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The Foolproof Way to Get Around Facebook’s Page Algorithm

Local Marketing, Small Business, Social Media Marketing

In February of 2018, Facebook announced plans to prioritize personal content and de-prioritize content from pages. That means that if you’ve got a Facebook page for your local business, your content is only being seen by a very small percentage of your followers unless you pay to promote it.

Nothing to be done, right? It’s one of those things that you can’t control… or is it?

It turns out there’s a super-easy (and FREE) way to connect with both existing and potential customers on Facebook without paying to promote your content. It involves creating a Facebook group to promote your brand. Here’s what you need to know.

Group Content is Prioritized Ahead of Brand Content

The first thing you need to know is that Facebook has downgraded content posted by company and brand pages. However, it still prioritizes content from groups.

Why? Well, the short answer is that people must voluntarily opt in to a group.

You might be thinking that users have voluntarily followed your page, too – and that’s true. But Facebook views groups differently than pages. It has to do with the purpose of a group:

A group’s purpose is to promote conversation and build a community.

You might want your page to do that, too, but Facebook assumes that the primary goal of a page is to sell a product or service. That’s an important distinction.

In other words, by creating a Facebook group, you can build your brand and engage with customers without worrying that members won’t see your content.

Not convinced? There’s actually research to support the idea that groups are a better way to reach your audience than pages. A study by Digiterati revealed that groups get approximately 50% more reach than pages.

Creating a Group is Easy

You can create a Facebook group from your personal Facebook page. In fact, the process is very similar to the one for creating a Facebook page like the one you have for your business.

Simply go to the upper, right-hand corner of your Facebook page and click the little down arrow there. You’ll see an option to Create Group. Click it and follow the steps.

It’s important to choose a memorable, brand-specific name for your group. You don’t want to give it the same name as your page, but you do want it to appear in the search results when people search for your business.

The title should be inspired by the content you’ll be posting. So, if you run a dog grooming business, you might offer dog care tips and incorporate that into your group name, like this:

Fancy Dog Groomer’s Dog Care Advice

In other words, combine your business with name with some compelling, buzzy words to make people want to join your group.

Invite People to Join

You’ve created a group… but what’s next?

That’s easy. It’s time to invite some people to join. Here are some easy ways to jump-start your group and get new members:

Send group invitations to everyone who follows your business page.
Send invitations to your personal connections on Facebook.
Send an email to your list with a link to your group and an invitation to join.
If you have a Twitter account for your business, Tweet an invitation to your followers.

It’s likely that a significant percentage of your followers will join the group. Once they’ve done that, you can also post content in the group encouraging members to send out invitations.

Create Compelling Content

Once you’ve created your group and invited some members, it’s time to create content. Remember, the primary goal of group content is to drive engagement. You want members to be talking to you and to one another.

Facebook has a tool to create Welcome posts. Underneath Members on the toolbar, click Write Post. Facebook will automatically tag up to 100 new members (in this context, new means that they have joined in the past seven days) in the post. If you prefer, you can write a general welcome post and ask new members to introduce themselves in the comments.

Here are some other suggestions for engaging group content:

Inspirational posts can be a good way to engage your members. For example, if you’re a life coach, you might post something inspirational on a Monday morning and then ask group members what they do to keep themselves motivated.
Tips and advice can also make great content. You can share things that you’ve picked up while running your business and then ask members if they have anything to add – or if they’ve tried any of the things you’ve suggested.
Community discussions can drive engagement and make your group page a lively place to be. You might post a question or conversational topic and then ask members to chime in with their answers or opinions.
Q & A posts are great for getting people involved. Creating a post can be a simple as saying “I know people have questions about ______. Post them in the comments and I’ll answer them!” Only do a post like this on a day when you have the time to respond promptly.
Depending on the kind of business you run, you may want to share success stories from members. For example, if you do local marketing, you could share a story from a member who killed it with a marketing campaign. And if you sell a product, you could share photos of members using what they bought.

The content you create will have a direct impact on the success of your group.

Social Learning Groups

Do you have the kind of business that lends itself to the creation of video courses? If you do, you might want to check out Facebook’s new Social Learning Groups feature, which enables groups to add video courses to their group pages.

To add courses, go to the Edit Group Settings tab and choose Group Type. Then, select Social Learning Group from the menu.

From there, you can create new Units for your courses. They can be optional or mandatory, and if they’re mandatory, users will see a progress bar to track their accomplishments.

