Brand Ambassadors: How to Pick the Right Management Platform

If you’ve been thinking about getting started with brand ambassadors but don’t know how you’ll have the time to manage them all, you’ve come to the right place. The most important thing to keep in mind is how you’re going to provide your ambassadors with the most enjoyable experience possible when partnering up—that’s why going with a management platform is one of your best bets. And while picking the right management platform for your ambassadors can feel like a maze with no end, we’re here to tell you you’ve got options! 

A brand ambassador management platform acts as the middle (wo)men between brands and ambassadors. Going this route requires fewer resources from you with the added benefit of having a set of specialists manage your ambassadors so that your campaigns run smoothly. These agencies take the bulk of the ambassador relations work off the shoulders of the brands, making it easier for brands to work with more ambassadors and influencers at a time.

Things to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Management Platform

Consider the following before you start your management platform search: 

• How much time will it take to maintain my own ambassador program? 
• Do I have the resources to recruit, negotiate contracts and handle all communications with our brand ambassadors? 
• Do I have enough in-house employees to manage our ambassadors or is outsourcing to an agency my only option? 
• Who will keep track of shipping products, tracking posts and analytics and ensuring all campaign and sponsorship legal requirements are met? 

For a more in-depth look at the difference between an influencer management agency and an in-house influencer specialist, check out this blog! 

How to Pick the Right Management Platform

The right management platform can change everything for a brand, from how motivated the ambassadors are to work with you, to how influential their created content will be. Keep these things in mind when making your decision: 

• Make sure they understand your audience. 

The management platform you go with should prioritize brand/ambassador matchmaking. This helps ensure that the right ambassadors are chosen to meet both your brand’s audience and goals. They should cater specifically to your needs; for example, if you’re a vegan company, your product should be shown to vegan ambassadors, and if you’re a pet brand, your products should only be shown to ambassadors with pets. 

• Look for an emphasis on ambassador <> brand relations. 

The more ambassador friendly a platform is, the better the content produced for the brand will be. They should know how to find and communicate with influencers as well as how to pitch the brand they represent to potential influencers. 

• Focus on quality over quantity. 

You wouldn’t want your management platform to recruit people for the sake of having people talk about your brand—you lose quality that way. It helps avoid the problem of having ambassadors feel like they’re being approached by brands who aren’t a fit. (And trust us, it’s obvious to them.) 

• Ask yourself how much help you really need. 

Whether it’s you or your budget that might not be ready to commit to a full-service management platform, don’t worry. There’s always the possibility of DIY’ing it or going with individual search tools to aid your influencer marketing efforts. These can typically help organize your influencer outreach and sometimes do the reporting for you, but keep in mind, you still need to hire someone to manage your campaigns. 

• Use Statusphere.

Statusphere focuses on providing an end-to-end solution with the process of managing ambassadors; from influencer communication to match-making, shipping, and providing reports, Statusphere has it all covered on a single platform. As a brand, you are guaranteed great content, engagement and results.

Influencer management agencies work best for brands that would rather focus on their other marketing efforts than spend time and resources on influencer marketing. Being able to outsource influencer management can be beneficial for brands who want all the benefits of influencer marketing without the workload.

At Statusphere, our team is experienced in working with brand ambassadors of all sorts and would love to help you get started. To learn more about how we can build your next campaign involving brand ambassadors, click here!