Harnessing the power of positivity: What is Employee Advocacy & why the smart companies are getting on board
Employee advocacy: It may seem like just another trendy buzz term but forward thinking companies have been informing, educating and engaging their workers to become brand ambassadors for a good reason - it works.
In 2015, Forbes conducted research to better understand how consumers engage with different organizations and businesses across retail, hospitality, entertainment and financial services via social media networks. A massive 78% of people stated that social media posts influence their buying decisions. It makes sense then to turn your employees into active brand ambassadors and to invest in a strategy that can reap increased brand recognition and enhance your digital marketing strategies.
SHARE, ENGAGE AND INTERACT.
Whilst inspiring your foot-soldiers to go forth and trumpet your company’s success stories may seem relatively straight-forward, there are many social media pitfalls that can be avoided with some clever pre-planning, by way of investing in a formal ‘advocacy program’. Much like our recommendations for implementing a proactive digital marketing plan, we have created a guide for a fail-proof strategy that will also ensure that you protect your company’s brand in the process.
Training: It would be unwise to assume that your employees are savvy when it comes to using social media in a business setting. Therefore, best to establish a smart social media engagement program, ideally focussing on specific social channels such as LinkedIn . Find someone to upskill your staff , either by employing someone or identifying the most appropriate and social media savvy person within the business to provide the training. There are also plenty of online courses, agencies or specialised social media consultants in the marketplace who are experts in advising on internal marketing to tie in with your digital strategies.
Consistency: Running regular Masterclasses will help provide focus and will incentivise your staff. For example, a LinkedIn Masterclass focused on how to optimise employee profiles, and how to harness their personal brand and career will also works to amplify brand recognition.
Motivation: Bringing staff on board to promote your brand can be a powerful resource that has positive knock-on effects for morale and your employee’s career progression. Research shows that socially engaged organisations increase sales leads and generation and therefore are more likely to attract top talent in the process.
Buy-in: For a successful employee advocacy program, it is essential that your staff are inspired and enthusiastic. They need to believe in your organisation’s brand and to understand the importance of the company’s product or service, and be inspired to network, connect and get in touch with potential clients and customers. By providing opportunities for everyone to get involved, perhaps headlining a different employee across your newsletters, platforms and blog each month, or encouraging staff to get involved with local community events as examples.
Content: Arming your employees with quality content that they are able to share regularly helps to increase their visibility and positions them as an authority and a thought leader in your organisation’s space. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn play a huge role when it comes to your customers making buying decisions, so be sure to invest in resources such as strong images, quality, engaging evergreen content and credible case studies that employees can access. We recommend organisations have an internal “LinkedIn Assets Folder” which houses all pre-approved content / images / capability statements / marketing collateral that employees may need or want to share on LinkedIn - Make it easy for your people to spread the love.
We provide LinkedIn Masterclasses which focus on arming your people with the best techniques to do effective LinkedIn marketing. We show them how to optimise their profiles, grow valuable networks and build an engaged community. Your people are your most valuable asset, let them shine on LinkedIn - they will reward you buy sharing brand stories, demonstrating their expertise and celebrating the brand culture.
For more insights into creating a strong digital strategy that focuses on employee advocacy, LinkedIn marketing, social selling and lead generation please contact us at lucybingle.com
#employeeadvocacy #linkedinmarketing #positivity