Why do people join Social Media Brand Ambassador programs?

A social media brand ambassador (SMBA) is someone who uses their personal social media accounts to plug your company to their friends. These people are extremely valuable to you. They're providing something no amount of advertising dollars can buy — peer recommendations, which is the very fabric of a successful company.

SMBAs may spend a lot of their personal time marketing your business. The benefit for you is obvious, but what are they getting out of it? Here are some great reasons why people will become your social media brand ambassador:

Do your brand ambassadors look like this? Ours do

1. Your Brand Ambassadors Believe in Your Goal

For some people, the strongest motivation for becoming a brand ambassador is that they believe in what you're promoting whether it's a fantastic product, an incredible service, or a worthy charitable cause. For example, Rescue+Dog is a network of dedicated animal lovers who have joined together to help save dogs all over North America. This is a perfect example of people having a common goal and using mass social media publishing to achieve that goal. Is there a sub-culture that believes in what you're doing? Do you have a charity, a snow board company or a magazine about Hipster culture? Any lifestyle product would make sense and social media is hands-down the most effective way to find those other people and bring them onto your bandwagon.

2. Exclusive content

Got a blog? Running a record label? Are you making custom tee-shirts? We'll then you've probably got exclusive content that people want! According to recent research from ExactTarget 58% of US Facebook users who "like" a Fanpage expect to gain access to exclusive content, events, or sales. Sneak previews, exclusive interviews with celebrities, musicians or other key members of your industry will set you apart from the crowd. Use your clout within your given industry to provide this kind of exclusive access to your brand ambassadors.

eMarketing magazine says:

3. Great discounts from joining a Brand Ambassador Program

Nothing tickles the fancy quite like a 50% off deal. Especially when that deal is offered up in appreciation. "So often companies forget to say a simple Thank You for your business," says Lauren Maillian Bias, Founder and CEO of Luxury Market Branding in this Forbes Magazine article. "Wish your clients Happy Birthday, Happy Holidays and a great New Year." "It may sound unnecessary, but trust me from past experience, customers in every industry want to feel that you care about them outside of your business transactions with them."

Here are some more great tips from Six Revisions to consider before giving out a discount.

4. Preferential treatment

Front of the line access? You've got it. First crack at those hard to get tickets? No problemo! Backstage passes? We've got those too. Giving your loyal brand ambassadors the ability to attend restricted access parties, VIP menu tastings and friends and family sales is a simple and cost effective way to reward them for opening up their entire social network to you.

5. Samples for Brand Ambassadors

Are you running a fashion blog? Do you have a tech magazine? Are you running a community for foodies? In terms of reaching consumers, free samples are often much more powerful, and much cheaper than traditional advertising. Getting a customer to even try a product is the biggest part of the battle and companies spent more than $94 billion in advertising alone last year just to get people to consider a product they may never have sampled, according to Kantar Media.

Rewarding your brand ambassadors with samples kills two birds with one stone: you get them to try your products, and you reward them for helping you out.

6. Brand Ambassadors work for you

Employees are a great place to start and there are a number of reasons why they might choose to opt in to your social media brand ambassador program. The most compelling reason they would want to join your SMBA program is because SocialHP track users from your brand ambassadors' wall, right back to the sale. That means you can pay your employees for sales leads and all they have to do is sit back and reap the rewards. In the case where you have a large sales team (think travel agency, nightclub, or a multi-level-marketing company like Amway) organizing your team with SocialHP makes a lot of sense for both you and your employees.

7. It benefits them

Loyalty programs, reward points and cold hard cash all work too. Your SocialHP brand ambassadors are giving you the right to not only market directly to them, but all their friends as well. This is one of those times where it makes sense to reward people financially! Did you know that a mere 7 percent of marketers report that they reward their most active online contributors? That means open season on the remaining 97% of customers who get nothing for spending their hard earned dollars with your competitor

In a hyper-competitive space like the Flash Deal industry (think Groupon, FabFind and Living Social, why not let your brand ambassadors accumulate points for each Blast you publish? They get to earn valuable daily deals, you get to reach their network of friends.

8. Swag

Short on cash? Tee-shirts, mugs, and grab bags work too! The great advantage of giving away branded swag, is that it's branded. Your most loyal advocates will be walking around town wearing a tee-shirt with your logo on it. They get something they want, you get added exposure.

You've worked hard for them, now make them work hard for you!

Now that you've built your social media brand ambassador team, it's time to go to work. Using the awesome power of SocialHP, you now have complete access to their entire network of friends. Carefully craft your Blasts and tap into the networks of your brand ambassadors and grow your business.