August 2026 - Stevens & Tate Marketing

Using Progressive Profiling To Improve Your Lead Intel

August 28, 2026/in Articles, Directors, Marketing Automation /by Nicole Wagner

Did you know that the more information you request from a lead in one given form, the lower your chances of converting that lead to a sale? Simply put, asking for too much information at one time turns off prospective customers. That is one reason why progressive profiling needs to be in your marketing strategy.

How Do You Profile Progressively?

When you capture pertinent information from a prospect, that person turns into a lead. It can be as simple as getting their name and email address before you let them download a report from a landing page. But leads are not converted to paying customers just by getting a name and an email address. You need more information before your sales team can get to work. This is where progressive profiling comes in.

[Learn To Generate Leads Through Content Marketing]

Each time the lead wants to download information, you get a bit more data. It starts with the name and email address. Next, it might be demographic data about their company, like its location and number of employees. You can also grab the lead’s role in the company.

On the third download, you know this lead is evaluating your products or services as part of a decision-making process. This is when you ask for a phone number or the time frame to purchase. This continued quest for more details from a lead is progressive profiling.

What Makes This Type of Profiling So Powerful?

It increases conversion rates. People do not like filling out long forms just to download a simple whitepaper or report. On the other hand, they don’t mind giving a name and email address for that type of download.
It prevents repetition. You already have some information about a prospect. There is no need to ask for the same information again.
It offers you the ability to capture more valuable information over time. You can ask progressively more detailed questions as the lead comes closer to the sales decision time.

How Do You Automate This Process?

Now, you might be thinking that you would need to build multiple web forms based on complex logic to capture all this information. And you would be correct, if you are not using a marketing automation platform like Hubspot.

The beauty of Hubspot is that you can leverage dynamic web forms and already captured data to get the information you need, without building multiple web forms. When the lead returns for another download, Hubspot can detect what information is already provided, then create a dynamic web form asking for the next level of detail. That information is stored in Hubspot, ready for the next download or for the sales team.

Another benefit of Hubspot is the ability to customize the data captured based on the buyer persona for each lead. This allows you to capture pertinent information based on the lead’s interest in a particular product or service. This allows progressively more detailed market segmentation and sales follow-up.

Are you ready to leverage progressive profiling in your company?

Digital Storytelling: How to Use Storytelling in Marketing

August 21, 2026/in Articles, Directors, Storybranding /by Dan Gartlan

Every brand has a story to tell. However, telling that story effectively requires more than simply sharing information about your company.

Digital storytelling combines traditional storytelling techniques with digital channels such as websites, video, social media, email, blogs, podcasts, and interactive experiences. Instead of simply presenting facts about a company, product, or service, digital storytelling uses narrative to help audiences understand a problem, connect with an experience, and see themselves in the story.

When done well, storytelling can make marketing content more engaging, memorable, and relevant. It can help businesses explain complex ideas, demonstrate value, create emotional connections, and deliver a consistent brand experience across digital channels.

However, effective storytelling starts before you choose a format. First, you need to understand your audience. Then, you need to identify a meaningful story and determine the best way to share it.

That is where storytelling in marketing becomes a valuable strategy.

What Is Digital Storytelling?

Digital storytelling is the use of narrative techniques across digital channels to communicate an idea, experience, message, or brand.

Traditional storytelling might rely on a book, presentation, television commercial, or conversation. Digital storytelling expands those possibilities. Today, businesses can combine written content with video, photography, animation, audio, social media, and interactive experiences.

For example, a digital story might take the form of:

A customer success video
A company origin story
A blog article
A social media campaign
An employee story
A case study
A podcast
An interactive website experience
A series of emails
A testimonial or interview

The format matters, but the format alone does not make content a story.

Effective digital storytelling gives the audience something to follow. There may be a person facing a problem, a company overcoming a challenge, or a customer experiencing a meaningful transformation.

As a result, the audience has a reason to keep reading, watching, or listening.

Digital Storytelling vs. Brand Storytelling

Digital storytelling and brand storytelling are closely connected, but they serve different purposes.

Digital storytelling focuses on how a story is communicated through digital channels. Brand storytelling focuses on the larger narrative a company uses to communicate its identity, values, purpose, positioning, and customer experience.

For example, a customer success video shared on LinkedIn is digital storytelling. If that story also demonstrates the company’s commitment to solving a specific customer problem, it becomes part of the brand’s larger story.

Together, these approaches can help businesses create content that feels consistent, purposeful, and relevant.

Why Does Storytelling Work in Marketing?

Consumers encounter an enormous amount of marketing content every day. As a result, businesses need to do more than provide information. They also need to give people a reason to pay attention and remember their message.

Statistics, product descriptions, advertisements, and promotional messages can communicate important information. However, information alone does not always create a memorable experience.

Stories give information context.

Consider the difference between saying:

Our organization has helped hundreds of customers solve a specific problem.

That statement communicates an accomplishment. However, it does not tell the audience what the experience was actually like.

Now consider telling the story of one customer who faced that problem. You can explain what made the situation difficult, how the customer found a solution, and what changed afterward.

The second approach gives the audience something specific to understand and remember. More importantly, it helps people see how the problem affected a real person and how the solution made a difference.

This is one of the key benefits of storytelling in marketing. Stories can turn abstract information into something people can understand and relate to.

Stories Make Information More Meaningful

A story creates structure.

Instead of presenting isolated facts, marketing storytelling connects those facts through people, challenges, actions, and outcomes.

As a result, audiences can better understand not only what a product or service does, but also why it matters.

This approach can be especially effective for businesses that sell complex products or services. Rather than explaining every feature at once, a company can show how a real customer experienced a challenge and how the solution helped.

In this way, the story provides context. It also gives the audience a clearer way to understand the value being offered.

Stories Help Audiences See Themselves

People are more likely to connect with content when they recognize a problem, goal, aspiration, or concern that feels familiar.

For example, a prospective customer may see their own situation reflected in another customer’s experience. Because of this, the story can make an unfamiliar product, service, or solution feel more relevant.

This makes storytelling useful throughout the buyer journey. Instead of asking an audience to understand an abstract value proposition, a story shows what that value can look like in a real situation.

Ultimately, effective storytelling helps audiences move from simply understanding information to seeing how it could apply to their own needs.

