Is it worth working with a brand ambassador? A guide for event creators

We’re all familiar with at least a few world-famous brand ambassadors. George Clooney with his tongue-in-cheek relationship with Nepresso. Jennifer Aniston and her powerful affiliation with Aveeno. Gary Lineker’s penchant for Walkers crisps.

These long-standing relationships provide the perfect example of how brands can pair up with influential figures in a mutually beneficial, promotional relationship. 

As an event creator, you can do the same – but, thankfully, it doesn’t have to mean striking up a relationship with the Clooneys of the world. In fact, social media macro and micro influencers can have even more impact as brand ambassadors than their celebrity counterparts. (A macro influencer has lots of followers, say, over 100,000. A micro influencer has less, but can be equally as effective as a brand ambassador.)

But is creating a long-term relationship with an influential figure who can help promote your events really worth it? We explain everything in this guide. 

What is a brand ambassador, and what do they do?

A brand ambassador is a type of influencer that you build a long-term relationship with, and who promotes your events often in return for payment. Unlike when you work with influencers on a one-time basis, they become a long-term, recognisable face in affiliation with your brand. A trustworthy figure who shares the same values as you, and is happy to be a true advocate of your events. 

This means it’s important that they do genuinely align with your brand, ethos, and vision.

Why brand ambassadors can be powerful for your event promo strategy

Working with a brand ambassador can be a really effective way to grow your events’ reach and build trust around your brand:

Brand ambassadors have a vested interest in singing your events' praises

Brand ambassadors are not just doing a one-off ad for your events. They’re putting themselves out there as a true advocate of all you stand for, time and time again. They wouldn’t partner with you if they didn’t genuinely believe in your offering. And they’ll want their followers to know that. 

Good brand ambassadors are social media wizards

They live and breathe social media – that’s how they’ve built a dedicated following. They understand the ins and outs of creating impactful content. They know when to post, what to post, and how to encourage engagement. Plus, they already know exactly what works well with their own audience. You get to benefit from all that knowledge and experience. 

Tip: Learn how to get the most out of video marketing as an event creator.

Brand ambassadors can build trust with your attendees

40% of consumers say they have trusted a brand because an influencer recommended it. And 63% of consumers say they trust what an influencer says about a brand more than the actual brand. In other words – working with the right brand ambassador can lend credibility to your events, and build trust with your attendees. Nice.

Brand ambassadors can land your event in front of a wider audience

One of the cornerstones of influencer marketing is that it opens you up to a wider audience. Your event is made visible to a whole new sector of people – people who genuinely care what your ambassador has to say. 81% of consumers say social media posts from influencers, friends or family members make them interested in an item or service. So you can see how powerful this sort of relationship can be.

A word from Olivia Parker, Head of Marketing at Ticket Tailor:

“If you’ve never worked with a brand ambassador before, don’t worry. There are ways you can encourage the relationship to be as fruitful as possible. As mentioned, they likely have tons of expertise when it comes to posting on their social channels. 

But, if you want to encourage them to post a certain type or quantity of content, you can keep tabs through a legally binding contract (this free influencer contract template is a great starter if you don’t have access to legal support). You can also share specific content briefs to inspire their creativity and ensure a cohesive message across all your brand ambassadors. And finally, make sure they can attend your event, as all content created on the day is perfect collateral for future events.” 

Are there any downsides to working with a brand ambassador?

Working with a brand ambassador might not be right for everyone. Some downsides to consider include: 

It might not suit your budget

You might discover that working with a brand ambassador isn’t worth the return on investment. We cover the costs associated with brand ambassador campaigns below.

A brand ambassador might get the messaging wrong

It’s crucial to work with a brand ambassador that aligns with your event’s ethos, personality, and vision. Otherwise they might miss the mark when it comes to the tone of the content they push out. This runs the risk of damaging your event’s overall image. You can mitigate this by reviewing all content before it’s pushed out, though.

A brand ambassador might not have the right audience reach

You might discover that your brand ambassador’s audience isn’t as relevant to your events as you first thought. Which could mean that any promotional content fails to get the desired results in terms of engagement and ticket sales. It could be an idea to negotiate a trial period where you see how many sales a number of their posts generate, before committing to a long term relationship.

You might not gel with your brand ambassador

As you’ll be cultivating a long-term relationship with your brand ambassador, it’s important that you find them easy to work with. If the chemistry isn't right, you might find they become too much of a burden on your time and resources.

Paying brand ambassadors – how much will it cost you?

There are a few different ways to pay a brand ambassador. You might pay them per campaign, on a commission basis, or via a monthly retainer. How much you can expect to pay will depend on a wide range of factors – like how many followers the influencer has, their engagement rates, and how much work you expect them to do. Retainer fees can vary from a few hundred pounds a month into the thousands. 

If you choose to pay a brand ambassador on a commission basis, you might pay a percentage of sales generated through their promotional activity – say, five or ten percent. 

💡Tip: Ticket Tailor makes it super easy to set up affiliate links for your ticket sales page. So you can track how many sales you get from each referral link used by your brand ambassador. This can be really handy if you want to pay them on a commission basis, or simply to track the success of a campaign.

The good news is, there are likely to be brand ambassadors to suit most budgets. Micro-influencers with a smaller following may have relatively low prices. But they can still be highly effective at promoting your events. Especially when you choose an influencer that is highly relevant to your audience and the local area of your event. 

Is it worth working with a brand ambassador?

Working with a brand ambassador can definitely be a very worthwhile marketing strategy for your events. Not only does it open you up to a potentially vast new audience, it can help to build a sense of trust around your events among potential attendees. Plus, you get to benefit from your brand ambassador’s wealth of social media and marketing knowledge. All of this can lead to a very healthy return on your investment (ROI) in terms of increased awareness of your events, and ultimately ticket sales.

But it’s worth bearing in mind that there are some factors that could make the relationship less beneficial that you’d envisioned. Which could dampen your ROI.

For the best chance at making your brand ambassador relationship as lucrative as possible, you should:

Always monitor the success of campaigns

Use tools like Ticket Tailor’s affiliate links to see what tangible results your brand ambassador campaigns are getting. Otherwise it’ll be hard to know what your ROI is.

Only work with a brand ambassador you really gel with

It’s important to work with someone that not only aligns with your events’ overall vision and ethos, but who you get along with. This will make the campaigns you do much easier to navigate and, ultimately, more impactful.

Assess their target audience, and how well it aligns with yours

It’s no good working with a brand ambassador whose target audience is big but not relevant to your events. It’s crucial to work with someone whose followers are genuinely likely to be interested in your events.

Consider alternative methods of payment

If your budget is tight, you might be able to offer other forms of payment to your brand ambassador – like free VIP tickets to your events. This is likely to be the case for lower-profile influencers, but they could still be a valuable tool to have in your marketing kit. And it means you’ll get a healthier return on investment. If your brand ambassador is a performer, speaker, or artist of some kind, it can help to let them know you’ll offer them plenty of exposure through their relationship with you.

Grow your events with powerful tools and integrations

Ticket Tailor is packed full of useful features designed to help you grow your events, and boost their visibility. Benefit from a plethora of tools that can help you with your promotional strategy, and gain invaluable insights about the success of your campaigns with robust reporting features. 

Head here to browse the full list of Ticket Tailor features >

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• Using TikTok to promote your events – your handy intro guide
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• 5 marketing trends to watch as an event creator in 2024