The great thing about this feature is that you can upload courses or webinars you have already created or create new content. You can find a full guide on how to use this feature here.

Groups Are the New Pages

The bottom line is that Facebook Groups are to businesses today what Facebook Pages were five years ago. They offer an inexpensive but effective way to connect with current and prospective clients, build your brand, and grow your business.

6 Customer Success Metrics You Should Actually Pay Attention To

Small Business

How much value are your customers getting from your products or services?

If you don’t know the answer to that question, you might be putting your customer retention at risk. And, considering that it can cost up to 10 times as much to win a new customer as it does to retain an existing one, ignoring customer retention is – simply put – a bad idea.

Of course, the key question here is understanding how your product affects your customers. One of the best ways to do that is to track customer success metrics. Here are 6 you should be paying attention to.

#1: Qualitative Customer Feedback

It would be impossible to know what your customers think of your company without asking them – so the first thing you should do is talk to your customers about their experiences with your business and products.

There are multiple ways to solicit qualitative customer feedback. The quickest and easiest method is to create a customer experience questionnaire and email it to your list. You can also post it on your social media pages. Use the responses to measure customer satisfaction.

An alternative and more labor-intensive option is to have your sales reps ask customers one-on-one about their experiences. For example, you could host a customer appreciation day, ask questions, and use the answers to measure your results.

#2: Customer Churn Rate

Knowing how many customers you lose in any given period is another key measure you should track. The customer churn rate is a measure of how many customers “churn” or leave your company.

You can calculate your churn rate by counting your clients or customers at the beginning of a month. Then, count the number of customers who churn during that period and divide it by your starting number.

You should not include any new customers unless they churn in the same period they became customers. In other words, if a customer bought your product at the beginning of January, wasn’t satisfied, and vowed never to buy it again, you should count them in both your starting figure and your churn figure. However, new clients that stay on should not be counted until the next period.

#3: Monthly Recurring Revenue

Your monthly recurring revenue is a measure of how much money you are making from your existing customer base. It can be a good way to track customer success, particularly for companies whose clients buy products on an ongoing basis.

To calculate your monthly recurring revenue or MRR, start by calculating your average revenue per customers (Divide your total revenue from customers by the number of customers you have.) Then, simply multiply your total number of active customers by your average revenue per customer.

For this calculation, it’s important to differentiate between active customers and inactive customers. Recurring revenue is revenue you can count on. A client who orders only once a year may be counted, but for monthly recurring revenue, you should either divide their revenue by 12 if you want to include it every month, or add the total only to the month when they normally buy from you.

#4: Customer Health Score

The customer health score measures the specific and tangible ways in which buying your product is benefiting your customers. To calculate it, you’ll need to ask some questions. For example:

How many customers or clients do they have?
Is the customer hiring new employees?
Are they taking on more business – additional orders or clients?
Have their customer retention rates improved?

Once you have answers to these questions, you can create a scoring system. For example, you might score each question on a scale from one to 10 and add the scores together to get a total. Then, you should plan to follow up and recalculate on a regular basis.

#5: Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores are something that’s always worth tracking. While they might not be related directly to your customer’s success, they are an important measure of your product’s worth and usefulness to a customer.

For example, a low CSAT score is likely to indicate that your product or service is underperforming for your customers. It could mean that your Customer Service team isn’t performing as well as it should. A high CSAT score likely means that your customer is satisfied and will continue buying from you. It may also increase the chances that they’ll recommend your business to other customers.

Whatever the reason for the score, tracking it gives you an opportunity to intervene, provide the value your customers need, and increase the chances that they’ll stick with your company in the long haul. Improving customer satisfaction is linked directly to improvements in customer retention and our next metric, as well.

#6: Customer Lifetime Value

The final metric you should track is a big one. Customer lifetime value, or CLV, is a measurement of how much an individual customer is worth to your company over time. It’s directly related to some of the other metrics we’ve discussed, including customer retention, CSAT scores, and customer health.

To calculate the CLV, you’ll need three pieces of data. They are:

Your average purchase value (total purchase revenue divided by total number of purchases)
Your average purchase frequency (for example, twice a month)
Your average customer lifespan (for example, three years)

So, if you had an average purchase value of $100, an average purchase frequency of twice a month, and an average lifespan of three years, your CLV calculation would be:

$100 X 2 X 36, for a total lifetime value of $7.200.

Your CLV is a useful metric when you determine your marketing budget. It wouldn’t make sense to spend $1000 acquiring a new customer if your CLV is only $1,200. You’ll need to crunch the numbers to back into a customer acquisition and retention budget that makes sense.