Emotional Storytelling Can Build Stronger Connections

Not every story needs to be dramatic. However, emotional storytelling can make marketing more memorable when the emotion feels relevant and authentic.

That emotion might be excitement, relief, confidence, pride, belonging, curiosity, or even frustration.

For example, a B2B customer story may not seem highly emotional at first. Even so, the relief that comes from solving an expensive operational problem can create a meaningful emotional connection.

The goal is not to manufacture emotion. Instead, identify the human meaning that already exists within the experience.

Then, use that insight to create a story that feels genuine and relevant to your audience.

6 Elements of Effective Digital Storytelling

There is no single formula for creating a successful digital story. However, strong stories tend to share several important characteristics.

1. Start With the Audience

First, put your audience at the center of the story.

Before creating content, take time to understand the people you want to reach. Ask:

Who are we trying to reach?
What problems are they experiencing?
What questions are they asking?
What are they trying to accomplish?
What concerns could prevent them from taking action?
What would make this story relevant to them?

These questions are especially important for companies selling complex products or services.

Your audience may not initially care about your company history or list of capabilities. Instead, they are likely focused on solving a problem or reaching a specific goal.

Therefore, start with their needs.

Once you understand what matters to your audience, you can develop a story that addresses those needs.

2. Identify the Problem or Challenge

Next, identify the problem or challenge at the center of the story.

Most compelling stories include some form of tension. In a customer story, that might be a business problem, operational challenge, missed opportunity, or difficult decision.

Similarly, a nonprofit story might focus on a community need. For a senior living organization, the challenge could be a family’s uncertainty about finding the right environment for a loved one.

For a B2B company, the challenge might involve improving efficiency, reducing risk, or responding to changing market conditions.

Whatever the situation, the problem gives the audience a reason to continue following the story.

3. Create a Human Connection

Next, bring the story to life through real people and experiences.

Customer interviews, testimonials, case studies, employee stories, and behind-the-scenes content can all help humanize a brand. In addition, these formats give audiences an opportunity to understand the people behind the company.

For example, instead of saying your organization provides excellent service, show what that service meant to a customer.

Likewise, instead of saying your company has an innovative culture, introduce the people and ideas behind that innovation.

Specific stories tend to feel more credible than broad claims. By showing real experiences, you can help your audience understand not only what your organization does, but also why it matters.

4. Introduce the Solution Naturally

Once you establish the problem, introduce your company, product, or service as part of the solution.

However, the solution should not immediately turn the story into a sales pitch. Instead, demonstrate how the organization helped address the problem.

A simple customer-story structure might look like this:

Challenge → Discovery → Solution → Experience → Outcome

This structure allows the audience to understand the value of your product or service through a real-world experience.

At the same time, it keeps the customer and their journey at the center of the story.

5. Show the Outcome

Do not stop when the solution appears. The audience also needs to understand what happened afterward.

Ask questions such as:

Did the customer save time?
Did the organization grow?
Did an employee develop a new skill?
Did a family gain greater peace of mind?
Did a community benefit?

By showing the outcome, you give the story a clear conclusion. You also demonstrate why the experience mattered.

Rather than simply telling your audience that your product or service provides value, show them what that value looked like in a real situation.

6. Give the Audience a Next Step

Finally, give your audience a clear next step.

A digital story does not always need to end with “Buy Now.” Instead, the right call to action depends on where the person is in the customer journey.

For example, a visitor might:

Read another article
Watch another video
Download a resource
Explore a related service
View a case study
Subscribe to email updates
Contact your organization
Schedule a consultation

The next step should build naturally from the story.

Someone who is learning about a problem may want to read more information. On the other hand, someone who has already researched a solution may be ready to contact your company.

By matching the call to action to the audience’s needs, you can create a more useful and engaging experience.

How to Use Storytelling in Marketing

Effective storytelling for marketing begins before content production.

Use the following process to develop stories that support both audience needs and business objectives.

Step 1: Define Your Audience

Determine who needs to hear the story and what matters to them.

The same experience can be presented differently depending on the audience. For instance, a technical audience may want details about how a solution worked. By contrast, an executive audience may care more about business impact, risk reduction, or return on investment.

Start by identifying the information your audience needs. Then, use that information to shape the story.

Step 2: Find the Story

Look beyond your marketing department for potential stories.

Talk with:

Customers
Sales teams
Customer service representatives
Employees
Leadership
Partners
Subject-matter experts

These groups often know the experiences that demonstrate your organization’s value.

Look for moments involving:

Challenge
Change
Discovery
Innovation
Achievement
Growth
Problem-solving
Human connection

These moments can become the foundation of strong content storytelling.

Step 3: Choose the Right Format

The story should determine the format, not the other way around.

A customer interview may work particularly well as a video. A complicated customer journey might become an in-depth case study. Meanwhile, a short insight could become a social media post.

Visual storytelling can also make a strong impact.

Photography, video, animation, graphics, and interactive content can help audiences understand an idea through both words and visuals.

You can also repurpose one story across multiple formats.

For example, one customer story could become:

A written case study
A customer testimonial video
Social media content
A blog article
An email campaign
Sales enablement materials

One strong story can therefore support several parts of your digital marketing strategy.

Step 4: Develop the Core Message

Before producing the content, determine the one idea you want the audience to remember.

Ask:

What should the audience understand, feel, or do after experiencing this story?

A story may contain many details. However, it should have one clear central message.

A focused message makes the story easier to understand. It also helps ensure that the content supports your larger marketing goals.

Step 5: Distribute the Story

Creating the story is only part of digital storytelling.

You also need to determine where your audience is most likely to encounter it.

Potential channels include:

Your website
Organic search
Social media
Email marketing
Paid advertising
Video platforms
Sales communications

Each channel may require a slightly different presentation. However, the core story should remain consistent.

Step 6: Measure What Matters

Digital channels make it possible to evaluate how audiences interact with your stories.

Depending on your goals, you might track:

Page views
Video views
Engagement
Time on page
Social shares
Email clicks
Downloads
Leads
Conversions
Assisted conversions

The most useful metric depends on the objective.

A customer story created primarily to build awareness may not immediately generate leads. That does not necessarily mean it failed. It may introduce someone to your brand who returns later through search, email, social media, or another channel.

Digital Storytelling Examples

There are many ways to use digital storytelling. Almost any organization can benefit from storytelling when it has a meaningful experience to share.

Customer Success Stories

Customer stories are among the most versatile forms of digital storytelling.

