With more and more brands using them, we’re finding that there is growing demand for our media training courses for brand ambassadors and social media influencers. The influencer marketing industry is worth a remarkable $16.4 billion, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub. A recent survey published by Matter Communications, a brand elevation agency, revealed that nearly two-thirds of consumers (61%) trust influencer recommendations, while almost one-third (31%) have confidence in branded social media content.
If there’s one thing social media influencers know about, it’s how to generate publicity – but this isn’t the same as managing a media interview. Your brand’s influencers might be able to create some great content for Instagram and TikTok, but that doesn’t mean that they can handle an interview with a journalist well. The same is true of a brand ambassador – hosting events and being photographed with the product is one thing, but doing an interview about that product and the company that makes it is another.
Influencer Marketing Media Training Course
Our media training courses look at the cross-over between social and conventional media. What is trending on Twitter or Instagram can often drive the news agenda for news websites, magazines and TV and radio programmes. Similarly, journalists are under increasing pressure to share their output on social media sites. There’s also a strong connection between conventional media and influencer marketing. Our media trainers know all about this as they’re also working journalists, providing training for us under strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
We’ve been providing media training workshops for fashion labels, fragrance and beauty brands, luxury houses, drinks companies, and retailers for many years. So, our move into media interview training for social media influencers and brand ambassadors is a natural progression. A growing number of our clients working in these sectors tell us that they want to ensure that the personalities they use to promote their brands and products are ready to handle journalists’ questions. This might be in a formal media interview setting or whenever they meet reporters at an event.
“I just want our brand ambassadors to be able to put across our key marketing messages to a media outlet in a natural, conversational way. But I also want to feel confident that if they’re asked about the company or any controversial industry issues, they’ve got a line to take, and then they’re prepared to get back onto safer ground by talking about the product,” one global communications director who we’ve been working with for many years on product and issue communications told us.
Case Study: Speaking to a Journalist
Another marketing manager approached us recently because one of their brand ambassadors had been doorstepped by a journalist at an event and, being completely unprepared and unaware of what makes a story for the conventional media, had made a few embarrassing comments to the company. It wasn’t a disaster, but the marketing manager said, “I don’t want to take that risk again. I’d have fewer sleepless nights if I knew that our influencers and brand ambassadors are trained in how to handle a media interview.”
How the training works
Our media interview training for brand ambassadors and social influencers acknowledges that these high-profile individuals know how to create media coverage – we certainly don’t want to patronise them. But we explore the differences between their expertise in raising brand awareness, marketing and influencing consumers on the one hand and the media agenda on the other. They’re usually happy – and quite relieved – to learn about what journalists are looking for from interviewees and the questions that they might be asked.
We’ve already worked closely with the marketing and communications teams to identify the kind of subjects that they might be interviewed about and the questions that print or broadcast journalists might put to them. We’ll carry out role-play print and broadcast interviews – and, being experienced, working journalists; our trainers will carry these out in exactly the same way as they would in their day jobs as journalists so they’re completely authentic. Our trainer will then provide feedback on how the social influencer or brand ambassador came across and the messages the journalist took away with them and would use in their report.
If they have gone off track and moved away from the key marketing messages (and sometimes the PR and marketing people will ask us to do this during the interview to make a point), we’ll explain this and give the social influencer or brand ambassador some tips and techniques that they can use to get away from difficult or irrelevant questions and back onto the brand, the product and the subject of the interview.
We know that brand ambassadors and influencers are only effective if they sound authentic. If the public feels that they’re saying things they don’t believe or using words and phrases that don’t sound like the kind of thing they’d say, they’re in trouble. In the best case, they sound unconvincing, and they’re ignored. In the worst case, they go down as yet another social media influencer fail, and the brand is damaged – as is the reputation of the marketing team.
Media Training for Influencers and Brand Ambassadors
At Communicate Media, we’re passionate about authentic communications; that’s why we help people in our media interview coaching to find the words and phrases that work for them. Yes, they’ll need to stick to a key message, but they need to convey that message in a way that they feel comfortable with and that looks authentic.
Like all of our training courses, our media training for brand ambassadors and social media influencers is tailored to meet the exact needs of the client. Come and talk to us about how we can support your influencer marketing.
To get in touch today, please call 07958 239892 or email gareth@communicatemedia.com. Alternatively, fill in this contact form.
