In today’s world with internet access, possibilities are endless. Brands in their different fields are competing with one another to gain a lot of eyeballs and sales. Whether its offline marketing or online channels, brands want their presence to be known far and wide. Typically, brands would tweet or post about their products, work out stunning visuals and go ahead with posting them on various channels, be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
But…
What if brands could go one step further to getting their company out there with the help of people that ARE the company in the first place? That’s right. It’s employees. In my opinion, employees are a company’s biggest asset and in terms of marketing to increase social media engagement.
Employee advocacy refers to the promotion of a brand/organization by its employees on their own social channels. This help gives your business a more positive stride on social media, word of mouth and other offline channels to both friends and family networks towards engagement in social media.
One might ask, why employees? Why not just the company Leaders & CXOs, after all they might have a bigger reach and influence, but
Did you know that according to the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer, an employee’s voice is more credible than that of a CEO? 52% to be exact.
Also, for most companies, employee count easily outnumbers the CxOs and their combined reach.
To help boost engagement on social media, here are a few things to get you started with Employee Advocacy:
Implement an Employee Advocacy Program
Now this depends on how the company culture is. It’s important to get this right as you want your employees to post what they genuinely feel about the company. Create social media guidelines and communicate them to all employees. Educate your employees on social etiquette!
Encourage your employees to take part
When people are talking about your brand online, it’s a tedious task to keep track of conversations. Try giving your employees the freedom to engage your audience online. There’s also a bonus to this. You are empowering your employees to represent your brand.
Encourage employees to spread the word, it will help them as well
Most brands don’t do this & most employees do not realise that sharing the right company content with their friends actually makes them look good. For brands, there might be a few influencers your employees would be following through which you can leverage and connect. This can amplify your reach.
With the above pointers, it’s possible to get your employee advocacy program kick-started to see a boost in engagement on your company’s social platforms.
Socio Advocacy is a tool that helps brands run a social employee advocacy program and empower their employees to spread the official communication with their personal networks with ease. To learn more about SocioAdvocacy or to schedule a free demo, Click Here.