Event marketing is a difficult business.
Even if you have the best product in existence, if your field staff is lazy, you are not going to be successful.
Most online guides on event marketing are frauds. They are biased, written by companies wanting to sell their services to you. These companies conceal fees and will not share how they will respond to a no-show from your staff on a Saturday morning.
We are going to take a different approach.
I gathered critical information using real data. I reviewed the types of software that market leaders are using to execute their experiential marketing programs, in addition to who is charging how much and what the costs are for activating a brand.
To successfully grow your brand, you need to know what you are actually purchasing. Let’s take a closer look at the vendors that are currently in the marketplace.
What is Everything That Does Matter When Scaling Field Staff
Not only will you require warm bodies, but you will require professional promoters that understand your brand’s identity.
The current marketplace is delineated into two distinct models: hiring a traditional staffing agency to provide live staffing for in-person events, and purchasing a software platform to facilitate managing a digital community. Mixing these two business models will deplete your marketing budget in a hurry.
Staffing agencies will charge you between $25 to $75 an hour for live staff.
If you need technical staff members or representatives that speak another language, expect to pay more, and do not forget the management costs. Many agencies will charge you 10% to 30% on top of their hourly rate for payroll services, processing background checks, and managing the logistics of hiring workers.
With a software platform, you can manage a wide variety of tasks simultaneously by utilizing a combination of online and offline marketing campaigns.
However, a software platform does not have the ability to place an agent into a retail environment to physically hand out samples of a product. Choosing a trustworthy partner for your specific use case is critical.
Although you can utilize software, you must be able to physically support in-person activities through a network of partners.
Best Brand Ambassador Companies: A Guide to Hiring
This list outlines the best brand ambassador companies for retail promotions, product sampling, and live product launch events.
1. Street Teams Company
Street Teams Company is completely transparent with their pricing, an uncommon practice within the event staffing industry. You will be charged between $25 to $75 an hour for services, and they are present in 50 cities nationwide.
What distinguishes Street Teams Company from others in terms of customer service is their 100% on-time guarantee. All of their field agents employ GPS tracking technology, so if an agent is running late to an activation, the agency will notify you immediately.
The primary drawback of Street Teams Company is that they are built for high-volume and immediate response to events. If you require a high-profile model to support your private luxury gala, you may want to consider a different type of agency.
2. ATN Event Staffing
ATN offers a vast talent pool, and their network of partners ranges from agencies to individual bookers.
ATN has coverage in all major cities in the United States and has created an extensive online training program for all of their field hires. All field personnel must complete the online training modules before being allowed to appear at your show.
This lowers the chance for a customer to feel confused when asking a simple question by having someone you can depend on to find the answer for you.
They don't publish exact pricing online; you must contact their sales department, which slows down the process of buying if you want to launch a campaign quickly.
3. Hype Agency
Hype blurs the line between what a conventional field employee does and what a social media influencer does.
Hype hires their employees as influencers. Employees do more than give flyers away to customers; they also take pictures and create social media content for you while they're out promoting on the floor.
Expect to pay a premium for their hybrid model. Prices will likely be above $50. If you need basic assistance with distributing food, this would be overkill for your needs.
4. Attack! Marketing
If you want to give away snacks and drinks, you should be contacting these guys.
Their focus is primarily on brand immersion and product sampling. They offer extensive training to their employees about the specific items they are selling so that they know their way around the product, not just how to smile at people.
They are best suited for packaged consumer products and fast-moving retail brands.
5. Elev8 Staffing
Elev8 is your solution if your campaign requires a foreign language. They have a large and varied array of workers on their books.
If your brand activation effort is aimed at a particular cultural audience or requires bilingual field staff, then Elev8 will provide you with exactly the type of talent that will allow you to connect to consumers in that audience.
Elev8 provides trained workers who are certified through an online curriculum, as well as hands-on training to ensure they know exactly how to engage consumers face-to-face and in-store (and before they even walk in the door!).
They will guarantee your success with their training, and they will confirm you have completed it prior to starting any shift.
6. Mosaic Experiential
Mosaic is a company that focuses only on retail (in-store) sales.
When a national brand wants to launch a product within a chain of large discount outlets, they turn to Mosaic to facilitate their in-store activations. They specialize in creating activations in-store, providing in-store demos.
They understand the specific rules associated with setting up a brand display or demo table inside a busy grocery store without upsetting the store's manager.
Unlike other agencies that focus their marketing efforts on elaborate outdoor events, Mosaic focuses their resources on generating direct sales at the point-of-sale or product display.
7. Inspira Marketing
Inspira has a deep understanding of the cultural significance of their clients.
Inspira does not only employ bilingual staff for campaigns that target those who speak Spanish; they provide cultural training for their employees, enabling them to fit into and be part of the community they will be working in.
Rather than employing individuals who may feel like they are outsiders, Inspira strives to create a comfortable and friendly environment for their employees so they feel comfortable and familiar with the community they will be interacting with.
If you are planning to run a localized campaign in a neighborhood and want to develop a connection with the community, Inspira is a great choice.
8. NVE Experience Agency
NVE is a great option for companies that sell high-end products and have large marketing budgets.
Their team of talent is hand-picked and curated for you; you will not get the regular street teams that typically work in a city. Instead, you are receiving a high level of polish and professionalism from your promotional staff at a premium price.
The cost of working with NVE is very high. You will be paying top dollar for their level of professionalism. You should avoid working with them for any type of low-margin product sampling campaign.
9. Activate
Technology companies are in need of technology-promoting representatives.
Typically, a "normal" employee will not be able to adequately answer the complicated questions posed by your sophisticated customer, regardless of that employee's job description.