While there are many factors that can influence your customers’ success, you should always have a handle on how your product is helping them. The 6 metrics here are ones that you can’t afford to ignore. After all, your success may depend on it.

How to Create Killer Local Content for Your Business

Content Marketing, Local Marketing, Small Business

In the days before the internet, local marketing was simple. You paid for a listing in your local Yellow Pages, printed flyers, and maybe took out an ad in the local paper. People knew who you were and where you were.

Then web marketing came along and changed everything. At first, the recommendation was to focus on general keywords. But over the years, Google and other search engines have changed their algorithms. Now, they prioritize local search over everything else.

What does that mean? In short, it means that creating compelling local content isn’t optional. It’s as necessary as oxygen. You’ve got to show potential customers that you’re part of a community – and that means that you’ve got to think about more than giving out your address.

The Basics of Local Marketing

I’ve already written a lot about local marketing, but I think it’s important to include a summary of how to optimize your website and content for local search. Keep these pointers in mind:

Choose local keywords that are highly relevant to your business and have a high search volume. The best local search words include the name of your city, state or neighborhood as well as keywords that are relevant to your business.
Optimize for local voice search and “near me” searches.
Optimize for mobile search and make sure your site looks great on mobile devices.
Use your local keywords in important places on your website, including in title tags, image tags, meta descriptions, anchor text for links, H1 tags, and in your content.
Use rich snippets to add essential geographical information to your Google search results.
Get important local sites to link back to your site. Remember, when it comes to building links, quality is more important than quantity. Focus on local business guides, the Chamber of Commerce, and related local businesses to build your local SEO “cred.”
Encourage your customers to leave reviews and link your site to your review pages. Customer testimonials, which go into a bit more depth than reviews, are also essential.

Following these tips will set you up for success – but you’ve still got to create the kind of compelling local content that will attract customers.

Tips for Creating Local Content

Once your site is optimized for local searches, it’s time to focus on creating local content. That means more than simply putting your local keywords into general content. You’ll need to show casual visitors to your site that you’re a part of a local community.

Here are some pointers to get you started.

Blog about local events. Every community, from small rural towns to huge cities, has local events that are a big deal. As a business owner, you should be aware of these events and find a way to write about them that ties back to your business. It’ll be easy if you’re planning to sponsor a booth at your local street fair. But local charity events and holiday celebrations offer the opportunity for you to talk about your community and why you love it.
Talk about local news. Did your local Little League team make the playoffs? Did a high school student win a contest? Is there a new business coming to town? Any of these things could be turned into blog posts and they’re especially effective if you can find an organic way to relate the story to your business.
Develop case studies that are relevant to local prospects. You might serve a variety of neighborhoods or more than one town in your area. If that’s the case, it’s your job to show that you care about all the places in your service area. One way to do it is to develop case studies that demonstrate your knowledge of the area and of any special circumstances that might be unique to where you are. For example, a landscaper in Southern California might talk about the risk of wildfires or offer tips on how to get rid of black widow spiders.
Find out what your audience is interested in and then write about it. Of course, you don’t want to stray too far from your business, but there’s nothing wrong with getting excited about the things your audience cares about. For example, you might write about an upcoming holiday or the year’s first big storm.

A good way to get ideas for your local content is to stay plugged in to your community online. You might follow you local Chamber of Commerce on Facebook, subscribe to your local paper, and stop into the library to see what new flyers have been added to the bulletin board.

What is the Intent of Your Content?

One of the most important things to remember when you’re creating local content is that every blog post or social media update you write should have a clear intention that’s related to your business.

What do I mean by that? Simply that you can’t waste time blogging about things if you don’t understand why you’re writing about them. Sometimes the intent will be clear. You own a hardware store and blogging about predicted winter snowfall might help you sell some shovels and snowblowers, or at least some Ice Melt.

At other times, though, the intention may be a bit harder to pin down. There’s nothing wrong with that but make sure you don’t skip this step. If you’re creative enough, you should be able to find a way to tie any piece of content you create back to your business.

For example, say you want to blog about a local charity event, but you can’t figure out a way to connect it to your business organically. Instead of giving up, you might consider donating a portion of your sales to the charity or collaborating with other local business owners on a fundraising effort.

The key here is to make your local content relevant to your business and to your target audience. You can still share general content, too, but local content is a must if you want your business to grow.

