By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer
I have written often about the basic components of a digital marketing program — content marketing, social media, email marketing, and so on. However, each of these tactics has an intrinsic defect that makes them less effective than it might be – namely, a single, corporate voice.
As most marketers know, it’s exciting to launch a new social media effort. Building followers, likes and connections from ground zero is rewarding. However, what happens when the novelty wears off and your vast network of contacts tires of posts, blogs and tweets?
No matter how scintillating the message, the messenger can wear out a welcome after a while.
This is a great reason to seek out and engage your fans. While this concept is hardly new, the name, ‘brand ambassador program,’ has caught on in marketing circles. One of the most powerful, yet surprisingly under-utilized, tools in marketing, a brand ambassador program is nothing more than the strategic use of word of mouth.
By leveraging the power of your critical constituencies – customers, employees, strategic partners, a company can exponentially expand the number of voices delivering a message. Having a community of advocates who are just as excited about your company and vision as you are provides a full spectrum of transmission frequencies instead of just one, helping spread the word about what you’re doing to many more people than you could reach on your own.
More importantly, different sources add credibility to the same content and lessen source skepticism that might dilute message efficacy. Next month, we’ll continue to look at the value of a brand ambassador program.
If you have any questions, comments, experiences or opinions about fleet industry-related marketing that you’d like to share, write to me at [email protected].
