Make it easy for them to want to share

Question: What’s the best way to secure ambassadors to promote my brand?

Make it easy

“The easier something is to do, the more likely people will do it. So make sure they have all the tools, knowledge and information they need at their disposal: samples, literature, swag, the right answers to common questions, a support system in place, etcetera. If they’re confident that you’ve prepared them well and are standing at the ready behind them, they’ll be far more willing to go forward for you.”

– Nicolas Gremion (@FreeEBooksNet), Free-eBooks.net

Be authentic and offer incentives

“When we open a new store, we first read local magazines and search on social media to find the key influencers who are out and about and attending events on a weekly basis. We reach out to this influencer list and offer a complimentary product to see if they like the brand. We then provide them company credit for referrals, which can be significant given the number of people they’re meeting.”

– Fan Bi (@blanklabel), Menswear Reviewed

Create a programme and promote it

“Publicise an ambassador programme that actively seeks out these influencers who are more than happy to represent your product and service if they like it. The programme should include messaging and a targeting plan to seek out these ambassadors. Having a programme with consistent communication and buy-in for the potential ambassadors can help secure them.”

– Cynthia Johnson (@cynthialive), Bell + Ivy

Target your most dedicated customers

“As a company who reaches moms and moms-to-be, almost everything we do is word-of-mouth based. The best place to start is with your most dedicated customers. You would be surprised how many people will want to help spread the word. Often they will do it for trade, as they just want to be a part of a brand they love.”

– Lindsay Pinchuk (@lindsaypinchuk), Bump Club and Beyond

Gather, nurture, and ask

“For our members, we’ve worked hard to create a lively and engaged Facebook group. We are in there every day answering questions, having conversations and celebrating our members. On the sixth week of membership, they receive a survey. Whenever we see a super fan come through, we reach out to do a member feature and ask if that person will help to be an ambassador of our group. This works well.”

– Kim Walsh-Phillips (@KWalshPhillips), Elite Digital Group

Also Read: 6 tips to turn your customers into ambassadors

Call on strong network ties

“The best ambassadors are people with whom you’ve cultivated a solid relationship over the long term. You talk regularly, you’ve helped them out, and they’ve helped you out. Therefore, it’s not strange or irritating when you approach them with an ask to publicly promote your brand. I personally bristle when I get a request out of the blue, even if I happen to like the person or product.”

– Alexandra Levit (@alevit), PeopleResults

Only engage people with passion

“The best ambassadors are those who don’t need convincing or compensation. If you have a great product or service, there are undoubtedly influencers out there who either already love using it or would love using it. Develop a list of target influencers you think make sense, reach out to gauge their passion and excitement about your offering, and when you smell the organic mutual love, you’re in.”

– Andrew Antonio, World View

Show them that you care

“Build a relationship with them and ask for their opinion. It may sound simplistic, but when you show that you care about them, they will also reciprocate. If they sense that you’re just trying to get them on your side so you can get more exposure for your brand, odds are they will only do the minimum required. Create a brand they’ll want to promote.”

– Ismael Wrixen (@iwrixen), FE International

Build a microbrand first

“Brand ambassadors are force multipliers. But they need something to work with. Start building your product and community before recruiting ambassadors. Focus heavily on design. Ambassadors love working with brands that get great feedback from their fans. Show them that a few people already love your service, and they’ll follow your lead in promoting your company.”

– Neil Thanedar (@neilthanedar), LabDoor

Give first, ask second

“There’s a simple rule in the game of life: ‘Give and you shall receive.’ So before approaching ambassadors, how can you help them? Can you provide a dedicated training to help them grow their business or a personal phone call to help them with their marketing? Give first and ask them to help later.”

– Chris Bission (@chrisbisson), Salesmsg

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The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organisation comprising the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship programme that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

Image Credit: Drew Farwell on Unsplash

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Citramas’ Nongsa Digital Park in Batam houses Indonesian leaders in a bid to strengthen Indonesia’s startup ecosystem through the e27 Academy

The line that delineates digital economy and traditional economy is becoming increasingly blurred as businesses are finding ways to integrate the former with the latter. In a time where business practices are shifting to digital frameworks, it is worth investigating how different economies are dealing with this shift.

