TL;DR
- A brand ambassador is a person paid, or given free products, by a company to use and wear its products and encourage others to do the same. The role comes in three kinds: field or event ambassadors, online and influencer ambassadors, and employee ambassadors.
- The job has six duties: represent the brand in person or online, demonstrate and sample products, generate leads and sales, create and share content, gather feedback and report, and follow the brand and the advertising rules.
- In the UK, any paid or incentivised promotion must be obviously identifiable as advertising, and the ASA expects a prominent 'ad' label upfront on social posts. A job description should also state the employment status, because many ambassadors are self-employed or casual.
The person handing out samples at a station, the creator posting about a running shoe, and the engineer wearing the company hoodie at a conference are all doing the same job under the same title. What a brand ambassador does depends on which of the three they are, and a job description that does not say which will attract the wrong people.
This article explains what a brand ambassador is, separates the three kinds, sets out six duties, lists the skills employers look for, covers the UK rules on disclosing paid promotion and the question of employment status, and gives a template and wording for a CV.
Ambassadors are measured on activity and results that live outside the office, so targets need to be visible to both sides. See how New Dynamics Goals & OKRs keep targets and progress in one place.
What is a brand ambassador?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a brand ambassador as “a person who is paid or given free products by a company in exchange for wearing or using its products and trying to encourage others to do so”. Its examples add the everyday sense: ambassadors “promote a product or company, both publicly and among their friends”.
The definition has three parts that a job description should cover: the reward (pay, product or both), the activity (using and wearing, in public and in person) and the purpose (encouraging others). The ambassador is not the marketing manager who plans the campaign, and not the sales associate who closes the sale. They are the brand's public face at the point where a person first meets it.
Three kinds of brand ambassador
| Kind | Where they work | Typical arrangement |
|---|---|---|
| Field or event ambassador | Shops, events, festivals, campuses, streets | Casual, agency or part-time; paid by shift |
| Online or influencer ambassador | Social media, blogs, video, podcasts | Freelance contract, per post or per period; product plus fee |
| Employee ambassador | Their own job, plus conferences and online | Existing employee, often voluntary with guidelines |
The duties below apply to all three, in different proportions. The field ambassador spends most time on demonstration and sampling; the online ambassador on content; the employee ambassador on representing the brand credibly while doing something else. Say which yours is in the first line of the advert.
Brand ambassador duties: six responsibilities
- Represent the brand. Know the products, the story and the tone, and present them consistently in person, on camera and in writing. Appearance, manner and what you say all count.
- Demonstrate and sample. Show how the product works, hand out samples, answer questions and handle objections honestly.
- Generate leads and sales. Sign people up, collect contact details with consent, hand out codes and track what converts.
- Create and share content. Photos, video, reviews and posts, in the brand's style and with the required disclosures.
- Gather feedback and report. Record what people asked, liked and complained about, and report activity, leads and sales after each shift or campaign.
- Follow the brand and the rules. Brand guidelines, event rules, data protection and the advertising rules on disclosure, described below.
Skills employers look for
Six things, in rough order.
- Warmth. People must want to talk to you.
- Product knowledge and honesty. Ambassadors who overclaim damage the brand they represent.
- Communication, spoken and, for online roles, written and on camera.
- Self-organisation. Shifts, travel, content calendars and reports with little supervision.
- Resilience. Standing for hours, hearing no, and cold weather at outdoor events.
- Judgement. Knowing what not to say, and when a question needs referring to the company.
Our sales associate job description covers the closely related in-store role, and our social media manager job description the person who usually briefs online ambassadors.
The rules on paid promotion in the UK
Online ambassadors are advertising, and UK advertising rules treat them as such. The Advertising Standards Authority's guidance on recognising ads in social media and influencer marketing explains that the CAP Code “requires that marketing communications are obviously identifiable as such”, and that whenever a brand gives an influencer a payment or any other incentive, or the person is otherwise personally or commercially connected to the brand, content featuring the brand needs to be disclosed as advertising.
On how to disclose, the ASA says that “at a minimum, the ASA is likely to expect such content to include a prominent 'ad' label upfront (which usually means 'at the beginning')”, that the audience “should be able to recognise immediately when content is advertising, without having to click or otherwise interact with it”, and that it advises against using the label “sponsored” because it is open to varied interpretation. It adds: “Both brands and influencers are responsible for ensuring that ads are obviously identifiable”, so both need to make sure ads can be distinguished from independent posts.
For a job description, that means three lines: the ambassador labels all paid or gifted content as an ad upfront; the brand supplies the wording; and the brand checks. The ASA's guidance is about non-broadcast advertising in the UK and does not constitute legal advice; rules differ elsewhere, and consumer protection law applies alongside the code.