They allow companies to demonstrate their value through real experiences rather than relying entirely on promotional claims.

A B2B company might explain how a customer solved a complicated operational challenge.

A senior living organization might share how a resident discovered a new activity, friendship, or sense of community.

These stories help prospective customers understand what an experience with your organization might look like.

Employee Stories

Employees can provide a human perspective on an organization.

Employee interviews, career stories, day-in-the-life content, and behind-the-scenes experiences can help audiences understand the people behind the brand.

These stories can also support recruiting and employer-branding efforts.

Company Origin Stories

How and why a company began can help audiences understand its purpose.

However, an origin story should not simply be a chronological history lesson.

Instead, connect the company’s beginnings to:

The problem it wanted to solve
The opportunity its founders identified
The values that influenced its direction
The purpose that continues to guide the business

This approach gives the audience a reason to care about the company’s history.

Behind-the-Scenes Stories

Audiences often appreciate seeing what happens behind the scenes.

Manufacturing processes, creative development, product design, community initiatives, event preparation, research, and innovation can all become compelling stories.

The key is to present these experiences from a human perspective.

Customer Journey Stories

A customer journey can also become a storytelling framework.

Instead of focusing on a single testimonial, businesses can show:

Problem → Research → Decision → Experience → Result

This type of storytelling can help prospective customers understand what working with the organization might actually look like.

Storytelling Marketing Examples

Storytelling can work across industries and marketing channels.

For example, a manufacturer could share the story behind how a product solved a customer’s production challenge.

A nonprofit could introduce the people and communities affected by its work.

A healthcare organization could explain a complex service through a patient’s experience, when appropriate and with the necessary permissions.

A professional services company could show how an expert helped a client navigate a difficult business decision.

In each case, the story provides context for the organization’s value.

These storytelling marketing examples also demonstrate an important principle: the story does not need to be dramatic to be effective.

It simply needs to be relevant, authentic, and useful to the audience.

Make Storytelling Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Digital storytelling should not operate separately from the rest of your marketing efforts.

A strong storytelling strategy can support:

Website content
Organic search
Social media
Email marketing
Advertising
Video marketing
Sales enablement
Customer experience

The same story can also connect multiple channels.

For example, a customer story might first appear as a short video on social media. That video could direct viewers to a more detailed case study on the website.

The case study could then link to a related service or resource. The same story might also appear in an email campaign or sales presentation.

Each channel serves a different purpose. However, the central story remains consistent.

This is where storytelling becomes more than a creative exercise.

It becomes a strategic marketing tool.

Keep the Customer at the Center

One of the most common mistakes businesses make with storytelling is positioning themselves as the main character.

Your company may provide the solution. However, your customer should often be the person the audience follows.

Think of the structure this way:

Your customer has the problem.

Your customer experiences the journey.

Your organization helps provide the solution.

Your customer experiences the outcome.

This approach makes storytelling more relevant because prospective customers can more easily see themselves in the experience.

Your brand still plays an important role. It simply does not need to dominate every scene.

Build a Stronger Brand Through Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling gives businesses an opportunity to communicate their value in ways that traditional promotional messaging cannot always achieve.

A well-told digital story can make a complex idea easier to understand. It can also turn a customer experience into useful content, demonstrate the impact of a product or service, and create a stronger connection with a brand.

The strongest stories are not necessarily the most elaborate. Instead, they understand the audience, identify something worth saying, and communicate that idea through a format people want to experience.

Start by finding the real stories already happening within your organization and among your customers. Then, determine which stories are worth sharing, what your audience can learn from them, and where those stories can have the greatest impact.

When digital storytelling becomes part of a broader marketing strategy, every story has the potential to do more than capture attention. It can help your audience understand who you are, what you stand for, and why your organization matters.

Ready to create a stronger narrative around your brand? Explore Stevens & Tate’s Brand Storytelling capabilities to learn how strategic storytelling can create deeper connections between your brand and your audience.

A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE MOBILE MARKETING TECHNIQUES

How Pop Culture Inspires Creative Content Marketing Ideas

August 18, 2026/in Articles, Directors, Marketing Strategy /by Dan Gartlan

Coming up with fresh content marketing ideas can be challenging. Marketers research topics, follow industry trends, and look for new ways to connect with their audiences. Sometimes, however, the best ideas come from outside the industry.

Pop culture can be a valuable source of inspiration.

Movies, music, television, sports, celebrities, and cultural trends are already familiar to many audiences. By connecting these familiar topics to your area of expertise, you can create content that attracts attention while still providing useful information.

We saw this firsthand with one of our most successful blog articles: “Four Things You Can Learn About Real Estate Marketing From Bon Jovi.” The article became one of the most-viewed posts on our website.

The marketing insights were valuable, but there may have been another reason the article attracted so much attention.

People know Bon Jovi.

That familiar name made readers curious. They wanted to see what a rock band could possibly teach them about real estate marketing.

This example illustrates how creative marketing strategies can use familiar cultural references to make business content more approachable. When the connection is relevant, pop culture can give your audience a reason to click, read, share, and engage.

The goal is not to use pop culture simply to generate traffic. Instead, use it as a starting point for valuable content that teaches your audience something they can apply.

Read one of our creative marketing solutions inspired by pop culture: “Four Things You Can Learn About Real Estate Marketing From Bon Jovi”

Use Pop Culture for Creative Content Marketing Ideas

Zombies have been part of popular culture for decades. Movies, television shows, books, games, and online conversations have kept the concept familiar to audiences around the world.

That familiarity can make zombies an interesting example for content marketers.

The lesson is not that every business should write about zombies. Instead, look for topics your audience already recognizes and enjoys.

A familiar reference can make an unfamiliar subject easier to approach. It can also give readers a reason to click on an article they might otherwise overlook.

For example, a marketer could use a popular movie to explain a business concept. A sports reference could introduce a lesson about teamwork. A television show could provide a framework for discussing customer service.

The possibilities are almost endless.

The most important consideration is relevance. The pop culture reference should connect naturally to the subject of your article.

Have fun with your content, but always give your audience a reason to keep reading.

How Pop Culture Can Inspire Creative Marketing Strategies

Comic books and superhero stories provide another useful example.

Over the years, characters from comic books have become a major part of mainstream entertainment. Films, television shows, streaming series, and merchandise have introduced these characters and stories to new audiences.

