Post on 22-Jan-2018
Tips & Tricks to Running Your Ambassador ProgramNina WilkinsonCustomer Success Director
Mobilize.io | @nina_wilkinson | @Mobilize_io
2. Recruiting
The What
Know Their Goals
Identify Right
People
3. Program
Ops
4. Best
Practices
1. Build a
Plan
The Role
The Type
The Why
Life Cycle
Recruiting
Play-book
Checklist
Reward
Communi-cation
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The WhatBuild a Plan
The Why
The Type
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Why do you want to have an ambassador program?
● What’s the company objective? Are you looking to increase sales, drive leads, or decrease purchase times for your leads, launch new cities, decrease your support efforts, build brand awareness?
Building a Plan - The Why
○ Docker’s objective - build brand awareness in the developer community in order to shorten the purchase time for leads.
○ Scoop’s objective - drive user acquisition and increase brand awareness by referrals.
○ Prezi’s objective - amplify growth through experts program. Increase support reach to wider user base.
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What type of ambassador program do you want to have?
● There are a variety of program types: ○ Event organizers - host local meetups (Docker)○ Referral - refer new users to your brand (Scoop)○ Content creators - write content for blogs or social media (Vinted)○ Speakers - speak on your company’s behalf at events (Docker)○ Influencer - promote your brand through social channels (Omega)○ Experts / Resellers / partners - top users/sellers of your products (Prezi)
Get CREATIVE! There’s no set path for your ambassador program, you can create your own!
Building a Plan - The Type
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Building a Plan - The What
What are your goals for the program? ● Define your Program Objectives
○ Host more meetups, create content, increase referral rate● Measure the Program ROI
○ Try to trace your users’ brand journey– the ambassador impact○ What’s your ROI for your program? If you want to have more leads, what is your goal for
MoM growth? If you want to increase brand love, is it the # of mentions, retweets, or hashtags used?
● Define the Program’s Health ○ How do you know the program is healthy and functioning?○ How many referrals do you want them to bring, how many
events do you want them to host?
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Ambassador Recruiting Know
Their Goals
The Role
Identify the Right People
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What do you want your ambassadors to do?● Define your ambassador’s role
○ What are they expected to do: host events, create content, provide feedback, create a local presence for your brand, recruit new community members?
○ How often are they expected to do these activities? Host a meetup 1x per quarter? Provide feedback with each new release?
● How will you monitor their progress?○ Regular check-ins○ Tasks to accomplish○ Checklists
Building a Plan - The Role
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Who are your ambassadors? Are they your top customers, influencers, local meetup organizers, campus reps, resellers or partners?● Your champions are the people that share your brand’s vision
○ What do they have in common with each other?○ Why are they excited about your brand?○ Why are they your champions (usage, expertise, tenure, followers)?
● Build a persona○ Define the age range, location, interests, areas of expertise○ Where do they hang out on social media?
You’ve done all this, now how do you get them to join?
Recruiting - Identify the Right People
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Why do they want to be your ambassador? ● What motivates them?
○ Resume building– as a consultant, get hired at your company, improve in their current role?
○ Company insight / early product knowledge○ Perks / swag / $$○ A combo?!
Don’t know why, ask!
At the end of the day, they’re your partners, so you need to ensure your mutual success.
When they succeed, you’ll succeed!
Recruiting - Know their goals
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Program Ops
Playbook
Life Cycle Check-list
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Program Operations - Know Their Life Cycle
So, how do you get your ambassador program off the ground?
● Define the stages of your ambassador’s life cycle:
Communication
Training
Reward
Recruiting
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Playbooks are an easy way to track your steps and repeat your successes!
● As you scale your program to other cities and build out your team you need a playbook to ensure consistency and maintain program quality.