In Southeast Asia, efforts to support digital economy has been cropping up across multiple facets. Some countries are largely supported by state-sponsored initiatives; others rely on the support of more established enterprises.

In some instances, the best support comes from the tech startup community itself, gathering experts and insiders to connect and trade insights on how to manage different business models. More importantly, such initiatives help educate emerging startups on how to improve products under their businesses.

This is the main thrust of e27 Academy: building the right foundation through content, community, and coaching.

e27 Academy is a three-day learning programme that is designed to help aspiring and early-stage startup founders build their companies and navigate the ecosystem. The e27 Academy happened in the Indonesian island of Batam, home to Nongsa Digital Park, on November 28-30, 2018.

Also read: e27 Academy is your Founder’s Retreat with hundreds of other Founders

It was participated by startup founders across Southeast Asia, with trainers and experts representing some of the most sought after startups today.

Nestled among lush foliage, the Nongsa Digital Park—considered to be the “digital bridge” between Singapore and Indonesia—is in support of Indonesia’s plan to build 1,000 new digital startups amounting to a total of 10 billion USD by 2020. It also seeks to support Singapore’s expansion of its infocomm and technology sector.

Situated in Batam, merely a short ferry ride from Singapore, NDP positions itself in Southeast Asia’s largest economy (Indonesia) while maintaining close access to Singaporean and Malaysian economies.

Leveraging experience at the core of every new business

An institution that has shown its immense support for e27 Academy is Citramas Group, a diversified group of businesses that was founded in 1980.

Industries under Citramas group’s umbrella of businesses include: oilfield equipment manufacturing, shipping and logistics, drilling services’ infrastructure development comprising port and ferry terminals, hotels, and an animation and film production company as well as other interests in the hospitality and leisure industry.

The diversity of industries they work in puts Citramas in the best position to help emerging startups get a sense of how to build their businesses and improve their products, since many young startups do not have the same grasp and experience yet.

The Nongsa Digital Park is a subsidiary of Citramas, making it the perfect platform to house initiatives like e27 Academy, along with media and creative services company, Infinite Studios, that mooted the idea of the park.

Also read: Slew of Indonesian MOUs aim to support Batam island tech scene

Collectively, Citramas, NDP, and Infinite Studios were the three core signatories of the 13 MOUs (memorandum of understanding) that is pushing for growth in the western Indonesian startup ecosystem, putting the island of Batam at its heart.

This series of MOUs cover a range of verticals: industrial curriculum, funding for digital workforce training through LPK, exploratory work on opportunities related to vocational trainings, areas such as creative arts and digital skills, job opportunities for Indonesian talent, creating collaborative and innovative spaces to share scientific and academic knowledge, hackathon programs, seminars, workshops, and vocational trainings and conferences among many others.

The agreements made through the thirteen MOUs were signed during the e27 Academy.

Leaders to further their resolve to strengthen Western Indonesia’s startup ecosystem

In an effort to strengthen Indonesia’s startup ecosystem, Indonesian leaders also took part in e27 Academy. Infinite Studios, one of the core signatories of the series of MOUs, was part of the event through Director & Member of the Board, Marco Bardelli.

Indonesian creative economy agency, BEKRAF, was also present. BEKRAF is a new non-ministral institution formed by Indonesian president, Joko Widodo in an attempt to bolster and embolden the creative sector of the Indonesian economy.

Ilham Habibie, Implementation team Chair of Wantiknas, also took part in the e27 Academy. Wantiknas or The National Information and Communication Technology Council is a multi-stakeholder institution in the field of ICT, formed and chaired by the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Its vision is to speed up the utilisation and growth of ICT in Indonesia efficiently and effectively by formulating ICT policies nationally.

Another important personality present was Shinta Dhanuwardoyo, Head of Digital Business, E-Commerce and Start-Up Development with the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), where she is currently creating a platform for start-ups and venture capitalists in Indonesia.

These leaders were all present over the course of the three-day event, crystalising their commitment to strengthening the startup ecosystem in Indonesia, and ultimately, in Southeast Asia.

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UMG Idealab is a corporate venture capital of UMG Myanmar, a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural heavy equipment

UMG Idealab aims to invest in up to 20 early stage startups in Indonesia next year.