That familiarity creates opportunities for marketers.

A recognizable character or story can serve as an entry point into a more complex topic. For example, a business writer might use a superhero story to discuss leadership, teamwork, resilience, or brand positioning.

The cultural reference gets the reader’s attention. Your expertise gives them a reason to stay.

That distinction is important.

Pop culture should support your marketing content, not replace the substance of the article. Once you have captured someone’s attention, you still need to provide useful information that relates to your area of expertise.

Think of the pop culture reference as the hook. The marketing insight is what delivers the value.

Use Pop Culture to Increase Content Engagement

Another benefit of pop culture is that it gives people something to talk about.

People have strong opinions about their favorite movies, characters, musicians, athletes, television shows, and fictional stories. Those opinions can create opportunities for meaningful conversations around your content.

For example, an article that takes a position on a popular movie or character may encourage readers to share their own perspectives.

That conversation can extend beyond the original article. Readers may leave comments, share the article with others, or discuss it on social media.

Marketers can participate in those conversations, too.

Respond to comments and questions. Thank readers for sharing their perspectives. If a discussion inspires a new idea, consider turning that idea into another piece of content.

This approach can make your brand feel more approachable while creating additional opportunities for audience engagement.

The goal is not to agree with every opinion. Instead, create an environment where people feel comfortable participating in the conversation.

Keep Pop Culture Marketing Relevant

There are countless pop culture marketing examples that can inspire new content ideas. However, not every trend is right for every brand.

Before using a movie, celebrity, television show, sports reference, or trending topic, ask yourself a few questions:

Will my audience recognize the reference?
Does it relate naturally to the topic?
Does it help explain the subject?
Will it make the content more interesting or useful?
Does it fit the brand’s personality?
Will the reference distract from the main message?

If the connection feels forced, your audience will likely notice.

This is particularly important when using pop culture in marketing. A timely reference may attract attention, but relevance is what makes the content valuable.

The reference should be a doorway into your subject, not a distraction from it.

Turn Cultural Trends Into Content Marketing Ideas

The best content does not always start with a completely new idea. Sometimes, it starts with a familiar idea presented in a different way.

That is where pop culture can provide inspiration.

Think about the topics your audience already enjoys. Consider the movies they watch, the sports they follow, the brands they recognize, or the cultural conversations they participate in.

Then look for a genuine connection to your area of expertise.

A real estate company might use a popular television show to discuss home-buying trends. A B2B company could use a sports analogy to explain teamwork. A healthcare organization might reference a familiar story to make a complex topic easier to understand.

The possibilities will vary by industry and audience.

The important thing is to make sure the marketing lesson remains at the center of the content.

If a pop culture reference can help someone understand your subject, remember your message, or start a conversation, it may be worth exploring.

Create Content That Is Relevant and Useful

Pop culture can be a powerful source of creative marketing ideas. It gives marketers a way to connect familiar topics with subjects their audiences may not immediately find interesting.

However, the goal is not simply to generate clicks.

Your content still needs to provide value. It should teach something, answer a question, offer a useful perspective, or help the reader solve a problem.

That is what turns an interesting headline into effective content marketing.

Our Bon Jovi article worked because it combined something familiar with something useful. The connection encouraged people to click, while the marketing insights gave them a reason to keep reading.

So, the next time you are looking for a new content idea, look beyond your industry.

Consider what your audience already knows and enjoys. Then ask yourself how you can connect that interest to something valuable you want them to learn.

You might be surprised by where your next great marketing idea comes from.

Chatbot Examples: How Businesses are Successfully Using Chatbots

August 14, 2026/in Brand Development, Directors, Marketing Strategy /by Mark Beebe

Businesses are constantly looking for ways to engage with their audience. The more you engage with your audience, the more effectively you can nurture those relationships.

That is one reason companies are increasingly implementing chatbots. Chatbots are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that communicate with website users through messaging interfaces.

Chatbots can use information about users and their behavior to personalize interactions. They can also keep visitors engaged as they navigate your website. For example, chatbots can answer basic questions and provide assistance at any time of day.

Online messaging has also become a familiar way for people to communicate. As a result, chatbots can provide a convenient form of customer service. The following chatbot examples demonstrate how businesses have used this technology to improve the customer experience.

Types of Chatbots

When implementing a chatbot, it is important to understand the different options available. Two common types are simple chatbots and smart chatbots. Here is a brief overview of how they differ.

Simple Chatbots – Simple chatbots use commands based on predefined keywords. As a result, they can only understand questions that contain specific words or phrases. If a user’s question does not match those keywords, the chatbot may respond that it does not understand. Although simple, these chatbots can still be useful for answering common questions.
Smart Chatbots – Smart chatbots use AI to communicate with users. Instead of relying entirely on predefined responses, they can interpret questions and provide more relevant answers. These interactions can also generate useful data about customer questions and behavior.

How Major Brands Use Chatbots

Now that you understand the basics of chatbots, it is helpful to look at how major brands have used them. These chatbot examples demonstrate several ways businesses can use the technology to improve customer service and engagement.

Adobe – Adobe has used chatbots to help users troubleshoot issues. The chatbot can respond to questions and direct users to pages with potential solutions. This provides customers with a convenient way to find help when they need it.
Arsenal FC – The London-based soccer team has used chatbot technology to provide fans with updates and information. Users can receive information about games, team lineups, and team-related news. This can be particularly useful for fans who cannot watch a game live.
Universal Studios – Universal Studios has used chatbot technology to provide information to guests visiting its parks. For example, users can access information about park amenities and ride wait times. The chatbot can also connect users with a human representative when additional assistance is needed.
Domino’s – Domino’s has used chatbot technology to make ordering more convenient. Customers can place orders through a conversational interface and provide details about customization options. The approach creates a more interactive ordering experience while making the process easier for customers.

These chatbot examples demonstrate how businesses can use chatbots in different ways. Whether they are answering questions, providing information, or assisting with purchases, chatbots can help businesses improve customer service and create more convenient experiences for their audiences.

How to Build a Brand Ambassador Program That Drives Awareness, Trust, and Advocacy

August 11, 2026/in Articles, Brand Development, Directors /by Dan Gartlan

Building brand awareness and earning customer trust are essential to developing a strong brand. While advertising and other marketing channels can introduce your business to new audiences, recommendations from people those audiences already know and trust can often make your message more meaningful and credible.

