The document discusses how to engage with brand ambassadors and create lasting relationships. It recommends establishing a clear identity, creating a powerful experience for ambassadors, and giving the program a stable structure. Specific engagement strategies from companies like H&R Block, Starbucks, and Oracle are examined. Common barriers to engagement like lack of knowledge and motivation are addressed. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of having a clear engagement strategy and community identity, engaging personally in the program, starting small, being genuine, and rewarding top ambassadors.

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How to engage with your
ambassadors and create long
lasting relations.

2. #ENGAGE
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
SOCIAL SEEDER FRAMEWORK
WHAT IS ENGAGEMENT?
HOW TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR AMBASSADORS
USE CASES
COMMON BARRIERS
TAKE AWAYS

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INTRODUCTION
The challenging part of an ambassador program is maintaining a healthy
relation with your ambassadors.
Engagement is important to create long lasting and strong relationships with
your ambassadors.

4. The Social Seeder
Framework
1

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THE SOCIAL SEEDER FRAMEWORK
The social seeder framework is a 4 – step cycle where
you can gather all the necessary information to
strategize your customized ambassador program

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THE SOCIAL SEEDER FRAMEWORK
Recruit
Identify and recruit your
ambassadors
Activate
Segment ambassadors, activate
them, and run multiple highly-
targeted campaigns
Engage
Engage with your ambassadors
and create powerful and lasting
relationships
Harvest
Harvest the fruits of your
campaigns and monitor every
stage of the process

7. What is
engagement?
2

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WHAT IS ENGAGEMENT?
A formal agreement to get
married.

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WHAT IS ENGAGEMENT?
Customer engagement is about
encouraging your audience to interact
and share in the experiences you create
for them as a business and a brand. When
executed well, a strong engagement
strategy will foster brand growth and
loyalty.

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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Better engagement = Better productivity
When ambassadors feel a connection with the company. They believe that the work they are
doing is important and therefore work harder.
Getting people on board for something they don’t care about won’t work
Engaged ambassadors enjoy being part of the community. They like to participate and
volunteer.
Engaged ambassadors will communicate better about your product
And we all know that word of mouth is the best form of marketing

11. TREE PILARS:
Identity
Experience
Structure
*Source: https://community-canvas.org/

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THE PILARS OF ENGAGEMENT
Strong communities have
a clear and explicit sense
of who they are, why they
exist and what they stand
for.
The perspective of the
members: how does identity
translate into concrete
activities that create value for
the members?
The operational
elements of running and
engaging with an
ambassador community

13. How to Engage with
Your Ambassadors
3

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STABLISH A CLEAR IDENTITY
At the core of everything is the Identity. It involves questions of belief and influences all other
parts of the community: who are we and what do we believe in?
What is the purpose of your ambassador program?
What is the members Identity?
What values will you stand up for?
What is the common definition of success?
How does the community express itself?

15. #ENGAGE
KOMEN GREATER: “TOGETHER WE ARE MORE”
Identity: “Together we are more than pink”
Purpose: Raise awareness about breast
health and breast cancer services
Values: empowerment, community,
kindness.
Success definition: A community
empowered with breast cancer education,
opportunities, and hope.
komengreateriowa.org/get-involved/become-a-community-ambassador-today

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CREATE A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE
What does actually happen in the community and how does it translate its purpose into activities
that create tangible value for the members?
How do people join the community?
What experiences do members share?
What rituals happen regularly?
What content creates value for members?
What are the community’s rules?
What roles can members play?

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TANGO SQUAD: “A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE”
Join: Not everybody gets a call, so if you’re in the
Squad consider yourself among the elite.
Shared experiences: hyper-connected football
obsessives on direct messaging apps.
Rituals: Go to exclusive events, meet players, watch
matches…
Content: exclusive content and new products before
they are even unveiled on Adidas’ channels. All
content is mobile optimised and shot in portrait selfie-
style.
Members' role: the center of the action. http://www.adidas.com/com/apps/tangosquad/

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TANGO SQUAD: “A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE”
It’s about sheer reach, what the hyper–connected kids bring is mass
awareness. These are the guys who will push out your stories and
content. They give it longevity and authenticity because they are
talking in a private message environment. If it comes as a referral
from your mate, you’re much more likely to pick it up than if it
comes from a brand
❝
❞
Florian Alt, senior director of global brand communications, Adidas

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GIVE IT A CLEAR STRUCTURE
This is about ensuring the stability of the community long-term. Most communities become more
valuable the longer they exist, as trust both among the members and in to the overall brand
increases.
Who runs the community?
How are decisions made in the community?
What channels does the community use to communicate and gather?
How does the community manage the data of its members?

