Whether it’s marketing for events or the venue hosting them, a student ambassador program can be an important piece of your marketing strategy. Of course, before implementing a student ambassador or other ambassador programs, you need to consider several key issues to determine if it’s right for your venue or event.
Let’s begin by clearing up potential confusion when we use the term ambassador. Entertainment venues use the term ambassador to describe a staff position responsible for interacting with guests at some level to provide a positive experience for those attending the venue. They are not involved in marketing for events or venues.
Brands ambassadors, on the other hand, are people who promote or market a brand. In this case the brand is a venue or entertainment event. Marketing for events or a venue is the goal of any student ambassador program set up by an entertainment venue or show promoter.
There is another distinction to be made as well. That is the difference between an ambassador program and using influencers to do show promotion or venue marketing.
Key Differences Between Ambassadors and Influencers When Marketing for Events
- Alignment with Target Audience:
- Both ambassadors and Influencers should have a relationship and following with the target audience you seek when marketing for events. Remember all event marketing begins with knowing your target audience.
- Relationship with Brand:
- Ambassadors are loyal customers and have a deep connection. They believe in the brand.
- Long term relationship.
- Influencers may have never used the brand.
- Influencers’ relationship with the brand is short term and transactional
- Reason for Using Them:
- Ambassadors are chosen for their love of the brand and their ability to influence their network of friends with genuine content about the brand.
- Influencers are chosen for their reputation and direct target audience reach, i.e. number of fans and connections that align with brand’s target market.
- Influencers are a paid promotional strategy. Their communications are promotional in nature, not authentic, and are easily recognized as advertising.
- Ambassadors create their own content and messaging about the brand form a place of genuine interest creating brand credibility. Their followers recognize their posts as they would a recommendation from a friend. According to a 2024 Sprout Social Pulse Survey, 78% of consumers (and 88% of Gen Z) agree that a brand’s social media presence has a considerable impact on whether or not they trust a brand compared to a year ago.
- Compensation:
- Influencer compensation is a transactional fee for service type of arrangement.
- Ambassadors will accept a variety of incentives and compensation from the brands they love and promote.
Moving on to the topic of this article, there are some prerequisites for using student ambassadors as a vehicle when marketing for events or the venues hosting them.
- Brand Product: For either a student ambassador venue marketing or loyalty program to succeed your venue will need enough events to create loyal, committed fans.
While the type and exposure may impact the number of events a venue needs for such visibility, the general rule for implementing a venue loyalty program is a minimum of twelve events per year.
Creating an ambassador program to market events at a venue would require enough shows to keep people engaged with the venue and provide enough ongoing incentives and content for ambassadors. It’s hard to imagine creating loyal and dedicated customers if there are only a few events taking place in a venue.
- Brand Visibility: For your venue’s student ambassador program to succeed, you need to complement this effort with a strong event marketing strategy and budget. Your ambassadors rely on the venue doing enough event promotion and venue marketing to make their role easier to do. They need to be able to direct their followers to promotional content that excites their followers. Venues must recognize that marketing dollars spent are an investment in the events and without that investment, neither ambassadors nor event marketing agencies will succeed in creating a financially successful event.
- Investment In Ambassadors: Whether it’s a student ambassador program or another ambassador program, venues must be ready to invest in creating a vibrant ambassador community. That means fostering a sense of community and taking steps to equip them with the resources they will need, e.g., training materials, content guidelines and content.
Some things you can do to foster a sense of community include using a dedicated social media group to promote interactions and feedback; organizing events, challenges or contests with leader boards to foster ambassador engagement; communicate regularly, recognize their efforts, listen to their feedback, are just a few of the ways you can develop a energetic ambassador community. If you are not prepared to invest in your venue’s ambassador program with some of all the tactics listed, perhaps you are not ready to implement a student ambassador program.
- Measure Impact: What’s is the purpose of having a student ambassador program of you can’t evaluate the effectiveness of the program and the ambassadors promoting events and the venue hosting them. Key performance indicators should focus on measuring their impact on key metrics like brand awareness, engagement, and sales. You will also want to assess their content for how they align with your target audience and brand values. Your efforts should be focused on measuring the performance of your overall ambassador program as well as evaluating the effectiveness of individual ambassadors. You will need to measure the venue’s brand reach and impressions, engagement rate, conversion rates, and brand sentiment and awareness.
There are a variety of tools available to you including website analytics, social media analytics, unique discount codes, hashtags, surveys, etc. I don’t recommend the more sophisticated brand ambassador management platforms for student ambassador programs, unless such a student ambassador program is part of a much larger brand ambassador event marketing strategy.