That is where a brand ambassador program can play an important role.

By creating structured, ongoing relationships with customers, employees, industry experts, creators, community leaders, and others who genuinely believe in your brand, businesses can extend their reach in a more authentic way. When the right people are involved, brand ambassador programs can expand awareness, generate authentic content, strengthen credibility, and ultimately turn loyal supporters into advocates.

However, effective brand ambassador marketing involves more than simply recruiting people with large social media followings. Instead, successful programs are built around authentic relationships, shared values, audience relevance, clear expectations, and a long-term strategy.

Before developing an ambassador program, it is also important to establish a strong brand foundation. After all, your positioning, values, personality, messaging, and audience expectations should be clearly defined so ambassadors understand what your organization represents and, in turn, how to communicate it authentically to others.

What Is a Brand Ambassador Program?

A brand ambassador program is a structured marketing initiative designed to develop ongoing relationships with people who represent, recommend, or advocate for a company. In other words, rather than relying solely on traditional advertising, businesses can build relationships with individuals who can authentically share their experiences with a brand.

Brand ambassadors may include:

Loyal customers
Employees
Industry professionals
Content creators
Community leaders
Athletes
Subject-matter experts
Other individuals with credibility among a relevant audience

Depending on the goals of the program, ambassadors may share content, participate in events, provide testimonials, refer customers, create videos or social posts, offer product feedback, or introduce the brand to their personal and professional communities. As a result, they can help businesses reach new audiences while also creating more personal connections with potential customers.

However, the most effective ambassadors are not necessarily the people with the largest audiences. Instead, they are individuals who have credibility and influence among the specific audience your business wants to reach.

For example, someone with a smaller but highly engaged community may provide more value than someone with hundreds of thousands of followers who has little connection to your company, product, or industry. Ultimately, relevance, authenticity, and trust are often more important than audience size when selecting the right ambassadors for your brand.

What Makes a Good Brand Ambassador?

Choosing the right people is an important part of building a successful brand ambassador program. After all, the individuals representing your company should not only have access to a relevant audience but also genuinely understand and support what your brand represents.

In general, strong brand ambassadors typically:

Understand and genuinely appreciate the brand
Align with the company’s values
Have credibility with a relevant audience or community
Communicate authentically about their experiences
Demonstrate professionalism and reliability
Show interest in developing an ongoing relationship with the organization

In addition to selecting the right ambassadors, businesses should consider how they will recognize and reward their participation. Compensation and incentives can take many forms, including financial compensation, commissions, free products or services, exclusive discounts, early access, event invitations, educational opportunities, or other benefits.

Ultimately, the right approach depends on the ambassador’s role, the expectations of the partnership, and the value they provide. By aligning incentives with those factors, businesses can create a more meaningful relationship while giving ambassadors a genuine reason to remain engaged with the brand over time.

Brand Ambassador vs. Influencer: What’s the Difference?

The brand ambassador vs. influencer distinction is important when deciding what type of marketing relationship best supports your goals.

Influencer partnerships are often campaign-specific. A business may work with a creator to promote a product launch, event, service, or individual campaign to an established audience.

A brand ambassador relationship is generally more ongoing.

Brand ambassadors repeatedly represent or advocate for a company and often develop a deeper relationship with the organization over time.

An influencer can certainly become a brand ambassador, but follower count should not be the primary consideration when developing an ambassador program.

Influencer marketing often emphasizes immediate reach and visibility. Brand ambassador marketing typically places greater emphasis on long-term relationships, authenticity, credibility, and advocacy.

Both approaches can provide value. The right choice depends on your marketing objectives, audience, available resources, and overall brand strategy.

Benefits of Brand Ambassador Marketing

A well-designed ambassador program can support several areas of your broader marketing strategy.

Expand Brand Awareness

Ambassadors can introduce your company to audiences and communities you may not reach through your existing marketing channels.

Because that introduction comes from someone the audience already follows, knows, or trusts, potential customers may be more receptive to the message.

For businesses entering new markets or trying to reach niche audiences, ambassadors can also provide access to highly relevant communities.

Build Credibility and Trust

People often give considerable weight to recommendations and experiences shared by people they consider credible.

Brand ambassadors can communicate their own experiences with your company rather than simply repeating advertising language. That personal perspective can make your brand message feel more authentic and relatable.

Over time, consistent advocacy from trusted individuals may help strengthen confidence in your brand.

Generate Authentic Content

Ambassadors can create content that extends the reach and usefulness of your marketing efforts.

Depending on the program, this may include:

Social media posts
Videos
Testimonials
Reviews
Photos
Tutorials
Product demonstrations
Event content
Customer stories

When appropriate, this content can be adapted or amplified across your website, social media, email marketing, advertising, and other channels.

Strengthen Community and Brand Advocacy

Ambassador programs can create stronger connections between your business, customers, employees, professionals, and other members of your community.

Over time, these relationships can contribute to a broader culture of brand advocacy.

Instead of relying entirely on the company to tell its own story, you create opportunities for people who already value the brand to share their experiences with others.

How to Create a Brand Ambassador Program

If you’re considering how to create a brand ambassador program, start with your marketing objectives rather than recruiting ambassadors immediately.

A successful program begins with a clear understanding of what you want your ambassadors to accomplish.

1. Define Your Program Goals

Determine the role your ambassador program should play in your overall marketing strategy.

Potential objectives may include:

Increasing brand awareness
Generating referrals
Creating user-generated content
Building credibility
Supporting product launches
Entering new markets
Increasing event participation
Improving social engagement
Strengthening customer loyalty
Developing brand advocacy

Your goals will influence who you recruit, what you ask ambassadors to do, what incentives you provide, and how you measure performance.

2. Identify the Right Brand Ambassadors

Start by looking for people who already have a genuine connection to your organization.

Existing customers can be particularly valuable because they have firsthand experience with your products or services.

Depending on your business, potential ambassadors may also include employees, industry professionals, creators, community leaders, athletes, or subject-matter experts.

Evaluate potential ambassadors based on factors such as:

Brand alignment
Audience relevance
Credibility
Engagement
Content quality
Professionalism
Enthusiasm
Existing relationship with your brand

An effective brand ambassador strategy prioritizes the quality and relevance of the relationship over audience size alone.

3. Establish Clear Program Guidelines

Ambassadors need to understand what the partnership involves.