Why Facebook Messenger Ads are AWESOME

Small Business, Social Media Marketing

Advertising on Facebook has been around for a while. It’s practically a granddaddy in the world of online marketing.

And, like a lot of small business owners, you know that it’s getting harder to get the ROI you want on Facebook ads. It’s a numbers game, after all, and as of the third quarter of 2018, they had approximately 2.27 billion active monthly users.

It’s no wonder you’re having a difficult time connecting with your audience. You’re competing with millions of other advertisers! It’s a crowded space.

That said, Facebook ads can still be useful – with a twist. Instead of sticking to the same traditional ads you’ve been using, it might be time to check out Facebook’s newest ad option – Facebook Messenger Ads.

What Are Facebook Messenger Ads?

Facebook Messenger ads are ads that appear either on the newsfeed or directly in people’s Messenger inboxes.

The newsfeed ads have a call to action that directs people who click it to Messenger, where they can send you a message and get more information about your business.

53% of people say they’re willing to buy from a company they can message directly on Facebook Messenger ads. And, customer service is increasingly moving toward instant and direct messaging. Customers expect instantaneous responses and favor brands that provide it.

Facebook Messenger ads allow small businesses to connect directly with potential leads. They eliminate the need for a hard selling ad and instead, open a dialogue. They provide an opportunity for you to personalize your marketing in a way that encourages people instead of putting them off.

Let’s break it down, starting with destination ads. These are ads that appear in your target audience’s newsfeed, very much like traditional Facebook ads. The main difference? The call to action is always going to be “Send a Message.” When a user clicks it, a Messenger window opens, and your automated message will appear. (We’ll talk more about how to use that feature later.)

Sponsored messages allow you to deliver special offers and communications directly to the user’s Messenger inbox. A key feature of sponsored messages is that you may send them only to people who have messaged you previously. They’re a form of remarketing with a personal touch.

Finally, home screen ads are ads that appear in Messenger. The difference between these ads and sponsored messages is that their intent is not to start a conversation. It’s to drive sales by encouraging users to click on the ad.

How Can Facebook Messenger Ads Benefit Your Business?

Facebook Messenger ads are a great option for small, local businesses. They allow you to personalize ads and connect directly with the people who are most likely to buy from you.

Want some examples? Here are a few ways that you can use Facebook Messenger ads to boost your profits:

Personalize your messages. Too much personalization can seem downright creepy, but Facebook Messenger ads allow companies to straddle the line without crossing it. Because you can only send direct messages to people who’ve already connected with you on Messenger, it doesn’t feel as intrusive as LinkedIn direct ads. And, it lets you tailor your offers in a way that’s highly likely to result in a sale.
Give customers the response time they want. With Messenger ads, you can automate your replies to ensure that potential customers aren’t stuck waiting for a response from you. And, in case you don’t know, people prefer messaging to any other form of customer service. Research shows that 73% of consumers prefer live chat to email, and 56% prefer it to a phone call.
Start a conversation. Lead nurturing is something that you can do one on one with Facebook Messenger ads. You can even customize your newsfeed ads to encourage people to chat with you about your product or service. This option allows for one-on-one contact – even if it’s largely automated – that makes potential customers feel valued.
Increase local awareness of your business. One of the best things about Facebook Messenger ads is that you can select “increase local awareness” as your ad objective. This is a particularly effective option for businesses that want to reconnect with existing customers. You can use Messenger to send them an offer that’s tailored to them.

Another way of looking at Facebook Messenger ads is that they’re the modern-day equivalent of going door to door. They don’t require any more effort than traditional Facebook ads, but they offer a degree of personalization and one-on-one contact that will allow your business to connect with potential leads in a meaningful way.

How to Get Started with Facebook Messenger Ads

If you’re itching to get started with Facebook Messenger ads, here are 7 easy steps to help you get going.

Open Facebook Business Manager.
Choose conversion as your marketing objective.
Scroll down and select Messenger. (This ensures that a click will start a conversation instead of redirecting the person to your landing page.)
Scroll to Edit Placements and select Messenger again. You’ll notice that with your first ad, Sponsored Messages aren’t an option – that’s because they’re only for remarketing.)
Fill in the content you want to appear in your ad.
Choose Send Message as your call to action. (This one’s a must because it lets the people who see your ad know that they’re starting a conversation with you.)
Finally, fill in the message (or the first few messages) you want people to see when they click your call to action. For example, you could send them a coupon or ask them a question to start the conversation.

