How to hire a brand ambassador and build a strong online presence

Traditional digital marketing strategies, such as inbound marketing, ads, social media marketing, and SEO are some of the cornerstones of a successful online presence – but might not be sufficient for building a truly memorable brand.

One effective way to create true connections with potential customers is by enlisting the services of brand ambassadors. 

Brand ambassadors serve as the face and voice of your brand in front of different communities, most often on social media (for example in Instagram or TikTok). This enables you to create stronger relationships and build a following of loyal customers.

Hiring the right brand ambassador can do wonders for your online presence. Hiring the wrong one, on the other side, can make even your most loyal customer lose respect for your brand and switch to a competitor. 

In this guide, we’ll cover: 

• What brand ambassadors do

• How to hire a brand ambassador

• Which skills you should look for

• How to assess candidates (hint: skills testing isn’t only for traditional roles)

• How much you can expect to pay, and more

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is a professional who advocates for your company or brand and helps you build a positive brand presence in front of your audience. 

Often, brand ambassadors are existing customers who are tasked with promoting your products or services to a specific target audience. They can be social media influencers, celebrities, community leaders, or simply devoted fans of your brand who are genuinely passionate about the product or service they’re promoting. 

In exchange, they can get monetary compensation, commissions, performance bonuses, free products, and more. Find out more about types of remuneration at the bottom of the article.

A brand ambassador’s job goes beyond traditional marketing. They are people who already love your brand and have agreed to represent it by: 

• Building genuine relationships with customers 

• Embodying the brand’s identity

Companies that have brand ambassador programs include Adidas, Lululemon, Red Bull, Yelp, and more.

What channels do brand ambassadors use?

Omnichannel marketing drives better results than single-channel promotion: According to McKinsey & Company, customers who interact with brands on multiple channels buy 1.7 times more than customers who are exposed to only one channel.

A successful brand ambassador will increase your brand visibility by promoting your products through a combination of online and offline channels and help you create a truly omnichannel presence. 

Online channels brand ambassadors usually use include: 

• Social media accounts

• Blogs and vlogs

• Reviews, testimonials, comparisons, and more

• Websites

• Newsletters

• Webinars

• Podcasts

• Online forums and communities, such as Facebook groups, Reddit channels, and more

Offline channels might include: 

• Events and trade shows related to your industry

• Local community events

• Traditional brick-and-mortar stores 

• Pop-up stores

• Partnerships with other businesses

Most brand ambassadors will use a combination of channels. Their (and your) goal is to get your product in front of as many potential customers as possible. So, to reach your target market organically, they’ll need to use the same channels your audience is already using. 

The best brand ambassadors: 

• Already have a large following of their own

• Truly enjoy using your product 

• Embody your brand image

What are the typical tasks of brand ambassadors?

Brand ambassadors are most often content creators. They create content – such as videos, blog articles, social media posts – to show potential and existing customers: 

• What your product looks and feels like

• How to use the product

• What results they’re able to achieve thanks to your product

• How your product compares with others

This all helps enhance your credibility and foster a positive brand image. 

While brand ambassadors aren’t your typical employees, they’re often hired like everyone else. You’ll find candidates applying to become brand ambassadors, or the recruitment team will shortlist some candidates who have the potential to become the voice of your company.

What hard skills do brand ambassadors need?

When you think of brand ambassadors, you probably think of people who are sociable, fun, and who have excellent presentation and communication skills. But that’s not all there is to the role of a brand ambassador – hard skills are key, too. 

1. Social media expertise

Your brand ambassador should be proficient in using different social media platforms and analyzing the metrics to assess the impact of different campaigns and approaches. They should also be able to adjust strategies mid-campaign for maximum results.

Creating image-heavy content and videos is essential for driving engagement, so your brand ambassadors should have basic graphic design skills and be able to produce eye-catching videos. 

2. Product knowledge

Modern customers have become quite aware of the products they use and will instantly disregard a brand ambassador who doesn’t know your products well enough – especially if it feels like they aren’t using them themselves.

Deep knowledge of what your product is, how to use it, and how to get the best out of it is a must – and that’s what makes customers trust brand ambassadors.