In an email interview with e27, UMG Idealab Managing Partner Achmad Syaefi revealed that the corporate venture capital (CVC) firm is looking for startups in the internet-of-things (IoT), big data, voice recognition, and artificial intelligent verticals.

“The startups got to be innovative and [their work] got to have a social impact. We are also in favour of startups that help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) digitised their work process, such as Aruna and Crowde,” he explains.

Aruna and Crowde are two of the 11 Indonesian startups that the firm has already invested in from their fund; Aruna raised a seed funding round in April 2017 while Crowde raised their funding round as recently as last October.

Though they declined to reveal the exact size of their fund, UMG Idealab plans to invest between US$50,000 and US$1 million in each startup.

According to Syaefi, there are several benefits that the firm can provide to the startups who are working with them.

“Coaching, networking with shareholders such as VCs, startups, and incubators, as well as expansion to Asian countries,” he says.

Also Read: Pay-as-you-go energy startup SolarHome raises US$10M in debt financing to accelerate Myanmar expansion

From Myanmar to Indonesia

UMG Idealab’s story began in Myanmar as one of the subsidiaries of UMG Myanmar, a producer and distributor of agricultural heavy equipment. Currently run by a team of 5,000 employees, the company is one of the biggest companies operating in the country.

Seeing the impressive growth of Southeast Asian tech industry, UMG Myanmar Founder Kiwi Aliwarga then initiated the founding of UMG Idealab.

UMG Idealab’s business lines are being divided into two parts: An incubator in Myanmar that helps startups begin their businesses, and a CVC in Indonesia that helps startups with seed funding investments.

In his email, Syaefi dubs UMG Idealab as a sector-agnostic CVC, though startups in the agritech sector do have a special value for them.

In addition to Indonesia and Myanmar, the firm is also investing in startups in Thailand.

In Indonesia, apart from Aruna and Crowde, UMG Idealab has also invested in agritech startup MSMB, voice recognition platform Bahasakita, chatbot platform Botika, online book store Bukku, healthcare marketplace Prosehat, human capital management platform Netis, food products e-commerce platform Total Agri Mart, on-demand homecare service Perawatku, and air taxi service Frogs, which is currently under development.

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Image Credit: UMG Idealab

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We are at a critical tipping point where truly intelligent technology has evolved to augment the knowledge workers’ abilities not just to drive productivity, or make things faster, better and cheaper, but scalable and more impactful

Data, analytics, automation and the rise of AI have been hot topics over the past 12 months. David Sanderson founder and CEO of data storytelling platform Nugit shares his insights on what marketing organisations, publishers and enterprises should be focussing on for success in 2019.

1. Using Automation to improve people’s experiences with data

As we transitioned from human to machine reporting, the quality of insight and storytelling in marketing reports has regressed. Telling stories has been replaced with slick dashboards. Previously, marketing analysts would share campaign performance results in well structured PowerPoint and Excel presentations that included annotations, key insights and recommendations. While this manual process placed a massive burden on analytics teams and dozens of hours required to process data, visualise and build these stories for each activity, the outputs were usually pretty good.

Enter automated dashboards a few years ago which offered a tempting alternative to alleviate this time suck, however it created new problems. While dashboards have undoubtedly driven efficiencies, the data is left to the client or reader to interpret for themselves and the story around the results has all but vanished.

The dashboard is considerably more appealing to an analytics teams (the report producers) than to the end business user (the consumers). Therefore, a more balanced consideration between driving productivity through automation and meeting and exceeding the needs of the end user is required for automation to succeed. After all, the report is built for readers, so make sure it’s what they need. This shift in thinking might seem nuanced, but it means a lot in terms of impact. I believe with maturity of automation technology will lead to a shift in focus from analytics technologies being all about the analyst and productivity enablement, to be focused on delivering a more complete story for the people that rely on this information to make informed decisions.

2. Tech will change marketing roles and AI will begin to bite

There has been a lot of hyperbole about the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning driving job losses. However, it’s actually really difficult to find examples of where this has lead to actual job losses thus far. In the coming year, this will start to change and marketing is likely to be one sector where it could be felt most. Particularly in agencies with reduced fee structures, productivity economics is front and centre in company planning. Teams are expected to manage more output per head, and one of the only places left to find margin is is reducing man-hours.

