There doesn’t have to be confusion when figuring out if a content creator should be an influencer, ambassador or an affiliate. Each content creator represents your brand, each one gets paid whether its a fee, product, or a mix; and each should provide value to your company.
The confusion between which channel to place someone in occurs because affiliates can be influencers, influencers can be ambassadors, and each can be paid on mixed models.
This post walks you through the similarities and differences between these three content creators so you can spend more time helping them create content and less time figuring out who should be which.
Let’s start with a basic definition of each: (this makes the assumption there is no hybrid model)
Affiliate Marketers promote your brand on a rev share basis. Affiliates earn a commission when an action like a click, sale, subscriber or lead has occurred. Affiliates can be top funnel (non-branded solutions), mid-funnel (product and brand reviews), low-funnel and zero value to the sales cycle. Because the affiliate works on a commission only, they control who they work with, what they say and how often they talk about you.
Good affiliates share both the good and bad about companies and products within their content. This builds trust with their readers. Affiliates also control where they send their traffic vs. ambassadors and influencers where you can determine your website, amazon, your social media channels or where the traffic should end up.
Ambassadors get paid upfront so you can use their likeness in marketing materials. The ambassador should be very well known, even if they don’t have an audience, and create a want or need for your product.
By placing the ambassador on your ads, website and marketing materials; you should convert new and repeat customers…
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