Employment status
Field ambassadors are often engaged casually or through agencies; online ambassadors are often self-employed; employee ambassadors are, by definition, employees. GOV.UK's guide to employment status says that in employment law a person's employment status helps determine their rights and their employer's responsibilities, that the main types are worker, employee, self-employed and contractor, director and office holder, and that a person “may have a different employment status in tax law”. Decide the status before you write the advert, state it, and check that the arrangement matches the reality; courts and tribunals make the final decision. Our guide to the independent contractor explains the self-employed end. This is general information, not legal advice.
Brand ambassador job description template
Adapt the template to your campaign. Keep every line true.
Job title: Brand ambassador (field) [or: Online brand ambassador]
Reports to: Field marketing manager [or: Social media manager]
Engagement: [Casual worker / self-employed contractor / part-time employee], [dates or period], [hours or deliverables]
Purpose of the role: To represent [brand] to the public at [events / online], demonstrate [product], generate [leads / sales / content] and report honestly on what people say.
Main duties:
- Present the brand and products accurately, in the brand's tone and style
- Demonstrate and sample [product] and answer questions honestly
- Collect sign-ups and leads with consent; distribute and track [codes]
- Create [n] pieces of content per [week], labelled as advertising as required
- Report activity, leads, sales and feedback after each [shift / post]
- Follow brand guidelines, event rules, data protection and advertising rules
Skills and experience:
- Confident, warm and articulate with the public [and on camera]
- Experience in promotion, retail, hospitality or content creation
- Reliable and self-organised
- [Right to work; own transport for field roles]
We provide: Product training, brand guidelines and disclosure wording, [uniform / product], pay of [rate] per [shift / post], expenses for [travel], and a named contact.
State the pay, the status, the location and the deliverables. Our job description template explains the overall structure.
How to describe brand ambassador work on a CV
Write what you did and what it produced. The lines below are our own examples.
- “Field brand ambassador for a drinks launch across [n] events, sampling to around [n] people a day and collecting [n] sign-ups.”
- “Created [n] pieces of labelled content a month for a footwear brand, with an average engagement rate above the brand's benchmark.”
- “Reported daily on questions, objections and competitor activity, feeding into the brand's second campaign.”
- “Trained new ambassadors on product knowledge and disclosure rules.”
Common mistakes in brand ambassador adverts
Which kind? Field, online and employee ambassador roles need different people. Say which.
Status unstated. Casual, self-employed or employed changes rights, tax and pay. State it and make it match.
Disclosure ignored. Adverts for online ambassadors that never mention labelling content as an ad invite regulatory trouble for both sides.
Pay hidden behind product. Free product is not pay. Say what the money is.
No brief. Ambassadors without product training, guidelines and a named contact improvise, and the brand pays for it.
Frequently asked questions
What does a brand ambassador do?
A brand ambassador represents a company's brand in public or online: presenting the products, demonstrating and sampling them, generating leads and sales, creating and sharing content, gathering feedback and reporting, and following the brand's guidelines and the advertising rules. The Cambridge Dictionary defines one as a person paid or given free products by a company in exchange for using its products and encouraging others to.
What are the responsibilities of a brand ambassador?
Six core responsibilities: represent the brand accurately, demonstrate and sample, generate leads and sales, create and share content, gather feedback and report, and follow brand guidelines, data protection and advertising rules. The mix depends on whether the ambassador works in the field, online or as an employee.
What is the job of a brand ambassador online?
To create and share content about the brand's products with their audience, labelled as advertising where they are paid or gifted. In the UK the ASA expects a prominent ad label upfront on such posts, and holds both the brand and the ambassador responsible.
Is a brand ambassador an employee?
Not necessarily. Field ambassadors are often casual or agency workers, online ambassadors are often self-employed, and employee ambassadors are existing staff. GOV.UK explains that employment status determines rights and responsibilities and can differ between employment and tax law. The job description should state the status.
What skills does a brand ambassador need?
Warmth, product knowledge and honesty, spoken and written communication, self-organisation, resilience and judgement about what to say and what to refer to the company. Online roles add content creation and comfort on camera.
How much does a brand ambassador earn?
It varies by kind and arrangement: field roles are usually paid per shift or hour, online roles per post or per period plus product, and employee ambassadors receive their normal salary. Any advert should state the pay rather than relying on free product.
Your next step
- Decide which kind of ambassador you need and put it in the first line.
- Decide the employment status and the pay, and state both.
- Write the disclosure requirement into the duties and supply the wording.
- Plan the brief: product training, guidelines, reporting format and a named contact.
For onboarding people who will work mostly out of sight, read and download our employee onboarding guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.
Want campaign targets, check-ins and feedback for ambassadors and the team that briefs them in one place? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current brief. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.