Develop guidelines covering areas such as:

Brand messaging
Content expectations
Campaign timelines
Brand standards
Disclosure requirements
Prohibited claims
Approval processes
How ambassador-created content may be used

At the same time, avoid scripting every interaction.

Ambassador content is often most effective when people can communicate naturally in their own voice while operating within clear brand guidelines.

4. Provide Meaningful Incentives

Determine how ambassadors will be compensated, rewarded, or recognized for their participation.

Depending on the program, incentives may include:

Financial compensation
Commissions
Referral bonuses
Free products or services
Exclusive discounts
Early access
Event invitations
Professional development opportunities
Recognition within the community

Compensation should reflect the amount of work requested and the value the ambassador provides.

5. Give Ambassadors Something Worth Sharing

Ambassadors need genuine experiences, information, and resources that give them something meaningful to talk about.

Consider providing access to:

New products or services
Educational resources
Behind-the-scenes experiences
Special events
Exclusive information
Company experts
Community experiences
Product demonstrations

The more connected ambassadors feel to your organization, the more naturally they can communicate what makes your brand valuable.

6. Build Relationships Over Time

Your ambassadors should not feel like another advertising channel.

Communicate regularly. Ask for feedback. Recognize their contributions. Give them opportunities to interact with your organization and, when appropriate, with other ambassadors.

Long-term engagement can transform an ambassador initiative from a promotional tactic into a genuine brand advocacy program.

Brand Ambassador Program Examples

Looking at established brand ambassador program examples can help illustrate how different organizations approach advocacy, community, and long-term relationships.

Red Bull

Red Bull’s Student Marketeer program uses university students to build awareness and excitement around the brand within student communities.

The approach demonstrates how ambassadors can help a company establish a presence within a highly specific audience and environment.

lululemon

lululemon has developed relationships with ambassadors that include athletes, community members, and other individuals who align with the brand.

Its approach illustrates how ambassador marketing can connect products with shared interests, local communities, and brand values.

Sephora

Sephora’s Squad program provides another example of a structured ambassador initiative.

The program illustrates how a company can combine creator relationships, content, product discovery, and community within an organized ambassador framework.

These programs operate on a much larger scale than many businesses need. However, the underlying principle applies to organizations of virtually any size:

Find people who genuinely connect with your brand and give them meaningful reasons to share that connection with others.

A B2B company might develop ambassadors among customers and industry professionals. A local business might work with respected community members. Other organizations may find that employees, customers, partners, or subject-matter experts are their strongest advocates.

The right type of ambassador depends on the business, brand, and audience.

How to Measure a Brand Ambassador Program

Like any marketing initiative, a brand ambassador program should be measured against clearly defined objectives.

Potential metrics include:

Referral traffic
Referral or promotional code usage
Leads
Conversions
Reach
Impressions
Engagement
Ambassador-generated content
Content shares
Website traffic
Event registrations
New customer acquisition
Customer retention
Brand mentions
Qualitative feedback

The right metrics depend on the program’s goals.

If your primary objective is awareness, metrics such as reach, engagement, branded searches, website visits, and audience growth may be particularly useful.

If customer acquisition is the goal, referral traffic, leads, conversion rates, and revenue may be more meaningful.

It is also important to evaluate performance over time.

Long-term ambassador relationships can reveal which people, messages, content formats, and communities generate meaningful results. Use those insights to refine your brand ambassador strategy instead of treating the program as a static marketing initiative.

How Brand Ambassador Programs Build Brand Advocacy

Some of your strongest potential ambassadors may already be customers.

Look for people who consistently:

Recommend your company
Refer other customers
Share positive experiences
Engage with your social content
Participate in events
Submit testimonials
Create content about your brand
Interact positively with your organization

These individuals are already demonstrating brand advocacy.

A formal brand ambassador program can give those advocates additional opportunities, resources, recognition, and incentives to continue sharing their experiences.

But authenticity should remain at the center of the relationship.

Recruit people because there is a genuine connection between the person, your brand, and your target audience—not simply because they have access to a large number of followers.

Strong brand advocacy develops when people genuinely believe in what your organization represents and feel comfortable sharing that belief with others.

Build Your Brand Ambassador Strategy Around Authentic Relationships

A successful brand ambassador strategy is not built around reach alone.

It is built around authentic relationships with people who understand your company, believe in what it represents, and have credibility with the audiences you want to reach.

Whether your ambassadors are loyal customers, employees, creators, industry professionals, athletes, or community leaders, start with a clear strategy. Define your goals, identify the right people, establish expectations, provide meaningful value, and measure performance over time.

The strongest ambassador programs are also grounded in a clearly defined brand. Your positioning, personality, values, messaging, and audience relationships influence who should represent your organization and how they should communicate on your behalf.

When those elements work together, a brand ambassador program can become more than another promotional channel. It can turn people who already value your brand into credible advocates who help others understand why they should value it, too.

Looking to strengthen the strategy behind those relationships? Explore Stevens & Tate’s Brand Development capabilities to build a clearer brand foundation, create stronger audience connections, and support long-term advocacy.

How to Develop an Integrated Marketing Strategy

August 5, 2026/in Articles /by Nicole Wagner

Today’s customers rarely interact with a brand through only one channel.

They may first discover a company through search, see an advertisement later that week, follow the brand on social media, open an email, visit the website, download a resource, and eventually speak with a sales representative.

Each interaction may happen in a different place, but customers experience them as one relationship with your brand.

That’s why an effective integrated marketing strategy is so important.

Instead of allowing social media, search, advertising, email, content, and other marketing efforts to operate independently, integrated marketing brings those channels together around shared goals, audiences, messaging, and measurement.

The objective is not simply to be present on more channels. It is to create a connected marketing experience in which every interaction supports the next.

What Is an Integrated Marketing Strategy?

An integrated marketing strategy is a coordinated approach that aligns marketing channels, messaging, content, campaigns, and customer touchpoints around common business objectives.

Rather than developing separate strategies for every channel, an integrated approach considers how those channels can work together.

For example, a company might use:

Search to capture existing demand
Social media to build awareness and engagement
Paid advertising to reach targeted audiences
Content to educate prospective customers
Email to nurture leads
Website experiences to support consideration and conversion
Customer communications to strengthen long-term relationships

Each tactic serves a different purpose, but they should all support the same broader marketing strategy.

