Dive Brief:
- Small companies looking to beef up their brand and boost sales need look no further than their own workers, according to an article at Business2Community.
- By leaning on employee advocacy via social media, the article says employers can greatly increase their "visibility, reach and influence" all on a relatively low budget.
- Author Jessica Davis, a content management specialist with Godot Media, says employee advocacy is about encouraging workers to share company news and stories on their personal social media accounts, a strategy that if done right, can increase reach and sales leads (and also help with recruiting and employee engagement).
Dive Insight
Davis writes that while employee advocacy requires empowering employees, it can't be a random process. It means putting a structure – with a policy and rules – on what to share/avoid and how to interact with people on social. By guiding employees in the right direction, small businesses can turn workers into powerful marketers on several levels.
Davis offers several tips, including: investing in an employee advocacy platform, which can save time and money in the long run; keeping employees motivated, primarily via incentives and compensation when they succeed; having clear goals, which require metrics for tracking true success, and finally, trusting employees by not micromanaging their posts, which can ruin motivation, Davis writes.
Smaller companies typically don't have the benefit of an HR professional, so using social media can be a great way to not only build brand awareness on the business side, but also in terms of recruiting talent – something larger employers are doing more of these days (that is, giving their recruiting efforts a strong marketing bent).
