Boost Your Brand

Once you've landed that pitch person, it's time to put him or her to work. Here are some suggestions for getting the most out of your investment:

Be aggressive. "We used L.T. in everything we could think of," Ferrera says, from print, radio and TV advertising to place mats, to-go cups and even the restaurant voice mail.

Use them to make a splash at trade shows, national sales meetings and community events. Experiential promotion can provide higher impact at a lower cost, Sullivan says.

Craft the campaign carefully, Ferrera says. "Make sure your brand doesn't get lost. It's easy for a spokesperson's stardom to overpower your message."

Channel the spokesperson's inclinations and passions to mutual benefit. "The spokesperson, if they're good, will have their own ideas and they'll let you know what they're comfortable doing," Boehm says.

Use the spokesperson in social media. Facebook, Twitter and the like provide high-impact, lower-cost promotional avenues. Plus, observes Sullivan, "brands that invite more conversational relationships with consumers are the ones that are most successful today."

Finally, prepare for the public to hold you to a higher marketing standard. Says Sullivan: "Once you go down that road [using a high-profile pitch person], people expect it from you."

That's generally a good thing, because it means you're getting noticed.