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REDDIT: “A COMMUNITY OF COMMUNITY FANS”
Reddit is an American social news aggregation,
web content rating, and discussion website.
Reddit's registered community members can
submit content such as text posts or direct links.
Administration: The community.
Decision making: The community.
Channels: Reddit + Social Media
www.reddit.com

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REDDIT: “THE POWER OF A COMMUNITY”
The Reddit effect (aka "Slashdot effect”): occurs when a smaller website has a
high influx of traffic after being linked to on Reddit. It is also called the "Reddit
Hug of Death" among the website's users. Because Reddit is such a large site,
the traffic is immense and can easily crash smaller sites. In order for users to see
crashed websites, several Reddit bots have been created that take a snapshot
of the website before large amounts of traffic flood the affected website
❝
❞

22. TREE PILARS:
Identity
Experience
Structure
*Source: https://community-canvas.org/

23. Engagement
use cases
4

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H&R BLOCK
H&R Block created a community site that connects
users to a tax professional for quick responses.
The community has answered 1 million
questions and generated a 15 percent lift in
business.
Key strength: Adds genuine, and highly
useful value to consumer lives. Allows user
questions to build the community into a
comprehensive resource. www.hrblock.com

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MY STARBUCKS IDEA
My Starbucks Idea works on the same principle as
the old customer “suggestion box” for the global
coffee chain’s 150,000+ members.
In the last 6 years it has led to the
implementation of nearly 300 innovations.
Key strength: Actual implementation and
follow through of popular ideas shows that
the brand listens to consumers. A real asset
for the brand’s continued progression. mystarbucksidea.force.com

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ORACLE COMMUNITY
Oracle Community connects the millions of users
worldwide who use the platform, whether for
personal or for a business function.
Key strength: A great technical resource,
which seeks to aid users in solving problems
in any way it can. Very popular among its
target audience.
community.oracle.com

27. Common Barriers
5

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KNOWLEDGE BARRIER
PROBLEM
When program objectives and ways ambassadors can
contribute are ambiguous, ambassadors are left
wondering:
“What’s the program all about?”
“I have no clue how it’s going to help the
company”
“I’m willing to contribute, but what exactly am I
expected to do?”
SOLUTION
Give clear information about the program
from the beginning
What you will ask and what you will give
Share your guidelines
It will give them confidence to share content about the
organization
Be transparent and share
accomplishments
Share the accomplishments of your program to make them feel
more involved

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MOTIVATIONAL BARRIER
PROBLEM
Little perceived personal benefits and time crunch
makes ambassadors skeptical:
“What’s in it for me?”
“ I don’t see anyone else doing it, then why
should I? ”
“I don’t have time for this; I’m already swarmed
with work”
SOLUTION
Make it easy for ambassadors to
contribute
Removes barriers to participation.
Tap into social cues
Peers’ success stories inspire ambassadors to emulate
similar behavior
Reward and recognize
Seeing their efforts acknowledged motivates
ambassadors.
Get leaders involved
Leadership support instills ambassadors’ confidence in the
program

30. The Ambassador
Canvas
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31. GOALS
What challenges do you want to overcome?
HARVEST
Define which KPIs you will use to measure
the effectiveness or your campaigns?
ACTIVATE
What will you ask them?
What will be the frequency?
ENGAGE
What kind of relationship do you aim to build with
your ambassadors?
What will you give them and when?
TIMING
When will you start?
AMBASSADOR’S
PROGRAM NAME
RECRUIT
Who are your ambassadors?
How will you recruit them?
VERSION:DATE:DESIGNED FOR:DESIGNED BY:
AMBASSADOR CANVAS
OWNERSHIP

32. TAKEAWAYS
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TAKEAWAYS
SET UP YOUR PROGRAM WITH A CLEAR ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
(identity + experience + structure)
ENGAGE IN THE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM YOURSELF
START SMALL
BE GENUINE
ENCOURAGE AND REWARD GOOD PERFORMING AMBASSADORS

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Do you want to learn
more?
Visit our website at socialseeder.com
Get in touch in community@socialseeder.com