Activate trains its employees in product technology first and then teaches them how to sell that technology.
10. Pro-Motion
Pro-Motion is a strict follower of food safety regulations.
They are a national sampling network that focuses primarily on sampling. Their field staff are trained in the safest methods to handle food. Your company does not want to be associated with a local food safety violation.
They are the safest option for manufacturers in the food and beverage sectors who wish to grow their business rapidly.
Top Digital Community Management Software Platforms
In some cases, you may not need to use an agency; you may want to use software to manage the fans you already have.
1. SocialLadder
SocialLadder is a heavy-duty platform for direct-to-consumer brands such as American Eagle and Kendra Scott.
Companies such as Bubble Beauty have successfully managed to go from 100 to more than 1,000 promoters using this software in less than a year and a half.
This software converts your community members into a digital sales force. Users complete tasks assigned by the company, and the software tracks how they progress in completing those tasks. This platform was designed for long-term growth, not just for short-term events.
2. Aspire
Aspire is the bridge between large online content creators and local marketers and is a combination of both. Aspire's database consists of more than 10 million users.
Brands that wish to run influencer campaigns at scale can manage both large digital influencer accounts and smaller community members with the same interface (i.e., dashboard).
It is complex software with many features to help manage campaigns, but small brands just getting started may struggle with the day-to-day tasks of managing the software.
3. GRIN
If you sell physical products online, you need to connect GRIN directly to your store. It also allows you to integrate your store with GRIN quickly and easily using any supported platform (e.g., Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento).
GRIN will automatically send you an email when you send out a product. The email will include a link to the product on the GRIN platform, where you'll see whether or not that influencer shared about your product on their social media.
They will even use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the process of finding new creators to work with your brand. GRIN is essentially an e-commerce powerhouse.
4. Club.co
Instead of treating brand promotion like an advertisement, Club.co treats brand promotion like a game.
They created a mobile-first app. Brands such as Celsius and Huel use Club.co to motivate and engage their customers. Users log into the app daily and complete tasks to earn points.
This style of engagement is best suited for younger audiences who spend much of their time on their mobile devices. A gamified mobile app may not work as well with an older target audience.
5. Brandbassador
Brandbassador's sole mission is to help Shopify brands increase their sales.
Brandbassador features an easy, one-click integration with Shopify stores. The Brandbassador case studies are incredible; for example, Desenio made over $11.2 million from this method of tracking sales through Brandbassador.
Brandbassador handles all tracking, affiliate links, and payments for you, so you simply define your rules and watch the data.
6. CreatorIQ
CreatorIQ is an absolute business solution for large businesses such as Disney, Unilever, and Samsung.
In fact, it supports the management of a massive workforce with offices in several different countries and having many different languages spoken.
Do you plan on spending money on this application? If you are a startup, forget it! The extensive features will overwhelm you if you do not know what you are doing. You will be lucky to have saved enough money from your marketing budget to pay for anything.
Operational Expenses for Field Marketing
Most websites that review field marketing do not mention the actual operation. They talk about the positive and negative points; however, they do not detail the actual expenses that you will incur due to conducting a field marketing event.
Let me explain the actual expense that will come out of your bank account.
The Hourly Rate for Field Marketing Employees
Field marketing employees are generally paid $25 to $35 an hour for general marketing tasks. For the employee to demonstrate a product, the rates can range from $35 to $50 an hour.
If you hire a local influencer (even one with a small following), the typical hourly rates can be from $125 to $250 an hour.
You should never assume that the lowest price is a good deal. Employees who are cheap do not receive appropriate training, which reflects negatively on your business. A bad experience with an employee may cause you to lose a customer for life.
Additional Hidden Fees and Minimums
When hiring an employee through an agency, in addition to paying for the employee's time, you will also pay a management fee to the agency.
Management fees range from 10% to 30%, so you should expect to pay for that. You are paying them to manage all the payroll taxes and taking on all the legal liabilities that come along with it, as well as the headaches of hiring employees to perform marketing tasks.
There is a four-hour minimum shift at just about every real agency. You cannot simply hire someone for just one hour to go give out flyers, as this isn't feasible. If you do, any reputable agency will turn your campaign down.
Travel and Uniform Costs
If your event is taking place in a rural area, the agency may be driving in workers from a large city. The travel expenses can greatly impact your budget. Expect to spend an average of $200.00 to $500.00 a day for someone from out-of-town to cover gas and hotels.
You will also need to ensure the workers are dressed appropriately. The cost for custom shirts and hats typically ranges from $25.00 to $75.00 for each worker, so make sure to calculate that into your budget before signing a contract.
The ROI Reality
Studies show that when done properly, community marketing programs can be very effective.
According to the data, people who know community members tend to spend 5.2 times more than regular customers. Long-term ambassador programs can decrease a company's customer acquisition costs (CAC) by 40% to 60% over time.
Since people naturally have more trust in other people, this is at the core of the entire industry, which means that you are essentially buying human trust at scale.
Final Words: Best Brand Ambassador Companies for Event Marketing
Stop mixing staffing agencies and software. If you are looking for a real person to be in-store on Tuesday, you should use a staffing agency. But if you want to build a loyal marketing army from your top 500 online buyers, you will need to use software.
Look for agencies that provide transparency in pricing, and ask how they manage workers who do not show up for shifts. Ask agencies about their GPS tracking and have a strict onboarding process.
If you browse through the market for staffing agencies, you will find a lot of bad options. Choose a vendor that meets your specific needs, such as food safety, local retail demos, or digital reach. Be cautious when selecting vendors, and make sure to carefully analyze the data, scaling up what works and cutting those things that are not effective.