Word-of-mouth marketing in the cosmetics and skincare industry is thriving. From unsponsored, engaging #GRWM videos on TikTok to gorgeous skincare routine reels on Instagram, if the right people are talking, the right people are buying. And these people should be your ambassadors.
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We have put together 6 reasons why your cosmetics or skincare brand needs a brand ambassador program to boost engagement, generate social buzz and drive revenue.
Only 4% of people say they actually trust what influencers say online, according to The Drum. With many examples of influencers making mistakes when working with brands and promoting cosmetic and skincare products they've never tried, it’s easy to see why consumers may be a bit warier about the messages they are sharing.
This is why we suggest you build a strong community of brand ambassadors who believe in your product 100% and already have a strong connection with your brand. By doing so, you build a social buzz around trust, community and authenticity resulting in more potential consumers willing to try your product for the first time.
In fact, 92% of consumers say they trust recommendations from friends and family, according to Buyapowa. People are much more likely to listen if a close friend or member of their family tells them about a product or brand.
When people see friendly, smiley, and confident ambassadors online who they’ve actually built a relationship with, through social media, they’re more likely to trust their recommendations.
As a brand, you build trust by ensuring your customers are satisfied with their products, right? That might mean timely delivery, product accuracy and regular communication.
With your ambassador community, the same principle applies when it comes to building trust. You’ll want to ensure you’re building a relationship that doesn’t feel purely transactional. That can be through personalised messaging or fairly rewarding your ambassadors when they make great content that engages with their audience or drive sales for your brand. Perhaps it’s even giving shout-outs on your socials for your ambassador of the week #AotW.
Brands are becoming more aware of the benefits of authenticity and listening to their real customers. But don’t get left behind, because more cosmetic and skincare brands have jumped onto the idea of ambassador marketing, it’s likely that your consumers could jump ship in order to reap the rewards other brands are giving their ambassadors.
However, true fans will always stick around, you just need to find them! There are multiple blogs and social media platforms that your customers, followers and fans engage on, each bringing a unique tone of voice that aligns with the social media channel and their audience. It’s important to ensure your brand is being spoken about on all social media channels to boost your overall engagement. It’s also important that you meet your community where they’re at.
Most consumers find visual UGC (User-Generated Content) more influential than brand photos or videos. UGC can result in higher web conversions than campaigns or websites without it. People like to buy from people, and user-generated content adds more of a human side to your messaging.
Fortunately, for cosmetics and skincare brands, beauty trends on social media are forever changing and adapting so finding trends that fit your product is easier than you think. It’s ensuring you have the right fit of people engaging with the trends that’s the hard part!
UGC cover image: @@lyubamalinskaya for Byrokko. First inline image: @mamma_to_theo for Baebrow. Second image: @wanderingaroundtheus for Coral Toothpaste
Once your customers join your ambassador community they are more likely to be engaged and loyal to your brand for a very long time. They already love the product and your brand so incentives like freebies, special events, perks and discounts that come along with being your ambassador will keep them loyal for life.
All you need to do as a brand is create an incentive as to why they need to spread the love further with their audience. Once brand ambassadors see the potential to engage with your brand in a way that’s not solely customer focused you’re able to build relationships in a new way.
It’s important that your ambassador community feels engaged with, heard and fairly rewarded for the ambassador marketing tasks they perform for your brand. Whether you’re establishing an ambassador marketing program or have already established one, be sure to focus on relationship management to get true lifetime value from your ambassador community.
There is no doubt your consumers will be amped and excited to announce your product launch, sale, discount, or special event on their social media channels! So why not let them work in a safe space and receive great rewards for doing so?
Social buzz is the idea of being anywhere and everywhere on social media! A virtual takeover that gets people talking. The more ambassadors you have talking about your brand the more social buzz will be generated for your product.