That’s it. Once you’ve completed these steps, your very first Facebook Messenger ad will be up and running – and you’ll be able to see for yourself what a powerful marketing tool Facebook Messenger can be.

Getting a great ROI on Facebook advertising can be tough. There’s a ton of competition and as a small business owner, your marketing budget is limited. Facebook Messenger ads can help you leapfrog over the competition and connect directly with the most valuable people on social media – your customers.

AdWords is D-D-Dying. Hello Google Local Services!

Local Marketing, Small Business

I’m sorry that I have to break it to you but… AdWords is dying.

Well, I’m not that sorry. I’m eager to tell you because Google Local Service Ads are a better option for local businesses than AdWords ever was.

Why? Because AdWords was an advertising tool that could be adapted for local businesses – with the right local keywords, it’s been possible to get to the top of Google’s SERP. But it was never intended specifically for local service based business.

That’s not the case with Google Local Service Ads. It’s designed especially for local businesses. Let’s talk about it – and about the Google Guarantee Badge.

Why is Local Search a Must?

Simply put, 75% of all local searches result in an in-store visit within 24 hours. This one statistic demonstrates the importance of local SEO. If you can attract a lead through a search, the odds are in your favor that the searcher will come to your business.

As Google focuses more on local SEO and searches, it’s natural that they’ve decided to offer searchers a way to verify local businesses. And that’s where Google Local Services comes in.

Google Local Services got its start as Google Home Services in 2015. It was originally a pilot program in the San Francisco market. It offered consumers some detailed and useful information about local businesses, including:

Confirmation that the business is properly licensed
Confirmation that the business is properly insured
Confirmation that all employees have passed a criminal background check

That last requirement was part of the screening process for any company that made in-home visits. The intent was to provide customers with some peace of mind before they contracted with a business.

Once a business has passed Google’s screening, they’ll get a badge with a green checkmark next to it and the words “Google Guaranteed.” That’s a signal to potential leads that your business is trustworthy.

What Does the Google Guarantee Offer Consumers?

The Google Guarantee offers two things to consumers: peace of mind and financial protection. Here’s how it breaks down.

The first thing is that, as I mentioned before, the Google Guarantee tells potential leads that your business is licensed and insured and that your employees have passed a criminal background check. That’s essential in the home services industry.

The second thing the Google Guarantee offers is financial protection. Google will reimburse money paid for a job when the consumer is dissatisfied. There’s a lifetime cap of $2,000 and the service must be:

Booked through Google Local Services
Unsatisfactory in quality
Submitted within 30 days of the work being completed

Per Google, “Add-on or future projects, damages to property, dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness, and cancellations aren’t covered.”

If one of your customers files a claim, Google will contact you to let you know. You’ll have a chance to work things out with your customer first. If that fails, Google will reach a verdict about how to handle the claim.

Where Do Google Local Services Ads Appear?

If you haven’t taken part of Google Local Service listings yet, you might be wondering “Why do I need to jump through hoops to complete Google’s screening process?

Well, there’s a couple really good reasons. Let’s discuss.

First, if you’re properly licensed and insured, the only other thing you need to do is get background checks for your employees. And frankly, if you’re sending your employees into people’s homes, that’s a good idea for every business.

Second, it’s all about the ad placement. Businesses that pass Google’s screening process get preferred placement on the SERP on both desktop and mobile devices.

On desktop, business with the Google Guarantee Badge appear in a box above both the traditional Google 3-pack and the regular organic search results. The display will list:

Your company’s name
Your rating (from one to five stars)
Your Google Guarantee Badge
Your city and state
Your telephone number
Your business hours

Typically, the three companies with the highest ratings for the search term will appear at the top of the SERP. There’ll also be a link underneath the top three business that consumers can click to see more businesses.

On mobile devices, the Google Local Services ads appear above the SERP, too. Typically, the top two results will appear along with the name, badge, rating, and a call button that mobile users can click to contact you directly.

Potential leads will know that your business has been guaranteed by Google. They can access reviews easily and be confident that you’re someone they can trust with whatever work they need.

Remember, in any sale process there’s a need to overcome buyer objections. One of the biggest objections when people are looking for home services is safety. They want to know that you’re reliable and that your employees can be trusted. The Google Guarantee Badge provides some peace of mind and takes the guesswork out of hiring you.

But here’s the best thing – While traditional ads operate on a pay-per-click basis, Local Service ads run on a pay-per-lead basis. That means you’re only charged for the leads you receive through your Local Service ad.