The person you hire must also have the technical proficiency to explain the features and benefits of your product accurately, whether they’re commenting on social media posts, representing your brand at local events, or talking to partners or journalists.

3. Digital marketing

Brand ambassadors are responsible for marketing your product or service and getting it noticed. 

Simply posting images, videos, or written content alone won’t bring in a hoard of customers. Digital marketing knowledge is therefore a must-have skill. 

Оriginal, insightful content that features a ton of fresh perspectives and that’s uploaded at the right time and distributed through the right channels gives you maximum visibility and reach. 

Brand ambassadors who are worth their salt know how to create precisely this type of content – and, although they might not be SEO experts, the best ones will also know how to optimize content for search engines, too.

They should also be proficient in email marketing and should create and execute email marketing campaigns that nurture leads and maintain strong customer engagement.

4. Sales skills

While they aren’t usually involved in traditional sales processes, brand ambassadors can actually be your best salespeople. 

Not only do they present your products in front of your target audience to create a loyal customer base, but they also negotiate and establish strategic partnerships and collaborations that further enhance the credibility of your brand. To do this successfully, they need to have good sales and negotiation skills.

These skills will also enable them to identify potential leads, attract them with the right type of content, and direct them towards your sales funnel.

5. Public relations

A brand ambassador might also need to interact with media outlets and journalists. For this, they must have strong public relations (PR) skills, enabling them to: 

• Build and maintain a healthy relationship with the media

• Answer questions highlighting your company’s mission and vision

• Mitigate any potential PR risks

They are a spokesperson of your brand and help build and protect its reputation, so their actions have a deep impact. They also need to be experienced in negotiating contract terms for media collaborations and partnerships.

What are the most important soft skills of brand ambassadors? 

Brand ambassadors are the human face of a brand, so having the right set of soft skills is essential for creating genuine connections with your audience. 

1. Communication

Your brand ambassadors are the spokespeople of your brand and need to craft clear, compelling, and persuasive content for social media channels, blogs, and promotional materials.

They must have the ability to confidently address a crowd or speak on camera for events, presentations, video ads, reels, and when interacting with different media outlets. 

2. Adaptability

Marketing campaigns seldom follow exactly the same scheme. There’s always a new idea, target demographic, product, or other factors in play that require the brand ambassador to be highly adaptable. They should be willing to embrace new perspectives and contribute towards your overall brand strategy.

3. Relatability and authenticity

Partnerships with brand ambassadors won’t be profitable if they are unable to create genuine connections with your customers. Relatability and authenticity are important for a brand ambassador to be successful.

Target audiences are also key when building relationships. For example, an influencer who focuses on beauty products and has built a devoted following by talking about skin health won’t get much attention if they suddenly switch to another niche, such as gym equipment; they’ll instantly feel inauthentic to their followers.

4. Collaboration

Working seamlessly with other teams within the organization and ensuring the message they promote aligns with your overall marketing strategy is a crucial responsibility for the brand ambassador. 

For this, they might need to communicate with your marketing, sales, customer service, and leadership teams to create a unified brand experience.

5. Time management

Look for ambassadors who can manage their time effectively and prioritize tasks that contribute to your overall goals. If they’re working with assistants who handle their schedule, ask about the experience of previous clients. 

Meeting deadlines for campaigns, events, and deliverables is a necessity for maintaining your brand’s consistency.

How to test the skills of your next brand ambassador

It’s easy to spend time pursuing the wrong candidate based on their followers, posts, likes, and other vanity metrics. However, the most important thing to measure is how skilful they are in engaging with followers – and what the chances are of those followers buying your product or service.

Assessing potential ambassadors goes beyond simply looking at their portfolio or social media profiles and requires a practical way to evaluate their hard and soft skills. Creating a methodical and insightful evaluation process will help you streamline your brand ambassador hiring process.

TestGorilla’s pre-employment skills assessments will help you choose ambassadors who align seamlessly with your brand’s values and possess the necessary attributes to drive its success. Yep, that’s right: Skills testing isn’t suited only for traditional office roles but can be used to hire for any position, including that of a brand ambassador.

