Influencer vs Ambassador: Which is Better for Your Equestrian Business /
The concept of aligning individuals with brands for marketing purposes is nothing new, in fact, there have been faces of companies like Coca-Cola, Colgate and Cadbury since they were established in the late 1800s!
Unsurprisingly however, the roles of ambassador and influencer have developed along with the marketing industry. As marketing has navigated the rise of social media, they have become sophisticated positions with complexities that are worth understanding if you want to tap into the goldmine of opportunities that they present.
Although influencers and ambassadors are similar in lots of ways, the subtle differences between the two roles could make or break your campaign. Each role has key selling points which make them perfect for certain situations; read on, to find out who you should be contacting to work with your equestrian business next!
Ambassadors…
Ambassadors are individuals, or groups of individuals, who’s values and audience align with your brand’s values and target audience closely.
They will work with your brand continually for a prolonged period of time, establishing a strong partnership, and therefore need to be someone who has (or has the capacity to have) a relatively deep involvement in the product or service your company provides. Whether this means they are an international rider who uses your feed for their horses over multiple years and relies on it as an important component of their performance, or whether they are an instructor who loves using your venue for clinics and recommends it to clients as a great place to train.
An ambassador grows with your brand, they build their business alongside yours and will provide organic support through a mutually beneficial relationship, this means they probably don’t have a huge established audience. They can also help you to refine your product or service, for example if you wanted to test a new product and get some feedback, they would be a great person to sent it to.
The trick to establishing a successful partnership with an ambassador is choosing someone who is perfect for your brand. They do not need to have an audience immediately, just the capacity to build one of people in your target demographic, and a real interest or involvement in your company. It might be that they are already one of your customers, or someone you know personally.
Influencers…
Influencers already have a following online of people who are engaged enough to take the influencer’s opinion into account when acting as consumers.
They usually have:
An engaged audience that you can benefit from connecting with
A knack for creating content - so your marketing material will likely be created by them
Relationships with other brands - meaning your content will be alongside other paid promotions
When looking for an influencer to collaborate with, consider whether their audience are right for you; just because they have a huge following doesn’t always mean they are the right fit for your business. It is best to target influencers with hyper-specific audiences who fit into your niche perfectly, rather than paying an extortionate amount to a large influencer who’s audience is too diverse to provide sufficient ROI.
Check that the influencer’s audience are:
The right age demographic - there is no point working with an influencer who’s audience are under 18 to market arena surfaces, instead they would be perfect if you wanted to spread brand awareness and drive sales of your new equestrian clothing brand
In the right location, geographically, to consume your product or service - if you are an instructor based in the UAE, using a rider based nearby market your services on social media is likely to get you the most new clients
Real people - it is relatively common for influencers to buy likes or engagement produced by bots; to get the most out of a partnership, make sure that the engagement on an influencer’s platform is organic
If the type of service you provide is most easily shown off in video format, look for influencers who have an engaged audience on YouTube, produce successful Instagram videos or even TikToks if your target audience are active on there! Lots of equestrians have adopted vlogging as a way to connect with an audience and build their businesses, it could be a great opportunity to show off how your product works if they used it in one of their videos.
Finally, make sure the influencer is producing content that you would like your brand to be associated with. An influencer needs to be able to create the same quality of content that you would want posted on your website or social media; professional, polished content associated with your brand will increase its credibility.
In conclusion…
Ambassadors are likely to stay with your brand for a longer period of time and can be hugely beneficial in the long term as you grow together, whereas, influencers are most helpful for achieving short term goals with clear objectives. Influencers are particularly great for promoting events, competitions or new products, in specifically designated pieces of content. Ambassadors are likely to promote your brand through more organic regular content as it appears in their daily life, as opposed to designated posts.
Want to know more about working with influencers or ambassadors? Book a FREE discovery call here to get started.