This is the foundation of integrated marketing: connecting individual marketing activities so they reinforce one another rather than competing for attention, budget, or resources.

Integrated Marketing vs. Integrated Marketing Communications

The terms integrated marketing and integrated marketing communications are often used together, but there is a useful distinction.

Integrated marketing considers the overall coordination of marketing strategy, channels, customer experiences, campaigns, and measurement.

Integrated marketing communications, or IMC, focuses more specifically on maintaining consistent messaging and communication across those channels.

For example, a company launching a new service might promote it through:

Website content
Search campaigns
Social media
Email
Digital advertising
Public relations
Sales communications

Integrated marketing communications helps ensure that the positioning, value proposition, tone, and central message remain recognizable across all of those touchpoints.

That does not mean every message needs to be identical.

The way you communicate on LinkedIn may differ from a paid search ad or email campaign. The execution should adapt to the channel while remaining connected to a consistent brand and strategic message.

Why Integrated Marketing Matters

Marketing channels are often managed separately because they require different skills, platforms, budgets, and measurement tools.

But customers do not think about brands in terms of departmental structures.

They simply experience the company.

If your paid advertising communicates one message, your website communicates another, and your sales team presents a third, the experience can quickly become disconnected.

A strong integrated approach helps organizations create greater consistency while also making individual tactics more effective.

Create a Consistent Customer Experience

Consistency helps audiences understand what a brand represents.

Your positioning, messaging, visual identity, value proposition, and calls to action should feel connected whether a customer encounters your company through search, social media, advertising, email, or your website.

This consistency creates a stronger foundation for the overall customer experience.

Make Marketing Channels Work Together

Marketing channels should not function as isolated tactics.

A strong blog article can support organic search, social media, email, sales conversations, and paid campaigns.

A successful paid campaign can reveal audience insights that improve content.

Social media engagement can identify questions customers are asking, which can inform SEO and website content.

An integrated strategy creates opportunities for one marketing activity to strengthen another.

Use Resources More Efficiently

When teams work independently, they may duplicate content, pursue conflicting objectives, or target different audiences with unrelated messages.

Integration allows organizations to reuse insights, content, creative assets, and campaign themes across multiple channels where appropriate.

This can improve efficiency without simply repeating the same message everywhere.

Improve Marketing Measurement

An integrated approach also creates a broader view of performance.

A prospective customer may interact with several channels before converting.

Evaluating each channel entirely on its own can make it difficult to understand how those interactions contributed to the final result.

Looking at the overall customer journey can provide a more realistic picture of marketing performance.

How to Develop an Integrated Marketing Strategy

A successful integrated marketing strategy does not begin by selecting channels.

It begins with business objectives, audience needs, positioning, and a clear understanding of how marketing should contribute to growth.

The following framework can help connect those elements.

1. Define Your Marketing Goals

Start by identifying what your integrated marketing strategy needs to accomplish.

Potential goals might include:

Increasing brand awareness
Entering a new market
Generating qualified leads
Increasing website traffic
Supporting a product or service launch
Growing sales
Improving customer retention
Increasing event registrations
Strengthening customer relationships
Improving marketing efficiency

Avoid setting disconnected objectives for every individual channel before defining the larger goal.

Your social media team, paid media team, content team, and sales team should understand what the organization is collectively trying to accomplish.

Your broader Marketing Strategy capabilities should provide the foundation for these decisions, including positioning, target audiences, messaging, channel planning, and measurement. Stevens & Tate similarly describes marketing strategy as connecting positioning, inbound marketing, communications, media channels, and customer experience into one coordinated plan.

2. Understand Your Audience and Customer Journey

Next, determine who you are trying to reach and how those people make decisions.

Consider:

What problems are they trying to solve?
Where do they look for information?
Which channels influence them?
What questions do they ask during the buying process?
What prevents them from taking action?
Who influences the final decision?
What happens after they become customers?

Different audience segments may follow different paths.

A B2B buyer might discover your company through organic search, read several articles, encounter your brand on LinkedIn, download a resource, receive nurturing emails, and later request a consultation.

A consumer journey might be shorter and involve social content, paid advertising, product reviews, email offers, and ecommerce.

Understanding these journeys helps you build a cross-channel marketing strategy around actual customer behavior rather than assumptions.

3. Establish a Unified Position and Message

Once you understand the audience, define the central message that should connect your marketing efforts.

Ask:

What do we want customers to understand about our brand?
What problem do we solve?
What makes our offering different?
What value should customers associate with us?
What action do we ultimately want them to take?

This becomes the foundation of your integrated marketing communications.

Individual channels can adapt the message for their audience and format, but they should reinforce the same underlying positioning.

Consistency is especially important when several departments or external partners contribute to marketing.

Without shared messaging guidelines, campaigns can quickly begin to feel disconnected.

4. Select Channels Based on Their Role

An integrated marketing strategy does not require using every available marketing channel.

Instead, choose the channels that make sense for your audience and give each one a defined role.

Search

Search can help your business reach people who are already looking for information, products, services, or solutions.

SEO and paid search may play different roles, but both can help capture existing demand and direct users toward relevant website experiences.

Stevens & Tate’s Search & Social capabilities can support this part of the integrated ecosystem.

Social Media

Social platforms can support awareness, community building, audience engagement, content distribution, and advertising.

Integrated social media marketing works best when social activity connects with the rest of the strategy instead of operating as a separate publishing calendar.

For example, social posts might promote new content, reinforce an advertising campaign, support an event, highlight customer stories, or direct users toward website resources.

Advertising

Advertising can extend reach and help businesses target specific audiences across search engines, social platforms, display networks, traditional media, and other placements.

Paid media becomes more powerful when it supports the same objectives and messages as your other marketing efforts.

The Advertising capability can therefore be connected naturally to an integrated campaign rather than treated as an isolated tactic.

Inbound Marketing and Content

Inbound marketing helps attract audiences by providing useful information that addresses their needs and questions.

Blog articles, guides, videos, case studies, landing pages, email content, and downloadable resources can support different stages of the customer journey.

Stevens & Tate’s Inbound Marketing capabilities emphasize content designed around customer needs and using that content to attract, engage, nurture, and convert audiences.

Digital Marketing

Your integrated digital marketing strategy should connect the digital channels that make sense for your audience rather than creating unrelated programs for SEO, advertising, social media, email, and website content.