Also read: 5 blockchain and crypto predictions for 2019

Automation and new technology will also lead to massive changes in the nature of existing jobs. For agencies and marketing organisations this means questioning the skills and experience needed to fulfil these evolving roles. For example, in 2019 you can be an amazing analyst without knowing Structured Query Language (SQL) or programming language Python, but to be successful you must be a great communicator and storyteller. From what I can see, communication and presentation skills was at best a nice to have when filling data analytics roles in 2018.

These trends might be disruptive, but they shouldn’t be feared, they’re driving a lot of amazing opportunities. If you’ve been considering a new career path for a while, this could be the right time. There will also be more jobs created that haven’t existed before. Head of AI, Automation, Innovation, Data Storytelling, or some other buzzword are popping up everywhere. Because there isn’t a ready talent pool of people who’ve got five years plus experience, to find candidates employers will need to be much more open to transferable skills. What aptitudes and skill sets overlap from other fields? what are the critical requirements in the role to be successful vs. are just boilerplate requirements that have existed since the job description was first crafted? Most importantly, why do you need to have worked in an industry or vertical before? While the overhead of training is a bit higher than having someone hit the ground running, imagine the new ideas and thinking that can be introduced into the business with people from more diverse backgrounds.

3. Test and learn with automation

Businesses need to decide if they are going to embrace automation, or just react to it. Embracing it means not just talking about it and putting it on slides, but setting aside real budget to develop proof of concepts and experiments within the company. Even if it’s a modest investment, it will be vital in generating organisational learnings and build skills within the company. There are a lot of early adopters who are building this experience into their marketing functions now and it will be these organisations that will ultimately gain the biggest advantage as the technology matures. Sure there will be failures along the way. The key here is to plan for these failures, make sure lessons are learnt, and incremental knowledge is gained.

For example, we are running Jasmine by Saleswhale, an automated sales agent that often follows up with visitors to our website, helps schedule product demonstrations and shares content. She’s a key part of our sales team, doesn’t require a desk and does amazingly well covering all time zones. While Jasmine doesn’t always get it right, through the setup and management of this technology we were able to collect and view data that refined our customer lifecycle, together with optimising our messaging and content served to each user segment. She’s also improving every month and has the data to back up her performance.

4. Automation to drive increased transparency

One of the most dominant issues this year has been transparency. Marketers are rightly demanding increased accountability and evidence of return on campaign investment more than ever before. Automation, with machines sharing data, and making decisions, helps drive transparency and objective insights. Telling a preferential story is much harder to achieve with an automated system of data management than it is when humans are involved. As more marketers move to automated data analytics this will have a significant impact on investment decisions and overall marketing strategy.

5. Enterprise needs to be startup friendly

Many of the advances in AI and intelligent software are being driven by startups and for enterprises this poses an interesting question. Are they prepared to be startup friendly? Being open to work with startups is more than just doing a hackathon or starting an innovation centre, it requires a coordinated effort across business units, legal and procurement to create fast lanes for startups to engage with enterprises in limited capacities, before they have to go through the full rigor: This reduces project risks and helps projects move faster. It’s also less of a burden on the startups with limited resources so they can spend more time doing what they do best. .

We’re seeing this with some enterprises that now have short and friendly contracts for SaaS software, in place of the rigid and one-sided Master Services Agreements that we’re common place only a few years ago. This makes total sense and enables these organisations to quickly onboard cloud software, and gain efficiencies in legal and procurement as well as the business teams.

Another way enterprises are becoming startup friendly is through Innovation centres. it’s great to see these traditional organisations embracing open spaces and design thinking in sourcing new solutions to drive their business forward, however they still have fundamental problems to work through. In quite a lot of experiences with these centres, success is measured on the number of meetings held, number of startups they meet, or the number of introductions they make, but crucially, and frustratingly for business who participate in this very tempting form of business development, it’s difficult to get further than that because the innovation centers seldom hold budget and the traditional business teams are not working at the same pace.

