Summary: <br> How to reach out to Darryl Praill:<br> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrylpraill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ohpinion8ted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a> <a href="https://www.vanillasoft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> What Is a Brand Ambassador?<br> Every company will say they have a brand ambassador, but not all actually have one. To be a brand ambassador, you must be the spokesperson or one of the designated spokespersons for your company. It’s a personal brand that cannot be attributed to corporate channels. Instead, a spokesperson should be someone who works for or runs your company. This is because people are better able to engage with and relate to a person than a company.<br> So what, besides the obvious, distinguishes a brand ambassador from the company itself?<br> It all lies in personality. This can be defined in any way. For <a href="https://www.vanillasoft.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VanillaSoft</a>’s Darryl Praill, it meant a mix of “smartass” and “truth teller”. A truth teller, Darryl says, is an important personality for your brand ambassador(s) to have, as truth tellers are not afraid to constructively tell people when they’re wrong. Although this may sound messy and scary for many brands, it’s much more relatable than the “glorified automated voice recording” personality that is often used.<br> This willingness to engage with people can have significant benefits if done correctly. The key is to know when truth telling is necessary and when it would be a better idea to “agree to disagree” on a point of contention.<br> Here’s how having a brand ambassador who knows how to constructively engage with people can help position your brand as the right choice for those seeking help in your field.<br> The Benefits of Having a Brand Ambassador<br> There are multiple benefits to having a brand ambassador, but the three main ones are reputation, visibility, and influence.<br> Reputation<br> When your brand ambassador consistently reacts to online conversations in the same way, people are much more likely to believe them when they say whether something is wrong or correct. This is where being known as a truth teller comes into play. Having reliable, valid opinions that are backed up by fact helps build an ambassador’s reputation -- and your company’s by default.<br> Visibility<br> Having a brand ambassador can significantly improve your brand’s visibility. Remember, people are more likely to engage with a person they can relate to than a faceless company. So long as the content, comments, opinions, and expertise your brand ambassador shares consistently add value to the conversation and convey knowledge, your brand will reach a far broader audience than any of your other marketing methods. This, in turn, will snowball into the higher reputation we just mentioned, as well as more influence in your company’s industry.<br> Influence<br> Every business has competitors, and in some cases, those competitors have been in business a lot longer. It can be difficult to drive the conversation away from your competitors and toward your business, but having a brand ambassador makes it possible to stand out against larger, more established rivals. When your brand ambassador has a well-established reputation as a truth-teller and value provider, they are able to drive the conversation around topics related to your industry.<br> Similarly, the high reputation, visibility, and influence of a good ambassador increases brand recognition. This means when someone from your sales or marketing team reaches out to a prospect, they’re much more likely to have heard of your company through interactions with the ambassador.<br> As a result, the sales cycle can start immediately instead of after your sales or marketing team have managed to establish a relationship with the prospect.