● Playbooks should include:○ Training sessions○ Videos○ Content templates○ Benchmarks○ Role descriptions○ Swag ideas
Program Operations - Create a Playbook
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● Build checklists to support each phase of your ambassador life cycle○ Recommended items for your checklist:
■ Application form■ Code of Conduct■ Training plan■ Regularly shared content■ Progress Update■ Rewards■ Referral
○ As you progress, note what works and what doesn’t–whether it’s content, tasks or incentives, keep track of what works!
● Utilize best practices and learn from the pros
Program Operations - Build a Checklist
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Best Practices Reward
Communication
Recruiting
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First, what do you already know about your ambassadors?
● General Info○ Name, User IDs, email address, phone number
● Operational data○ What do you need to know about them to run your program?
■ Meetup link, social handles, location, products used, usage history, earnings history, seller info
Don’t know much about them, or want to know more...
Recruiting Best Practices - Get Their Data
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● Create an application form! ○ Ask for relevant information you need in order to communicate with them (age,
company/university, social profiles, portfolios)○ Ask how they want to be involved (mentoring, organize meetups)○ Why are they applying?○ And MOST IMPORTANTLY why do they love your brand?
● Take cues from the pros at Docker and Scoop and see how they cater their forms to their unique audiences.
Recruiting Best Practices - Application Forms FTW
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Use tools that help you communicate, build relationships, and track your success● Your database is key for collecting info and managing your members.
○ Collect as much information about them as you can.
● Use tools that cover your entire ambassador life cycle
○ From recruiting, organizing and monitoring, to messaging.
● Find the communication channel that’s easiest for you and your team
○ Email and mailing lists, group SMS, or Facebook groups. It might even be a mix of a few!
● Revise and share your playbook as you scale your program
○ Playbooks are always a work in progress!
Communication Best Practices - Tools
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Remember, they’re your partners so...
● DO○ Communicate with them regularly○ Share product updates and announcements○ Share job listings○ Get their insights on the program○ Ask for product feedback○ Invite them to events○ Make them feel special!
● DON’T○ Send them only tasks or requests○ Ignore their feedback○ Overwhelm them with information (1-2x per week
is recommended)
Communication Best Practices - Engaging Content
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Be sure that your ambassadors are the first to know!
● Keep your ambassadors in the loop before announcing important news to the public. ● Your ambassadors are the energy behind your program, transparent communication
demonstrates trust and opens a channel for valuable feedback
Communication Best Practices - Build Trust & Transparency
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Be open to constructive feedback
● As you’re launching an ambassador program there are bound to be a few hiccups or challenges. Learn from them!
● Ask your ambassadors for their feedback and show that you want to improve the program and help them reach their potential.
● Seeking out feedback not only creates better trust among your ambassadors but it can also help you improve your product.
Reward Best Practices - Feedback Channel
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Events, big or small, are a great way to build relationships with the ambassadors and for them to network amongst their peers ● Conferences, meetups, happy hours, special events at industry events● Swag
○ Give swag that’s meaningful, helpful and fun!○ If your ambassadors are on the road a lot, offer them travel related swag–portable
chargers, plug adapters, headphones, eye masks–GET CREATIVE!
Reward Best Practices - Events & Swag
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Gratitude not attitude! ● Swag and exclusive invitations are benefits, not praise● Public recognition is invaluable.
○ It can help ambassadors advance their career, makes them attractive job candidates, and is a huge morale boost.
● Don’t be afraid to retweet them or share their content through your company channels, everyone wants to get a little lovin’
● Be careful not to praise only your top performers– make sure that all your ambassadors feel valued.
● Simple gestures go a long way.○ Buffer has long been known for their personal thank you
notes to fans
Reward Best Practices - Praise
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Ambassador programs have the potential to amplify your voice beyond your company walls. ● Let them speak about your brand with an authentic voice
● Align your objectives with the aspirations of your ambassadors
● And empower your mutual success, after all this is a partnership!
Now go get ‘em!
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Want to learn more? Get in touch!
Nina WilkinsonCustomer Success Director
Mobilize.io | @nina_wilkinson | @Mobilize_io
THANK YOU!
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