PART 2 OF HOW TO BUILD A SOLID MICRO-INFLUENCER PROGRAM (AKA; AMBASSADOR PROGRAM)

Part 1 of this article sets up the value of a micro-influencer or ambassador program (“influencer” and “ambassador” are used interchangeably in this article).  The four tenants in Part 1 include:

ONE |  Listen to the micro-influencers who are sacrificing for your organization…they will tell you everything you need to know.  Peter Drucker often spoke about the idea that once you are part of an organization for a while, you are no longer a constituent, and you lose sight of what constituents find valuable. You might think you know what micro-influencers need, want, and value, but you probably don’t.  Find ways to listen to the men and women already acting as your influencers…and listen beyond what they are just saying out loud. 

TWO | Provide practical resources that help ambassadors contribute.  The influencers acting as ambassadors for your organization have a life outside of all they do for you.  They go to work thinking about accounting, being an attorney, being a stay-at-home mom, etc. – they need help, and after listening, you will know some practical ideas of their needs.  The organization I led provided some of the following and more:

• Downloadable flyers that help educate others on your mission
• social media graphics
• banners that could be mailed, used, and shipped back,
• monthly challenges the influencers could ask their network to help with…final four brackets, state-by-state challenges, Christmas-time angel trees to fill, etc.

THREE |  Use both the total number of influencers and engagement as critical metrics. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that the number of influencers is the most critical metric.  It is essential, but you need to consider the percentage of influencers that are 1.) not engaged, 2.) marginally engaged, and 3.) fully engaged.  Once you have found ways to score this metric numerically, discover strategies to move influencers from “not engaged” to “fully engaged.”  Perhaps in another article, I will explore how to strategically part ways with influencers that remain unengaged (or let’s talk, and I’ll let you know one-on-one).

FOUR | Invest in influencers. In the organization I led, it became apparent that we had a chance to pour into the lives of our ambassadors.  They benefited our organization so much that we wanted to give back, enrich their lives personally, and even launch a sub-ministry specific to them.  In every way, this was a win-win.  Each ambassador felt valued and poured into, and of course, the organization was building gratitude and sustainability into the mix. 

FIVE | Use healthy competition to motivate. In any influencer program, some individuals will represent you simply because they love your mission…and will work hard.  We found competition beneficial for those who were not intrinsically motivated.  We instilled monthly contests and specific initiative competitions (most raised for this project), and the ultimate competition was the annual award for “most raised.”  In each case, the competition provided a little extrinsic motivation that added to the bottom line.

BONUS | Finally, move influencers to embrace your organization’s mission in its entirely. As discussed in Part 1, influencers represent your organization for different reasons.  Once you have their attention, work hard to move them to love your organization simply because of your mission.  If you do that, it won’t matter what personalities are involved, what incentives you employ, or anything on the periphery of the mission…they will love what your organization is working to accomplish.  Pure love for the mission creates loyalty and programmatic sustainability. 

An influencer’s program can be highly fulfilling with a high return on investment.  If you are launching such a program, I hope these articles are helpful.  If you already have a program, these ideas will lead you to maximize your program further.  In either case, Mosaic Strategy Group has tools to help you launch or maximize a micro-influencers program. 

Mosaic Strategy Group specializes in tools and experience to help you or your organization get unstuck and to the next step in your development.  See what experiences and expertise we have that can benefit you. www.mosaicstrategy.us