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How Do You Become a Brand Ambassador?

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Many organizations often need a “brand ambassador” to help build their brand awareness to effectively increase sales.  In many cases, you may be considered a fit for the position if you enjoying working with people, whether it be online or in person.

What is a brand ambassador exactly?

Often referred to as an influencer in today’s social media world, this position requires you to publicly represent a company as well as its products and services.  Consider yourself a spokesperson of sorts, where it will be your job to help influence the community as to why they should buy the company’s product/service.   It’s similar to that of someone you see on TV when they are pushing a product, only that it will be mainly online, usually Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook.

In the past, so many companies often relied upon celebrities to be their brand ambassador, however, this has since changed as now almost anyone makes money doing it, as long as you have the necessary skills.  In most cases, the brand ambassadors who are hired are often customers who are already pushing the brands, often those who have a larger social media following.

There are two types of brand ambassadors: online as well as in-person, but for the sake of this guide, I’m going to focus moreso on the online option.

Generally, online brand ambassadors will be responsible for working with social media profiles, usually posing about a product/service, interacting on a message board, writing reviews as well as reviewing products.  Again your whole goal is to raise awareness for the service/product you’re working with.

Granted, you will need a larger social media following to be considered, but this isn’t always the case.

How To Become a Brand Ambassador

#1 Know Who’s Hiring

The first thing you’re going to want to do is to find out who’s hiring.  There are always companies looking for influencers, but you want to make sure you fit that profile before applying.  For example, it would be silly to apply for a makeup brand if you’re a male who knows nothing about makeup.  You will also want to make sure you meet the requirements as many companies require you to have a certain number of followers.  This isn’t always required, but many companies do make a note of it.

When applying for any influencer/brand ambassador job, always make sure you closely match their values.  To do so, I just recommend you visit their social media posts and see if they are already working with an ambassador.  If so, get a sense as to what he/she is posting, and if you feel you can do the same.

What I recommend is looking for companies that align with your values.  So, if you like sports, find a company that’s in the sports world, etc.

Just ask yourself the following questions:

  • Would you use the products?
  • Do you align with the company’s values?
  • Is it a credible website?

Since you’re a representative for them, this brand will also reflect upon you.  So, if you’re promoting garbage, then people are going to question your values as well.

So, where can I find these jobs?

Indeed

Start with Indeed, the internet’s largest job portal. It’s free to use and there are a ton of jobs available.  For instance, when I searched for a brand ambassador job when writing this guide, I had more than 165+ options.

Keep in mind that most of these jobs may be in person, but this isn’t always the case.  Just be sure to read the job description.  Craigslist is a great option as well.

Search Social Media and Google

Oftentimes, searching Instagram, Twitter or Google can yield some results.  All you will have to do is search for basic terms, such as “hiring brand ambassador” or “brand ambassador needed”  to see what’s out there. You could also be quite specific and search for “sports brands looking for an ambassador.”  LadyBossBlogger.com, for instance, did this and found more than 50+ companies hiring.  I’m not too sure how many are hiring at the moment, but it’s a nice list to at least check out.

In doing this, you should see a lot of results, but just make sure you filter through these as there will be a lot of spam.  Many times, companies won’t pay you, but instead, they will give you a commission on every product sold.  This is commonplace in the industry and can work out to your advantage if you’re able to promote to your following consistently.

Influencer Networks

There are a variety of influencer brand networks that can help connect you with brand deals.  Picture it as a middleman of sorts, saving you a lot of time.  In most cases, you will need an established profile and following to be considered, but these are some you may want to check out:

Each one has its own requirements, so be sure to know what’s expected of you before applying.  If you do qualify, it’s one of the best ways to connect with a brand in no time.  Depending on who you work with, some may have more connections than others.

Browse Competing Accounts

Take a look at other accounts that are similar to yours and see if they are working with any brands of interest.  If so, maybe reach out to that brand to see if they are willing to work with you as well.  Again, as long as your values align, there could be a good chance they are interested.

This is also a great option if you’re looking for ideas or creative solutions.  Don’t steal, but it may give you ideas as to how to make your profile better.



#2 Have a Brand Identity

Touching upon number one, make sure you have a brand identity before even applying.  I can’t stress it enough that these companies are looking for a certain person.