With our platform, you can combine different skills tests into a single assessment to evaluate candidates based on your requirements. Some of the tests that you can include in your brand ambassador assessment are:

• Communication: Brand ambassadors have to be excellent communicators to not only understand your marketing strategies but also to convey the right message to customers and followers. 

• Time management: Assess your candidates’ ability to manage time efficiently and ensure they can handle tight schedules and always be on time.

• Culture adds: Fill out a customized survey and find candidates whose values and behaviors align with your organization’s, making them an ideal hire.

• Social media management and social media community management: Find professionals who have the right skills to manage their – and your – social media presence, optimize reach, and manage communities. 

• Business ethics and compliance: Depending on your niche, it might be important to assess your candidate’s awareness, judgment, and knowledge of ethical issues.

• Problem-solving: This test will evaluate a candidate’s ability to define problems, analyze data, and respond to complex situations on the go.

Brand ambassador interview questions

Once you assess candidates’ skills with the help of a talent assessment, it’s time to talk with the best ones and see whether they fit your brand’s goals and vision. Here are some questions you can ask during interviews with potential brand ambassadors: 

1. What do you know about our brand and products?

2. Why do you want to represent our brand specifically?

3. Can you describe your audience and their interests?

4. How do you measure the success of your social media presence?

5. What are your main strategies for improving your presence and reach? How do you grow your audience?

6. What strategies do you use to stay authentic while promoting products?

7. How would you integrate our brand into your content?

8. What's your approach to handling conflicts of interest with competing brands?

9. How do you ensure the continuity and consistency of your online presence?

10. What software do you use to create content?

Where to find a brand ambassador

Now that you know what skills to assess, where should you look for your next brand ambassador? Find out the best recruitment channels below.

1. Social media platforms

The world has gone digital and social media platforms have become the colosseum for gathering customers’ attention. 

Look for people who are active on social media platforms and consistently create high-quality content for your niche. Even if they don’t have a huge fan following, their engagement with the audience must be high.

Focus on quality over quantity. Be careful about choosing ambassadors who are active on one social media platform only or have millions of followers but don’t align with your brand’s values.

2. Networking events

Attend events, shows, and conferences to connect with potential ambassadors and assess their interpersonal skills. These events are a great place to find candidates who are not only famous but also have the right knowledge and experience in your industry. 

If everything goes well, you can hire the ambassador for the event itself, and they’ll be able to promote your brand right away.

3. Influencer marketing agencies

Agencies have contacts with online influencers, celebrities, sportspersons, and other famous individuals who can become brand ambassadors for any organization. 

If you’re unsure about who to hire or aren’t experienced with the brand ambassador hiring process, then these agencies can be of great help in elevating your brand.

How much does a brand ambassador cost?

The remuneration you’ll offer to brand ambassadors will depend on several factors, such as your company budget, ambassadors’ experience and previous clients, responsibilities, frequency of posting on social media, and more.

Brand ambassadors might earn:

• Monetary compensation, either as a one-time payment or a monthly fee

• Commission-based earnings, if you have an active affiliate program

• Free or heavily discounted products or priority access to new offerings

• Performance bonuses or even in some cases equity or profit sharing

Determining the appropriate compensation for brand ambassadors is a nuanced process, so there’s no fixed number. Your brand ambassador program will depend on your niche, industry, and current marketing goals. 

According to Glassdoor.com, on average, brand ambassadors earn $47,000/year in the United States. This pay is a combination of their salary and additional benefits such as cash bonuses and commissions.

Hire the best brand ambassador with the help of talent assessments

With so many online celebrities, influencers, and stars, it can be tough to choose the right voice or face for your brand.

And while choosing people who have a devoted following and who align with your brand’s vision is key, you also need to make sure they have the right skills for the job. 

TestGorilla enables you to streamline your brand ambassador hiring process with the help of skills-based assessments. You can choose different tests from our test library to assess multiple candidates on the same benchmarks and hire the best ambassadors for your brand. 

Experience the new age of hiring with TestGorilla. Start your free trial today.