We get invited to ‘pitch’ to the innovation teams at companies from telcos, finance and FMCG. In the vast majority of cases there’s a lot of introductions and excitement, but little decision making ability or budget to back it. Ultimately its unproductive for all concerned. If enterprise are truly investing in innovation they should be also backing their sourcing teams with enough investment to let them do the job, fund POCs directly, and not rely on core business teams that worry more about the day to day to fund activities. Only then will real innovation begin. A business getting this right is Singapore’s DBS Bank. Recognising the increasing headwines of technology disruption and the threat of being disintermediated, it started a digital transformation process, with data at its heart in 2013. But rather than platitudes, DBS has embarked on a company wide process of data and digital transformation that is being reflected across the culture of the organisation. As technology continues to advance at speed, many organisations will need to take a leaf out of DBS’ playbook if they want to maintain and grow their market share.

Also read: e27 AMA with David Sanderson, the Founder and CEO of Nugit

As we close out 2018, we have a lot to look forward too in terms of how technology can make our working lives better. We are at a critical tipping point where truly intelligent technology has evolved to augment the knowledge workers’ abilities not just to drive productivity, or make things faster, better and cheaper, but scalable and more impactful. While it’s natural to fear the changes happening in the business world, I hope you can embrace automation and a world where man plus machine work together in new and exciting ways. Knowledge workers still have so many advantages over these systems, and adding automation to your skill set is surely going to position you well for career growth and success.

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David Sanderson is founder and CEO of data storytelling platform Nugit.

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Photo by Phi Hùng Nguyễn on Unsplash

 

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Welcome to the e27 Tea Talk, where we talk about everything startup ecosystem. And this time, OURSELVES!

At our first-ever e27 Academy program in November 2018, we gathered over 150 founders of Southeast Asia startups from 16 countries to share their experience, network and learn from each other and from other successful figures in the ecosystem. It warms our hearts to receive positive feedback from our beloved founders who also shared how e27 has always been able to create a platform for startups to engage the audience through large-scale events and effective content marketing.

With that being said, events or content marketing should not be overlooked as a means to explore more business opportunities or to engage a wider audience. Actively showcasing your brand will not only boost your exposure to potential clients but also expand your network, giving you more access to investors, partners, and communities.

Wondering why reaching out through events and content marketing is important? Here are our key takeaways.

Events:

1. Market Research: Our knowledge is limited. With new information every day, each of us is evolving; and so is the market. Hence, it is crucial to go out there and speak with other entrepreneurs, listen to advice from investors, and share your experience with the community. By doing so, you are conducting an important, yet sometimes underrated, market research that is vital to the blooming of new ideas and the survival of existing businesses.
2. Networking: Put your brand out there. Actively take part in events to showcase your idea and make friends with like-minded people who might present you with opportunities that might be hard to look for anywhere else. Remember, the connections made during an event might last throughout your entrepreneurial journey, so don’t hesitate to expand your network.
3. Stop, relax and sharpen your axes: Everybody is familiar with the story of the two woodcutters. The lesson learned can also be applied to your startup journey. Stop and listen to feedback, have an open mind and sharpen your knife. This way, you can be sure that whatever you are doing is constantly changing, in a positive and holistic way.

Also read: 5 ways to improve time management within your team

Content Marketing:

1. Save cost and time: Engaging the audience through content marketing is precise in terms of target audience and is also cost-and-time-saving. With everything available at your fingertips, content marketing ensures your message reaches the specific audience in time and with good conversion.
2. A click generates revenue: A click is all it takes to convert a reader to a client with the right audience and content. Simple, fast and fuss-free.
3. Brand appearance: Selling by not selling is a phrase that has been beaten to death in the business world. Portray your brand with the right message and soon, you will find yourself with a higher conversion rate.

Events and content marketing are not foreign concepts, but these engagement options stay relevant even with the ever-changing environment. If you have just started your journey and unsure of how and where to go from there, we’d like you to know that help is out there at e27!

Yes, at e27, we have a strong media platform which you can employ to better reach out to your audience. ECHELON Asia Summit, TOP100, and e27 Academy are examples of events where you can showcase your brand and broaden your network. Check out how awesome this year has been in the ecosystem, to ECHELON and beyond!

Scratching your head over how to go about engaging through events and content marketing? Speak to us at engage@e27.co and our best consultants will be there to assist you!

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e27 Tea Talk is the column managed by the e27 Business Development Team. We hope to see you join in on stimulating discussions and constructive feedback as we navigate through the startup journey together. 🙂

This article is jointly written by Hung Nguyen and Farah Rashidi.

 

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