According to the experts, the most successful accounts are ones that have a specific personality.  Simply put, you will want to create a niche of sorts and you don’t want to be all over the place.  You will want to picture your social media profile almost like a business card.

Just make sure that you build your content, as well as your personality, around the same interests to keep your profile consistent.

#3 Build Followers Who Engage

What good is a social media profile without followers?

Unfortunately, in this world, you will need followers almost all of the time to be considered as an ambassador.  After all, these brands will want to make sure your posts are seen by someone.  While you won’t want to focus on the number, you will want to pay close attention to the engagement.  A brand would rather see 1,000 people engage with their content than someone with one million followers who send them nothing.  Engagement matters, not the follower account, I can’t stress this enough.

No matter which platform you’re on, gaining followers can take some time, so don’t expect 100,000 followers in a few months (unless you go viral, of course).

Building followers is an entire post in itself, but make sure it’s noted that it’s going to be very tough to find a gig without a following online.  In short, target a niche market, engage with your followers and pay close attention to your demographics so that you can target your following.

For now, start networking, posting content and working on your brand to gain a following.  There are billions of people out there.  Why should they follow you?

NOTE:  It’s tempting to buy followers but this will only lead to spammy followers who won’t engage with you.  Brands are often able to pick out profiles who have an artificial followers.

#4 Always Stay Professional

Since you’re more than likely going to be working with some reputable brands, it’s important to stay as professional as possible with your online identity.  This means staying cordial, staying out of politics and avoiding the late night drunken rants.  Basically, try to stay clean and don’t post something your parents wouldn’t be proud of.

When a professional company takes a look at your account, it should represent great values that represent your brand.  Sure, while edgy companies exist, it’s not worth your time.  Brands need to keep an image, even the edgy ones, and even those who don’t want to push the bar too far.

#5 Stay Active

It sounds simple, but make sure your accounts don’t go stale.  There’s nothing more annoying than landing on what seems like an informative page, only to find out that it hasn’t been updated in more than a year.

Continuously posting and reacting will keep your content fresh, which, in turn, can increase your follower account.

#6 Have a Contact Page

In case someone does follow you and wants to work with your brand, make sure you have a contact/sponsorship page sot that someone can get ahold of you.

Generally, it’s ideal to have a small website outside of your social media page, but I know this isn’t always possible.  Instead, just make sure you post the relevant details in your bio.  Usually, an email will suffice.

#7 Know How to Research

Of course, there are so many scams out there, but they are pretty easy to spot as long as you do your due diligence before agreeing to the gig.

For starters, never pay to become an ambassador.  A job wouldn’t ask you to pay money to start, so why should you if you were interested in this gig?  Oftentimes, MLM companies ask you to purchase products so that you can promote them on your page for an affiliate commission.

Next, if a company sounds of interest, just do a quick search on Google or social media.  Generally, if the company has any sort of history, you should see red flags immediately if there are any.  If you can’t find much about the company, then it’s best to ask questions such as what’s expected of you, how you’re going to get paid, etc.  The more you know about this company, the better.  Remember, it’s okay to interview a company if they are interested in working with you.

Final Thoughts

Becoming a brand ambassador is entirely possible, but you will find that it’s going to take some time to build a following in order to be successful.  Without this following, it’s going to be very hard to find a brand that’s willing to work with you.  However, once you find a brand, it’s only up from there.  I have mentioned it prior, but I do recommend you dig in deep online and figure out the many ways you can legitimately build a following that wants to engage with you.  Remember, engagement is key.

In the meantime, if you haven’t done so already, create a social media page and create your niche.  Add interesting content and continue to do so, all while researching guides such as these.  It will take some time, but as you build a niche following, a company may want to work with you, whether it be paying you on a commission rate or a flat fee.  It just depends who you work with.

That’s going to do it for now.

As always, check out the many guides here on the ways to make money, save money as well as be smart with your money.  I’m always honest and will never promote garbage.  Don’t forget to comment and share the link if you enjoyed it!

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Tom Nathaniel

Hi! My name is Tom Nathaniel, and I created LushDollar to help share my honest thoughts on everything money. You won't find gimmicks here. It's the Internet's most honest money site after all. I graduated from Arizona State University, and I have worked in the finance industry since 2006, consulting with multiple Fortune 5000 companies.

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