Stevens & Tate’s digital capabilities include digital strategy, search engine optimization, paid and social advertising, email, content formats, web experiences, and analytics.

Explore the Digital Marketing capabilities for ways these digital tactics can work together.

5. Build an Integrated Content Plan

Content is often what connects individual channels.

Instead of producing separate ideas for every platform, consider building campaigns around central themes.

For example, one research report could become:

A long-form website resource
Several blog articles
Social media posts
An infographic
Email content
Paid advertising creative
Sales enablement material
Video content
Public relations opportunities

The message remains consistent while the format changes based on the channel.

This approach can make your content program more efficient while creating repeated exposure to the same core message.

How to Build an Integrated Marketing Campaign

An integrated marketing campaign takes the principles of integrated strategy and applies them to a specific initiative.

The campaign might support a product launch, event, new service, seasonal promotion, brand initiative, or lead-generation objective.

A basic integrated campaign might follow this structure:

Establish One Campaign Objective

Identify the primary outcome the campaign should produce.

Define the Audience

Determine who needs to receive the message and what matters to them.

Develop the Central Campaign Message

Create one strategic idea or value proposition that every channel can reinforce.

Assign Each Channel a Role

For example:

Search captures active interest.
Social media generates awareness and engagement.
Paid advertising expands targeted reach.
Content educates prospects.
Email nurtures interest.
Landing pages support conversion.
Sales communications move qualified prospects toward a decision.

Create Connected Calls to Action

Do not send users in unrelated directions depending on which channel they encounter.

Campaign calls to action should support a logical customer journey.

Measure the Campaign as a Whole

Evaluate individual channel metrics, but also examine how the campaign performed against the shared business goal.

This broader view is one of the key benefits of integrated marketing.

Cross-Channel Marketing vs. Multichannel Marketing

It is also useful to distinguish cross-channel marketing from simply using multiple marketing channels.

Multichannel marketing means an organization is active across multiple platforms.

For example, a company might use:

Email
Paid search
LinkedIn
Facebook
SEO
Display advertising

But those activities may still operate independently.

Cross-channel marketing focuses on how interactions across those platforms connect.

A prospect might discover a company through Google, visit a landing page, later see a retargeting ad, download a guide, receive a follow-up email, and ultimately request a consultation.

A strong cross-channel marketing strategy considers that progression rather than evaluating each interaction as an isolated event.

This is why integration should focus on the customer journey—not simply the number of channels being used.

Maintain Consistency Without Making Every Channel Identical

One misconception about integrated marketing is that every channel needs to publish exactly the same content.

It does not.

Different channels have different audiences, formats, strengths, and expectations.

The goal is strategic consistency, not identical execution.

Your LinkedIn content might have a more professional tone than Instagram.

A paid search advertisement will need to be much shorter than an email.

A blog article can explain an idea in much greater depth than a display advertisement.

Each execution can change while maintaining:

Consistent positioning
Recognizable visual identity
Core messaging
Shared campaign objectives
Relevant calls to action

This allows marketing to feel coordinated without becoming repetitive.

Connect Marketing to the Customer Experience

Integration should not end once a prospect converts.

The customer experience is part of marketing as well.

Think about what happens after someone:

Completes a form
Makes a purchase
Schedules an appointment
Requests information
Becomes a customer
Contacts customer service
Renews a service
Recommends your company

If the marketing experience promises one thing but the customer experience delivers something entirely different, the strategy is not truly integrated.

Marketing, sales, service, and customer communications should reinforce the expectations established before the conversion.

That makes Customer Experience an important part of the overall marketing ecosystem.

Measure Your Integrated Marketing Strategy

One of the biggest challenges in integrated marketing is measurement.

Every platform provides its own metrics, but successful integration requires looking beyond individual dashboards.

Start With Business Outcomes

Measure performance against the objectives established at the beginning of the strategy.

Depending on your goals, this might include:

Qualified leads
Revenue
Customer acquisition
Conversion rate
Brand awareness
Customer retention
Marketing ROI
Website engagement
Sales pipeline
Customer lifetime value

Evaluate Channel Contribution

Individual channel performance still matters.

Track metrics such as:

Organic search traffic
Paid search conversions
Social engagement
Advertising performance
Email engagement
Content performance
Website conversion rates

But consider how each channel contributes to the broader journey.

Look for Cross-Channel Patterns

Your strongest insight may not come from identifying the channel with the highest number of last-click conversions.

Instead, you may discover that customers who interact with content, search, email, and advertising are much more likely to convert than audiences exposed to only one channel.

Those patterns can help you improve future campaigns and allocate resources more effectively.

Common Integrated Marketing Mistakes

Even organizations using many marketing channels can struggle to create true integration.

Watch for these common problems.

Choosing Channels Before Defining the Strategy

Do not begin with, “We need to be on TikTok,” or, “We need more paid search.”

Start with business goals and audience needs.

Channels come later.

Creating Separate Goals for Every Department

If social media is focused entirely on engagement, paid media is focused only on conversions, content is measured on traffic, and sales is measured exclusively on revenue, teams can begin working toward competing objectives.

Connect tactical KPIs to shared business goals.

Inconsistent Messaging

Customers should not encounter a completely different brand depending on the channel they use.

Establish messaging and brand standards early.

Measuring Only Last-Click Results

Customers frequently interact with several channels before converting.

Last-click attribution can overlook much of that journey.

Treating Integration as a One-Time Project

An integrated strategy needs continuous refinement.

Customer behavior changes. Channels evolve. New technology appears. Business priorities shift.

Regularly review your strategy and adapt accordingly.

Build a Marketing Ecosystem, Not a Collection of Tactics

A strong integrated marketing strategy is ultimately about creating connections.

Search should inform content.

Content should support social media and email.

Advertising should reinforce broader campaign messaging.

Digital experiences should support customer needs.

Sales and marketing should share insights.

Customer experience should reinforce the promises your marketing makes.

When those pieces work together, marketing becomes more than a collection of individual tactics. It becomes a connected system designed around the customer journey and the organization’s business goals.

An effective integrated strategy does not require being everywhere. It requires being in the right places, with a consistent message, a clear purpose, and a plan for how each interaction supports the next.

If your marketing channels are operating independently, Stevens & Tate can help connect the pieces. Explore our Marketing Strategy capabilities to build the strategic foundation, and our Digital Marketing capabilities to put that strategy into action across the digital channels that matter most.