How can you effectively identify and leverage brand ambassadors through research?

2 Conduct brand audit and research

A brand audit is a systematic analysis of your brand performance, perception, and positioning. It can help you evaluate your brand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as identify gaps and areas for improvement. You can conduct a brand audit by collecting and analyzing data from various sources, such as your website, social media, customer feedback, surveys, reviews, and competitor analysis. You can use tools such as Google Analytics, BuzzSumo, SurveyMonkey, and SEMrush to gather and interpret data.

3 Segment and profile your customers

Based on the data from your brand audit and research, you can segment your customers into different groups based on their demographics, psychographics, behavior, and needs. You can then create customer personas that represent each segment and describe their characteristics, motivations, pain points, and goals. You can use tools such as HubSpot, Xtensio, and Userforge to create and manage customer personas.

4 Identify your potential brand ambassadors

Among your customer segments and personas, you want to find those who are most likely to become your brand ambassadors. These are the customers who have a high level of satisfaction, loyalty, engagement, and advocacy for your brand. You can use metrics such as net promoter score (NPS), customer lifetime value (CLV), customer retention rate (CRR), and social media mentions and shares to measure these factors. You can use tools such as Qualtrics, Kissmetrics, and Mention to collect and track these metrics.

5 Reach out and build relationships

Once you have identified your potential brand ambassadors, you need to reach out and build relationships with them. You can use various channels and methods, such as email, social media, phone, chat, or events, to communicate with them. You can use tools such as Mailchimp, Hootsuite, and Zoom to manage and automate your communication. You want to show your appreciation, recognition, and respect for your brand ambassadors, and provide them with value, support, and incentives.

6 Encourage and reward referrals

The ultimate goal of leveraging your brand ambassadors is to generate more referrals and sales for your brand. You can do this by encouraging and rewarding your brand ambassadors to spread the word about your brand, products, or services. You can use tools such as ReferralCandy, Influitive, and Ambassador to create and manage referral programs that offer rewards, discounts, coupons, freebies, or exclusive access to your brand ambassadors and their referrals.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?