If you take a look at the personalities that big brands are scouting to become brand ambassadors, the lineup starts to look a lot like the red carpet for last night's 88th Academy Awards. Think Chris Hemsworth for TAG Heuer, Rihanna for Puma, Chiara Ferragni (of The Blonde Salad fame) for Pantene, and Drake for the Toronto Raptors. These well-known names and faces have a ready army of fans and have achieved a high-level status across several social circles. Companies are starting to leverage ...

In the referral marketing world, there seems to be a debate brewing over the most effective way to identify, enroll, and engage ambassadors. In one corner is the belief that carefully enrolling only your most loyal and passionate ambassadors is the best approach. The thinking here is that those people, who already love and support your brand, will happily and aggressively work to generate referrals and new business for your company.

                    Click for sound                           Many brands are venturing outside of their office and within their network to find early adopters that can take out some of the mass marketing legwork by driving word-of-mouth. For many companies, the ideal marketing campaign is self-sustaining — an organic ripple that migrates throughout target markets and accurately represents your brand.

Think about the last time a word-of-mouth referral program influenced one of your purchasing decisions. Maybe a friend shared their love of a subscription service like StitchFix, a co-worker sent you a referral code for free Uber credits, or a neighbor recommended their favorite contractor. Or maybe it was as simple as a friendly suggestion on where to go to dinner. Regardless, you probably acted on the referral, in part, because it came from someone you trusted.

Word-of-mouth drives billions of dollars in sales every year, and the holiday sales season presents a huge opportunity for innovative companies to empower their happy customers to help them to build brand preference and hit revenue goals.

Virality is often times the first word that marketers think of when it comes to harnessing the power of word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM). While it would be nice for every single campaign to end up on Mashable or Buzzfeed, WOMM has invaluable impacts on your brand beyond one-time viral marketing campaigns. Here are three reasons why it’s important for your brand to invest in the power of word-of-mouth marketing: