As a brand ambassador, you are responsible for ensuring that the message for a specific vendor line is effectively and consistently communicated in a positive way to all customers -- old ones, new ones and potential ones. Businesses often work for years, if not decades, to establish their brand identity. It's how a client, vendor or customer comes to know them and their product. You are essentially at the front line of your company's relationship with the public at large concerning that particular brand.

Essential Duties

As a brand ambassador, your primary duties are to promote a business's service or product in an appealing manner to current and prospective buyers and customers. A detailed knowledge of the brand is crucial, along with an understanding of your company's objectives for that brand. You may work closely with the sales department and be at least partly responsible for hitting monthly, quarterly or yearly sales goals. You may also interact regularly with various media outlets, from newspapers to television stations, in an effort to generate wide appeal. Additional duties include proactively developing new marketing ideas; recording and maintaining client preferences for future reference; tracking and restocking inventory; relaying customer feedback to the executive team; and training other, newly hired brand ambassadors.

Required Skills

Brand ambassadors must be highly proactive and able to multitask in a fast-paced environment, often with little to no supervision. You have to recall large amounts of information quickly and be comfortable dealing with sizable groups of people, sometimes in public forums. Having well-honed social skills is essential, including strong listening, oral and written communication abilities. Also, you should have a well-groomed appearance, be extremely organized and feel comfortable in a position with significant responsibility. These qualities are all necessary to establish the credibility that is the hallmark of the job.

Work Environment

The largest employers of marketing professionals in 2012 were scientific, technical, manufacturing, finance, insurance, retail and wholesale trade organizations. Most of these jobs were full time. Higher level brand ambassadors in particular may be required to have a schedule with significant flexibility, including the ability to work nights, weekends and holidays. They often have to travel -- sometimes out of state -- to trade shows and conventions, media events and other public venues where promotional activities are occurring. They must even be willing to appear in publications or on television to discuss the brand. Entry-level ambassadors may be required to do set-up tasks for presentations and to lift or carry heavy merchandise at times.

Education and Experience

Most employers want you to have had at least a couple years of experience in retail sales and marketing -- preferably in an environment with regular face-to-face customer interaction. You should be able to demonstrate successful past sales experience, in which quotas were regularly met or exceeded, and have the ability to read and interpret sales reports. A high school degree is required for an entry-level position, while a bachelor's in marketing, advertising or a related field is generally required for a management-level position. In addition, employers will typically want you to undergo a job-training program to learn about their products and services.

Salary and Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. companies employed a total of 4,485,180 retail salespersons, 430,350 marketing specialists, and 174,010 marketing managers in May of 2013. Brand ambassadors, depending on their job level and duties, could fit into any one of these categories. The mean annual wage for entry-level retail employees was $25,370 per year, or $12.20 per hour, while mid-level marketing specialists earned $67,780 per year, or $32.59 per hour. High-level marketing managers took home a mean annual wage of $133,700, or $64.28 per hour. On the whole, jobs for advertising, promotions and marketing professionals are expected to experience growth between 2012 and 2022 as companies continue looking for ways to expand their share of the marketplace.