The B2B buying journey has changed—dramatically.
With face-to-face meetings, events, and tradeshows sidelined post-pandemic, sales and marketing teams have had to rethink how they build relationships, grow brand awareness, and generate leads. Enter social selling: a powerful, often underused way to reach and influence buyers where they already are.
Platforms like LinkedIn are no longer just for recruitment. Today, 89% of top-performing salespeople use social networks to generate leads. And with 70% of B2B professionals active on LinkedIn, your buyers are already there—are you meeting them?
A structured social media ambassador programme is one of the smartest ways to boost visibility, scale social selling, and get your team more comfortable and confident online.
Let’s break down how to build one that actually drives results.
What is a social media ambassador programme?
A social media ambassadors programme entails supporting key members of your team with social content to enable them to maintain an active social presence. This type of campaign has several advantages: it aligns the team on your company’s social platform, enhances exposure of your content and positions your business as a dynamic partner to work with.
So, how do you get started? Here is a simple step-by-step process.
Step 1 – Identify the thought leaders in your business
Not everyone needs to be a social media ambassador—nor should they be. The key is identifying people who are both credible and comfortable being active online.
Start by looking at:
- Sales leaders and business development managers
- Subject matter experts who contribute to webinars, interviews or media campaigns
- Senior leadership or product marketers with deep expertise
Look for those with:
- 500+ LinkedIn connections
- A willingness to engage in relevant conversations
- A track record (or potential) of building relationships online
You’re not just choosing people with reach—you’re choosing people with influence.
Next: get their LinkedIn profiles in shape.
Ask:
- Do they have a high-quality, professional photo?
- Does their bio reflect their role and expertise clearly?
- Have they added a branded banner and company logo?
If not, offer support. Profile optimisation may seem small, but it significantly boosts credibility and discoverability.
Bonus tip: If you’re short on internal advocates, consider working with influencers in your space.
Step 2 – Ensure content is aligned with key business goals
Now that you’ve got your ambassadors onboard and their profiles are optimised, it’s time to plan the content they’ll be sharing as part of your programme. There are a couple of different ways to do this:
- Create and share relevant content from your company’s LinkedIn page and ask ambassadors to share it to their own networks. This is a great way to give ambassadors new, relevant content that they can share in their own style: there are a number of tools that allow you to automate this process, provide reminders and so on. However, this approach does come with some limitations: it’s time consuming, and they may also forget to share content in a timely manner, as other matters take precedence.
- Develop content specifically for your ambassadors and post on their behalf. This provides greater control over what is shared on the platform and is an efficient way for you and your ambassadors to work together as there are fewer touch points. However, you might run the risk of the individual’s voice bring ‘lost’ or subsumed by corporate messages.
Regardless of which method you choose, you need to align with your key team members on the conversations they are having with customers, and their overall business goals, to ensure content is tailored and relevant. Assets such as thought leadership articles, white papers, reports, infographics and video demonstrations are all great pieces of content to share on social media.
Step 3 – Post, update and track consistently
Once you have aligned on the content you’ll be sharing and started drafting posts, it’s time to put a detailed schedule together. Post frequency depends on the unique needs of your ambassadors: some might prefer weekly posts, some might wish to post updates every couple of days or even daily. Ensure that the frequency you agree on is sustainable: results improve steadily over time. If a number of ambassadors are involved in your programme, you will need to manage posting schedules carefully to avoid content duplication.
It’s also key to ensure your ambassadors have full visibility of the posts before you share them on their behalf. Again, there are numerous ways by which you can do this efficiently, depending on your organisation and the people involved. One way to do this is to share their weekly or monthly schedule of posts with them a week or so prior to going live. This offers them the chance to flag any issues or make changes as they see fit.
By following these three parameters, you’re already well on your way to kick off an effective and successful social media ambassador programme. If you’d like to find out more about how to run an effective programme, or are looking for a content agency to do this for you, contact: hello@isolinecomms.com
