Brand Ambassador vs. Affiliate Marketing: Which Is The Best Strategy For Leveraging UGC?

Generating user-generated content (UGC) for brand marketing campaigns makes sense. Over 70% of consumers admit to considering UGC ratings before buying.

But what channel should you use to leverage UGC: brand ambassadors or affiliates? That’s the question on every company’s lips.

Brand ambassadors and affiliates are distinct in numerous ways. As such, companies use them differently. For some businesses, the goal is to develop champions in the creator community to further their cause for years to come. For others, it is about making a quick buck.

Let’s look at brand affiliates and ambassadors and which you should use in your campaigns.

What Is Affiliate Marketing Using UGC?

Affiliate marketing is the more traditional approach to using UGC. The idea is to find influencers, affiliates, or promoters to create content and place trackable links to forward prospective customers to sales pages. Successful affiliate marketers (those who generate sales) receive a commission from the company sponsoring them.

Affiliate marketers start by sharing content, usually reviews or unboxing videos (sometimes testimonials). Then, they provide their opinions on products, such as whether they are useful or not.

Usually, affiliate marketers promote products by comparing them to the alternatives and suggesting why their readers buy them. Because it is a peer recommendation, shoppers are likely to click the links embedded in the content to learn more. The process ends when the brand sells something and pays the affiliate a commission for its effort.

UGC-based affiliate marketing works because it drives engagement. Affiliate marketers spearhead clicks and conversions (particularly if they’re good at what they do). Companies make more sales, customers get special deals, and everyone is happy.

What Defines A Brand Ambassador Program Using UGC?

A brand ambassador program sounds similar to an affiliate program but has a different emphasis. As before, the brand pays the influencer to discuss its products through authentic content. But, the relationship goes deeper and lasts longer, and payments don’t depend on shoppers clicking links.

Usually, companies go to great lengths to find brand enthusiasts who love their products. These individuals are already “sold” and often champion specific brands even if unpaid. Sometimes, they already have a solid following on social media programs. However, brands will still use them if they have a niche due to their staunch support and easy-to-define audience.

Brand ambassadors are more than affiliates because they represent companies across numerous channels. Influencers often retain creative freedom but must produce reviews, videos, photos, and blogs for the underlying company they share online.

Many brand ambassador programs involve considerable relationship-building as companies engage in ongoing partnerships with influencers. Sometimes, alliances go so deep that the creator becomes the face of the brand. As such, you often see a two-way relationship between brands and the most experienced ambassadors. Companies guide content while creators send feedback based on what’s working, and what isn’t.

UGC In Brand Ambassador Vs. Affiliate Programs: How Does It Work?

The differences between UGC in affiliate programs and brand ambassadors can be substantial. The two mediums work differently, so which you choose in your campaigns matters.

	Brand Ambassador Programs	Affiliate Marketing Programs
Target audience	Aligned with the brand’s audience demographic, often with the same followers	Reaches a broader audience interested in product-related content and reviews
Brand alignment level	Strong identification with the underlying brand; often an enthusiast	No requirement to align with the brand (other than meeting rudimentary editorial guidelines)
UGC control	Pre-approval is required for some brand-related content (with creative freedom retained mostly)	UGC is generated independently without requiring brand approval
Compensation	Direct payments (regular wages in some cases), free product samples, and VIP access	Commission based on sales coming from affiliate marketing links
UGC type	Genuine experiences with products; explainer videos; day-in-the-life	Testimonials, detailed product reviews, ad-related content
Relationship intensity	Long-term collaborative relationship based on mutual respect	Transaction, business-like relationship
Focus	Building a brand and reaching out to new people who haven’t heard of it	Generating more sales to earn commissions; helping brands boost their revenues

Overall, brand ambassadors are hands-on individuals who love the company they represent and remain committed to it long-term. By contrast, affiliates take a more mercenary approach. While they may highly rate a company, their goal is to earn a commission, not promote a brand long-term.

Compensation Models: Which Strategy Offers The Highest ROI?

Affiliate and ambassador UGC are both excellent methods for generating return on investment (ROI). But which is best?

Unfortunately, the data is quite complex. BixGrow’s research suggests that affiliate marketing earnings and revenue generation can vary substantially. The average is around $80,000 – a comfortable living for a single person. But the spread is significant. Around 40% of affiliate marketers earn below this threshold (with nearly 20% earning less than $20,000 annually), just over 6% earn more than $2 million per year, and 20% earn over $1,000,000.

Affiliate marketers earn these high salaries because of volume. Sometimes thousands of people searching for products click through their sites, collect an affiliate link, and then earn commission on one of the larger platforms, like Amazon. Virtually anyone with a successful product review site can start earning serious money with relatively modest starting conditions (such as a website, a camera, and the ability to write).

Ambassador earnings differ and depend on the size of the creator’s following. Most get paid per post, but some companies also offer referral-based commissions.

Estimating ambassador pay is challenging because public figures aren’t available. However, take-home pay is guessable using well-known pay rates.

Fees for influencers break down as follows:

• Micro-influencers with under 10,000 followers: $50 to $500 per post.
• Mid-tier influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers: $200 to $5,000 per post
• Macro influencers with 100,000 to 1 million followers: $1,000 to £20,000 per post
• Mega influencers with over 1 million followers: $10,000 per post or more

Suppose a mid-tier influencer receives 50 paid promotions at $1,600 yearly (around once per week). That translates to an income of $80,000 annually (gross).

