Marketing and corporate communication have changed massively over the past decade, especially because of social media and mobile technologies.
Today, every single employee can serve as a company ambassador. This is a key fact marketers and recruiters have to keep in mind when crafting campaigns and working on shaping up the inner corporate culture.
Engaged employees who have access to the right mobile technology can easily transform into brand ambassadors on social media. The key here is to work on communicating a vision that workers can identify with. Whenever such a vision is readily identifiable, the influence that employees have on social media could be massive.
While these new realities create some challenges, they also provide amazing opportunities for delivering a convincing and believable message.
How Technology Is Transforming Corporate Message Delivery
In the past, corporate communication used to be quite formal. In addition, those on the receiving end had a pretty clear idea they were being exposed to an add.
The lines have been blurred today.
Marketing has become much more emotional and focused on the delivery of quality content. Recipients want to build relationships with brands, they don’t want to be exposed to artificial messages. This statement holds true both in the realms of B2B and B2C communication. Even when businesses are attempting to recruit and find suitable employees, they have to be strategic about social media use and the image being crafted for the company in the online realm.
New technology is empowering workers to talk about their experience with the company. In a sense, these people are becoming influencers because they can shape up the manner in which the brand is presented and seen.
Some companies have even launched tech-enabled advocacy programs aimed at empowering employees for that very purpose.
Through content creation, employees can share their thoughts and opinions. This type of content can be motivational for the employees themselves and it can also move forward the image of the brand in the online realm.
For HR managers and marketers, the fact delivers an array of key benefits.
Firstly, and most importantly, online content creation and its impact are both readily measurable. Managers can track results, see which types of content deliver the best results and even identify the issues that could be standing in the way of employee happiness and engagement.
Additionally, key stakeholders can be informed of social media marketing and the ROI it is bringing to the table. Content performance can be then strengthened and enhanced through the provision of the right stimuli.
The Benefits of Turning Employees into Influencers
Is it a good thing to have your employees turning into brand influencers? Absolutely!
Your involvement and the work that you put in ensuring employee satisfaction will determine the direction that such campaigns are going to have. Just like a dating site, a social network can be used to establish connections or to ruin those. If you’re not engaged in creating the right corporate culture, chances are that employees will not be the best of brand ambassadors.
When the corporate culture is in place, however, the advantages created by the mass utilization of new technology are numerous.
For a start, your branded message is perceived in one way. User-generated content, on the other hand, is perceived as much more credible.
This type of content establishes authenticity and enforces the brand message. The audience is receiving the same information you want to give it through an alternative source. Hence, cohesiveness is accomplished, the reach of your campaign is maximized and the ROI is increased.
Employees who act as influencers on social media are also influencing your organic network.
Highly engaging content can reach a large, targeted audience. Depending on the specifics of the content being generated and shared by your employees, it could even go viral and outperform the campaigns planned and carried out by the marketing team.
This is just another channels you can be using to grow your brand influence. Employee posts are characterized by a high level of genuine emotional appeal. They’re not rehearsed. They’re not crafted by marketing pros. They’re raw and natural – facts that the audience will love, regardless of the industry you operate in.
Helping Employees Become Brand Influencers Online
There are things you can do to encourage your employees to turn into brand influencers online.
For a start, work on good communication within the organization.
Are your workers happy? Are they engaged? If not, what do they seem to be missing?
Knowing the answers to these questions can help you ensure employee satisfaction and reduce turnover rates. While these are major goals on their own, attention to employee happiness could contribute to a couple of additional perks.
People who are happy at their workplace will be much more interested into becoming brand ambassadors within the online realm. In fact, the process will happen naturally and without any need for involvement on your behalf.
Training employees about social media usage and even providing them with the right tech could also be helpful.
Smartphones and tablets for professional use give your workers a chance to be present online, to experiment with different communication channels and media.
In order to turn your workers into influencers, you will also have to ace the corporate social media marketing game.
Make social media presence a part of your corporate culture. Work on crafting content and campaigns that will inspire others, engage and stimulate people to work on their own content.
You need to be strategic in your approach. If you don’t have a digital marketing team, the time may be right to get started with setting up one. Outsourcing social media marketing is also a good idea, especially if you want to benefit from the services of a highly creative and innovative team.
Finally, make sure that managers are also leading by example. Yes, even the top corporate team has to be on social media and has to demonstrate a bit of eagerness about sharing a branded message.
The management team should be seen as actively sharing feedback and positive information about the organization. An open and honest approach is required. A focus on creativity is also going to be helpful.
A final word of warning is that you cannot push workers into becoming social influencers. The process has to be organic. You can provide the right stimuli like tools, training and a favorable corporate culture. Everything else is in the hands of the people that work for your organization. It’s their choice to share positive information about the corporate experience. If you’re too adamant and eager to push people in that direction, chances are that the content generated will lack lightheartedness and authenticity.