And, compared to regular search ads, Local Service ads have a pretty simple setup. No keywords, research, or creative to manage.

Are There Any Downsides to Google Local Services?

I can’t say that there are any real negatives to qualifying for the Google Guarantee Badge, but FYI not every business can take part of this program. Google’s Local Service Ads cater to local service-based businesses in specific industries, such as locksmiths, plumbers, garage door professionals, electricians, and HVAC services. To find out if you can connect to your customers with Local Service Ads, first confirm your business type and location here.

So if you’ll jump through some hoops – Google’s Local Service Ads can give your business a big leg up on your competitors and drive more high quality leads to your business.

Conclusion

Google AdWords is dying whether you’re ready or not. This is the perfect time to embrace Google Local Services, go through the screening process, and get that coveted green checkmark next to your name – so if you own a local service based business – what are you waiting for?

Four Steps to Turn Fans into Brand Ambassadors

Content Marketing, Small Business

In a perfect world, everyone who buys your products would talk about them to everyone they meet.

The problem is, we don’t live in a perfect world. And, while some of your customers might be ardent fans, others may need a bit of coaxing to get there.

The good news?

You can turn customers into enthusiastic brand ambassadors in just four easy steps.
That might sound too good to be true, but it’s not. The trick is knowing what makes someone a brand ambassador – and then leading them down the road instead of hoping they’ll get there on their own.

What Can Brand Ambassadors Do for You

Brand ambassadors are more than just enthusiastic fans. When brand ambassadorship is at its best, customers identify heavily with the brands they love.

One example is Apple customers. You’ve probably noticed that they:

Associate the brand with their self-image
Assign traits of the brand to themselves
Eagerly await the release of new products

Apple might be an extreme example because it’s a big company, but brand ambassadors can do a lot to increase awareness of your brand. They can give you a competitive advantage in your industry. If you’ve got fans who talk about you all the time, you’re getting free advertising from them every time they mention you.

Brand ambassadors can also help you build customer loyalty. Knowing that others are enthusiastic about your products can increase their perceived value. A truly enthusiastic fan can even create new Brand ambassadors for you.

What Does Engagement Have to Do with It

You know that engagement is the Holy Grail of social media marketing. What you might not know is what engagement means nowadays. Your engagement might be up while your sales are down – and when that’s the case, it’s hard to get excited about a few hundred likes on Facebook or Instagram.

Not all engagement is the same. There are levels and you must understand them if you want to understand how to create brand ambassadors. Here’s how I break it down:

Stage 1 engagement: casual observers. These are people who read your Tweets or view your Instagram photos without commenting, liking, or sharing. They see your content but don’t do anything about it.
Stage 2 engagement: simple supporters. These are people who like your posts but don’t comment or share them.
Stage 3 engagement: conversationalists. These are customers who comment on your posts or, in some cases, DM or email you directly. The dialogue might be brief but it’s a step up and requires effort on the part of the customer.
Stage 4 engagement: broadcasters. These are the fans who share your content with their social media followers or post reviews of your products online. They’ve taken a step beyond casual support to try to share their passion for your brand with others.
Step 5 engagement: cheering section. These are fans who will go out of their way to come to events that you sponsor, whether they’re livestreams or in-person events.
Step 6 engagement: superfans. These are customers who create content that you can share and use to bolster your brand. Think of the people who post Instagram content at the request of a brand or show off their purchases online.

Your goal, of course, is to get as many people to step 6 as possible.

The Four Steps to Brand Ambassadorship

As I said before, there are four steps you can follow to create brand ambassadors. They’re not difficult, but they do require some planning and persistence on your part.

Here are two examples of brands I think have done a good job of creating brand ambassadors.

Starbucks runs a white cup contest on Instagram every year. They challenge fans to create designs on plain white cups and post photos of them. The company shares the posts with their fans and produces a limited-edition run of the winning design.

Beauty brand Dove often asks its fans to tell stories about themselves and their families. They’ve run Mother’s Day promotions where they request information about customers’ mothers and then create one-of-a-kind social media “cards” for them.

What you can see from these ideas is that fans will engage with your brand if you ask them, incentivize them, and reward them.

Your brand ambassadors are waiting to be inspired…

It’s time to start thinking about what’s going to convince your current customers and followers to embrace your brand as ambassadors.

Not sure where to start? Try asking on social media! Your fans who are already engaged will be eager to tell you what they want – and you can use their advice as guidance to get things started.

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