Influencers vs brand affiliates vs advocates vs ambassadors: Choosing the right strategy for your brand

Influencers have taken the marketing world by storm over recent years. An influencer is typically a well-known figure with a large social media following who partners with brands for paid collaborations. These partnerships often involve content creation, such as product reviews, tutorials or event promotions to increase brand visibility and create buzz.

Influencer partnerships are usually short-term and transactional. The brand provides compensation (through set rates, commissions, free products or other incentives like trips) in exchange for being featured on the influencer’s social media platforms.

Influencers often collaborate with multiple brands, making them versatile but sometimes less brand-dedicated representatives.

The benefits of using influencers

• The high follower counts of influencers enable the potential for wide exposure for your brand.
• Genuine influencers lend credibility to your brand and can influence their audience’s decision-making process.
• May offer cost-effective exposure compared to traditional ads.
• Content created by influencers can double as user-generated content (UGC) for future use.
  

The downsides of using influencers

• Influencer marketing costs have risen significantly over the last few years with mega influencers (500,000 followers) charging upwards of $10,000 per post according to Shopify.
• Audiences are smart and can increasingly recognise insincere endorsements, leading to scepticism.
• Frequent brand partnerships can dilute an influencer’s authenticity, which has an impact on your brand if you choose to work with influencers.
• Influencers with larger followings typically have more negotiating power and charge more.
• A high follower count doesn’t guarantee high engagement. In fact, micro and nano influencers often enjoy a higher engagement rate.
  

You may want to bring social media influencers on board if…

• You have a large marketing budget and are looking to scale awareness quickly.
• Your brand already has substantial recognition, making it attractive to top influencers.
• Your goals focus more on impressions and brand recognition than conversions.
• You want to tap into a new target market.

Brand advocates are the ultimate organic ambassadors. A brand advocate is anyone who loves your product and voluntarily promotes it, sharing genuine endorsements on social media, in reviews or through word of mouth without compensation. Advocates are loyal fans, often producing content as a natural extension of their brand loyalty.

Brand advocates are not required to have large followings. They may simply be regular consumers who sing your praises in their own circles, lending your brand unparalleled authenticity. Advocates create “free” publicity and, with the right encouragement, can become powerful drivers of brand reputation.

The benefits of using brand advocates

• Completely organic promotion, requiring no incentive.
• Highly trusted, authentic content.
• Advocates naturally generate positive brand sentiment.
• They can be great candidates for ambassador programs if approached through an activation campaign.
• Advocates with large followings can boost reach without added cost.

The downsides of using brand advocates

• Limited control over frequency, content quality or accuracy of posts.
• Hard to track and measure impact without an official partnership.
• Less influence over continued loyalty, as they can shift to competitors.

You may want to bring brand advocates on board if…

• You are seeking organic growth and have strong customer satisfaction.
• Your goal is to build brand trust and credibility.
• You’re open to identifying and recruiting advocates for structured ambassador roles in the future.