Imagine: a few years ago you had trouble with GI issues while running and searched high and low for nutrition solutions that didn’t have you running to the port-a-pottie every race or long Sunday run. You finally found a running nutrition brand and swear by the product, so much so that you exclaim to your friends “I should own stock in this company!” or “They should hire me!”. This is typically the way a person starts to consider if they should apply to be a brand ambassador, or they see an open call from a brand looking for an ambassador team and they get giddy over the thought of free product.

The promise of free product, reposting of content by the brand, the team community, and team uniforms are the cherries on top of the brand ambassador programs. But what does it meant to be a good brand ambassador? How can you give value to the brand and raise your own personal brand at the same time? How can you parlay a product only ambassador relationship to a paid sponsorship?

In the outdoor/running industry, every new year is an open call of brands looking for a team of brand ambassadors. I was on the brand side for many years and brands, looking for people to become a brand ambassador, to become my brand’s cult following, to help me spread the love and message of the brands I worked.

Brand ambassador teams are a great way for brands to get their brand message out in a very cost effective way. When you find the right group of people, ambassador teams can be a very cost effective marketing tool.

Below I outline how to become a great brand ambassador, what it means and how you can use your sponsorships to raise your own personal brand.

1. Only work with brands you actually use and believe in.
2. Third party endorsements, they give credibility to you and the brand you represent.
3. Know your brand and outline what value you can give the brand.
4. Get good at promoting yourself and your brands on social media in an authentic way.

Only work with brand you use and believe in. This should go without saying, but I have received many applications each year with comments from potential ambassadors like “I’ve not tried your product, but I’m looking forward to getting a free XX”, or give some other answer that shows they have clearly not tried the product, followed us on social or even visited our website. Is the promise of free product, really worth your time? Can you tell people how much you like the product authentically? If the answer is yes, then you’ve found a brand to partner with.

My goal in evaluating all of the applications was to find that group of people who already loved the product, knew how to talk about it (maybe with some technical help), and were already telling friends how much they loved the brand. This is called a 3rd party endorsement.

One of the best ways to grow a brand is through 3rd party endorsements. This is simply a recommendation from someone credible, who doesn’t work for the brand that you trust. You’ve seen this at work all the time on social media and TV commercials. 3rd party endorsements are main reason people will spend $700 on a blender, $500 for a vacuum and $250 for a cooler. You know someone who has one of these items and they can’t stop talking about how great it is, so you think “hey, I trust this person and when I’m looking for a new blender, it’s spendy, but I’m going to try it”. Typically friends and industry experts are the best 3rd party endorsers, but these can be hard to get in a field full of brands all wanting the same endorsement and for the endorsement to be authentic and genuine and not just a paid advertisement.

One of the goals of a brand’s ambassador team, is to connect with the large majority of non-professional athletes that are out there, the “real” people that potential customers can relate to that maybe don’t run sub-5 minute miles or climb Mt. Everest. It’s great if a small pool of professional athletes love the product to give the product professional credibility, but obviously if you want to grow sales, you need a larger following.

Other examples of 3rd party endorsements for brands are, pitching trade magazines to include products in the “Top 10 best” article, sponsoring professional athletes, chefs, or other professionals in the brand’s industry to vouch for products, and hiring celebrity spokes people.

One of the hardest parts of knowing if you’d be a good brand ambassador, is knowing your own brand. Who are you? What do you stand for? Who are the people you associate with? Who follows you? How big is your network? What can you offer in trade to the brand you are representing? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you identify the ways in which you can be an asset to the brand in question.

Do you participate in group runs/rides/swims? Do you write a blog? Do you take awesome photos at every race location? Do you belong to large training groups? Are you trying to attempt something unique? Brands are looking for ambassadors that can authentically talk about their product, use their product and recommend the product to others who are in the market to buy that product or at least want to try it out. If your sphere of influence has an overlap of the brand’s core customer — then use that as a selling point on why you make a great product ambassador.

One of the comments I used to get all the time was “I don’t want to be sales-y or forced to post about a brand, it makes me feel gross and inauthentic”. If you want to be a brand ambassador, you have to get over yourself. Your social network is one of your main selling points and assets. You can easily create brand posts without being fake and sales-y. Just take beautiful photos and tag it with the brand’s hashtags, or tag them in the photo if you are wearing/using their products. Post a “flat” version of yourself before race day, highlighting all of your race essentials. There are many ways to support the brand on social media without being a hard sell.

Act like an owner. To be an invaluable ambassador, think like you own part of the business. What can you do to help grow sales? Connect with new customers? Can you volunteer at a local race on behalf of the brand and give out samples? Can you create an event in your community to get more people moving? Can you give a lunch and learn chat at your business about hydration, wellness or other topic that is supported by the brand you represent? Thinking about all the ways in your life you can be a benefit to the brand will make you invaluable.

Securing a spot on an ambassador team can be great fun, you get free product, a community of like minded people and get support for the activity you love doing. Be sure to go into partnerships with the right attitude – you get exactly out of the program the effort you put into it. Doing this and showing your loyalty and support will grow your relationship — sometimes into a cash sponsorship. More on how to do this in an upcoming post.