Sometimes brands will pay for one-off promotions with influencers. However, most prefer long-term relationships with these individuals, particularly if they share an audience with the firm.

The ROI depends on the money influencers generate. Generally, affiliates are safer since they only get paid commission if they make sales. This way, you always know your return on investment, regardless of scale.

Ambassadors are riskier because measuring their revenue generation is more challenging. Without trackable links or codes, it isn’t straightforward to calculate their impact.

How To Choose A Strategy That Supports Your Brand’s Goal

Whether affiliates or brand ambassadors provide your company with a higher UGC ROI depends on your focus. Brand ambassadors perform better when:

• You want to push content out more frequently
• Your audience aligns more with the brand ambassador
• You want to create an authentic connection with your followers
• You want to promote loyalty and long-term brand value

By contrast, you may benefit from a higher ROI with affiliates when:

• You want to scale your business and reach out to prospective customers immediately
• You want to use performance-based pay to drive sales at low cost
• You have a strong sales and conversion focus and don’t care much about brand-building and long-term loyalty

As such, choosing a brand ambassador or affiliate depends on your goals. Brand ambassadors are usually better if you operate in a competitive industry and want to differentiate yourself long-term. These influencers work with you to set your brand apart from the other options on the market. Meanwhile, affiliates are superior when you want to drive volume in your business. You can reach out to thousands of these influencers quickly and get them to set up links pointing to your sales pages.

Most brands aren’t sure which strategies to use, so many try a combination to see which offers the highest ROI. Fortunately, connecting with numerous influencers inexpensively is achievable through platforms like Billo. Many are available, so you can try various approaches to see which best supports your brand’s goals.

Success Stories Proving The Value Of Brand Ambassadors And Affiliate Marketing

Numerous brands have tried using brand ambassadors and affiliate marketers to drive sales and improve their ROI. Various examples prove each strategy has merits in context.

DoNotAge

DoNotAge is a company that sells longevity and health supplements. It believes in working with influencers from across the globe to sell its products online.

The firm works with several influencers across various social media channels, many of whom have unique product discount codes for the company’s website. These give followers a 10% discount on purchases, allowing the company to attribute sales and pay commissions accordingly.

DoNotAge doesn’t call its influencer network “ambassadors” or “affiliates.” Instead, they sit somewhere in the middle, working with the brand long-term but earning commission every time they make a sale.

Sephora

Sephora is another brand that uses influencers to spread its messages and get more people interested in its products. The company uses “brand advocates” to share beauty tutorials across social media platforms, creating more authentic outreach. Influencers talk about their favorite products and what they like about what Sephora does.

The most valuable aspect of this marketing approach is the community focus. Sephora believes in bringing people together to drive loyalty.

What’s interesting about Sephora’s strategy is that it isn’t looking for superstar influencers. It believes in humanizing its brand and making beauty more accessible by drawing in regular people who use its products. It offers numerous content styles, from personal skincare routines to more advanced tutorials on using specific products. Audiences can benefit from exclusive offers and discounts, making them more likely to engage.

Nike

Nike’s most famous brand ambassador is Cristiano Ronaldo. The soccer superstar became a target for the company when it wanted to tap into his 300 million online followers.

Ronaldo showed off Nike’s products on social media during intense training sessions and motivational posts for the campaign. He wore the company’s products and showed his followers his football boots selection to get them more interested in what the company offers. He even used the platform to launch special Ronaldo-branded versions of the company’s apparel, similar to Michael Jordan in the early 2000s.

The campaign worked because Nike formed a natural connection with Ronaldo. The brand took advantage of the soccer star’s expertise and used that to justify the purchase of the company’s products. It also saw Ronaldo’s dedication to his fan base and how he engaged with them online to build his following. Collaborating with him fuelled more interest in the company’s products, driving sales higher.

Bluehost

Bluehost is a web hosting service with a highly successful affiliate marketing program. The company pays high commissions to individuals who refer new customers to its hosting plans.

Bluehost is successful because it targets creators in the blogging and website-building space. Every time someone goes to one of these sites, they get exposure to the brand and how it can help support their online efforts.

Affiliates often cover interesting topics in the website-building space and then link to Bluehost. Visitors then click the company’s links and end up on its sales pages where they can get the services they need.

Audible

Audible is an online book streaming service with a companion app that runs an affiliate marketing program. Marketers earn commission by setting up customers on the company’s free trial or paid long-term subscriptions.

Audible’s affiliate marketing approach works because of the broad audience of people interested in books and podcasts, from students to pensioners. Influencers across eclectic sites work to promote the service’s massive library (powered by Amazon) and how they can listen to audiobooks read by their favorite authors (or professional narrators).

ClickFunnels

Finally, ClickFunnels sells marketing software to help businesses refine their sales processes. The solution is popular among business leaders, online marketers, and entrepreneurs, looking to increase their revenues.

ClickFunnels’s affiliate marketing program offers high commissions to publications and influencers forwarding their readerships to the company’s website. Many affiliates are digital marketers who offer case studies or webinars to train their audiences. These individuals then mention ClickFunnels as a tool their clients can use to drive results in their business.