Incentives for a Student Ambassadors Program for Event Marketing
Based upon TSE’s own research and input from current or recent college students, these are the types of incentives that will motivate student ambassadors to work hard promoting your venue and events. As you read through the list of incentives, you will notice that many of the perks they would like actually are very beneficial to the venue in developing the content needed for venue and event marketing. Here is our list, followed by specific brand ambassadors program examples.
- The chance to network with post-concert with the staff involved
- Providing a press pass so ambassadors interested in media production, photography, or journalism can create content for both their posts as well as a library of content for future marketing of the venue and events.
- Opportunity to interview certain acts and participate in meet & greet photo opportunities.
- VIP and/or Backstage pass
- Exclusive merchandise
- Recognition on venue website
- Free or discounted tickets to events.
Of course, some of these may be limited to those who excel in evaluation metrics or are at the top of a leader board for challenges or contests. Let’s now look at specific student ambassador programs and their implications for entertainment venue’s student ambassador initiatives.
Student Ambassador Program Examples
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors
Incentives:
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- networking opportunities – Access to a global community of like-minded students and professionals
- Free training, workshops, and certifications on Microsoft technologies
- certificates, badges, and public acknowledgment of their role.
- chances to lead events or projects
Application to Venues:
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- Offer ambassadors opportunities to meet industry professionals, artists, and event organizers
- Provide workshops on event management, music production, or marketing.
- Feature ambassadors on the venue’s website and social media channels
- Allow ambassadors to lead campus promotional events or manage student-focused concerts
Incentives:
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- Access to Red Bull events and extreme sports activities
- Brand Merch – Exclusive Red Bull gear and products
- Pathways to future employment within the company
- “Freedom” to create and execute marketing initiatives
Application to Venues:
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- Provide backstage passes or meet-and-greet opportunities with performers
- Offer venue-branded merchandise or limited-edition items
- Opportunities for internships or future employment at the venue
- Encourage ambassadors to develop and implement their own promotional ideas
Incentives:
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- Free Spotify Premium subscription.
- Opportunities to host music events or listening parties
- Branded merchandise and promotional items
- Early access to new features or releases (feeling like a part of the team)
Application to Venues:
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- Provide free or discounted tickets beyond standard allocations (standard)
- Allow ambassadors to organize campus events or pre-concert gatherings
- Share insider news about upcoming shows or artist appearances
- Distribute venue merchandise to ambassadors for promotion and for them to possibly distribute
Incentives:
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- Free access to Adobe Creative Cloud
- Training sessions on Adobe products
- Portfolio Work – Opportunities to create content for Adobe’s platforms
- Placing together students of similar interests and creating a system of collaboration between creative students
Application to Venues:
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- Provide ambassadors with resources to create promotional content (e.g., photo/video editing software)
- Allow them to contribute to the venue’s marketing materials
- Skill Workshops – Host training sessions on topics like graphic design or social media marketing
- Create connections among ambassadors to collaborate on projects
Incentives:
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- Workshops on Google technologies and tools
- Invitations to Google events and conferences
- Access to Google merchandise and promotional materials
- Guidance from Google professionals
Application to Venues:
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- Offer training on event technology, ticketing systems, or digital marketing
- invite ambassadors to exclusive venue events or industry conferences
- mentorship program – air ambassadors with venue staff for career guidance
- Provide posters, flyers, and digital assets for campus promotion
Other Examples:
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- collaboration for orchestra + college in social events
- working in the arts
- “Each Student Ambassador also receives a complimentary Student Access Plus membership, which allows you to attend unlimited CSO concerts, in addition to discounted tickets for their friends, and other benefits”
San Jose Symphony Student Ambassador
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- sound check pass (backstage pass)
- career development: networking, LinkedIn, letters of recommendation
- behind the scenes access
College Ambassador Program – Goodman Theater
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- free tickets to certain events
- behind-the-scenes
- panel discussions
- networking/mentorship
Conclusion:
Marketing for events requires a multi-channel approach. If your entertainment venue is located near educational institutions, then student ambassadors can make a real difference in your efforts to sell more tickets for your events. Generations Z and Millennials, having grown up in the digital world, are digitally savvy and have a high presence on social media and other online platforms. They trust the recommendations of peers more than other generations. A venue would be remiss in not using a well thought out student ambassador program if their target audience is like the profile of these student ambassadors. The incentives that keep them engaged in helping to promote events are often aligned with the needs of venues for marketing content. Did I mention that they have less impact on the budget than many other forms of marketing?
Related Posts:
Promoting Live Events: Generational Marketing
Entertainment Venue Marketing: The Importance of a Loyalty Program
