand ambassadors could be people you’re already engaging with on a daily basis.

3. Have Different Types of Ambassadors
You’re going to have different needs based on your various products and campaigns. Your pool of ambassadors should be diverse enough that you can easily fill campaigns with people who are the perfect fit for the project, not just who is most convenient at the time. There are a lot of factors that go into play when figuring out how to best connect with your target audience. A one-size fits all solution will definitely not work in this case.

4. Surveys & Social Engagement 
It’s always a good idea to survey your potential ambassadors, so you can collect enough data to strategically select your brand ambassadors. Interact and engage with your fans on social media so you get to know them better, can see what they’re sharing and how they’re responding to your posts. Collect as much data and information as possible upfront in order to help you in the decision-making process down the road.

5. Use Social Analytics Tools
Use social media listening and analytic tools to determine some actively engaged people who might be a good fit for your brand ambassador program. Don’t just take a shot in the dark and send them out to your entire social audience. Use the data you collect to analyze who is going to help you reach more customers and who aligns with your goals and brand philosophy.

6. Use an Influencer Network
The ideal way to manage and grow your brand ambassador program is to use an influencer network. The more organized you are, the more effective your program will be and the better results you’ll see. There are many benefits of simplifying your strategy and managing your brand ambassadors with a single platform.

• Provides an online portal to manage your program.
• Works as a recruitment tool.
• Messaging inbox & outbox to communicate with ambassadors.
• Allows you to create on-demand campaigns.
• Seamless activity tracking.
• Access to a campaign and performance dashboard.
• Goal tracking.

Conclusion
Implementing these six tips will allow you to grow your brand ambassador program with confidence. The more time and effort you put into research and planning upfront, the more success you’ll have finding the right people for your campaigns. Doing your homework and paying careful attention to who you’re surveying and building relationships with will make it that much easier to build your network and assign the right people to your campaigns.