A study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group found that 90% of consumers trust “people they know” for purchasing recommendations, while 70% trust “opinions from online consumers with whom they have a connection through social networks”. Similarly, when it comes to closing a deal between two companies, 53% of people trust the opinions of “colleagues, partners and friends”. We can take the results of this study as a strong indicator to look more closely at the Customers who have the potential to be ambassadors for your IT company.
Brand Ambassadors
Who are they? Brand ambassadors, in this case for a company, are positive and loyal advocates or advocates, although they are not necessarily your customers. Typically, they represent the company’s identity, whether they are sponsors, influencers or admirers. However, what characterizes them as a true ambassador is their level of loyalty and their ability to influence other people who do not yet know your company or people who are considering becoming your customer.
Why does someone become an ambassador?
There are three simple reasons that influence someone to become an ambassador for your IT company: sympathy, necessity and convenience. But in practice, how can these three reasons influence? We explain:
Likeability : they like your products, services and your IT company;
Need : They chose your IT company because it was the best option. For example, a customer may remain loyal because your services are the lowest priced on the market or your products are the most innovative in technology. For reasons like these, the customer will always turn to your company;
Convenience : They chose it because it was the easiest option. For example, loyal customers may make multiple purchases because it is the closest IT company, because they have a strong connection with the seller, because they are fully satisfied with the Customer Support service, etc.
How to find ambassadors?
The exercise of finding your ambassadors starts within your own IT company. Think about the number of employees who use your products and services and who speak positively about the company. Can you create a large list?
But that's not all, because through research on social networks, IT forums and even in the comments on blog articles on your website, you may be surprised to find positive comments from Customers who, in fact, are a large community of ambassadors for your IT company.
Through this exercise, you can start creating your network of ambassadors and use them to your IT company's marketing efforts. Observe whether your ambassadors are already customers, what they say and how they talk about your company, and, based on this information, create strategies to nurture and strengthen an effective relationship network.
How to encourage ambassadors?
There are some marketing strategies that can uk number list turn your customers into ambassadors for your IT company, such as a loyalty program or rewards program. There are several B2B and B2C companies that carry out actions that you can draw inspiration from. Here are some examples:
Aubay Portugal : the multinational technology consulting and information systems integration company has created an ambassador program especially for university students in the areas of IT, Technology and Management. The “Take the Next Step in Your Career” program provides direct access to the company's weekly events and lunches, training courses, workshops and Meet&Tech's, as well as the possibility of becoming micro-influencers within their own universities, expanding their contact networks and earning prizes for referrals they bring to the company;
Starbucks: Offers a free drink or discount card after multiple purchases;
Airlines: miles programs that allow you to accumulate points to exchange for flights or other services;
Asos A-List: for every €1 spent in the online store, the Customer earns five points to accumulate and exchange for discount vouchers for future purchases and other benefits that increase as the Customer progresses from one level to another in the program.