10 Steps to Turning Your Employees into Influencers For Maximum Brand Reach

10 Steps to Turning Your Employees into Influencers For Maximum Brand Reach

The marketplace is saturated, and businesses need help differentiating themselves and connecting authentically with their target audience. Traditional marketing tactics often fall short of building genuine trust and loyalty.

The lines between personal and professional brands have become increasingly blurred, creating a unique opportunity for businesses to leverage their employees as powerful brand ambassadors. However, many companies fail to harness this potential, leaving a vast untapped resource and lots of money on the table.

One of the most effective strategies to enhance brand visibility, engagement, and trust is by empowering employees to become influential advocates.

When employees genuinely believe in a company and its mission, they can amplify its message in a way that traditional marketing simply cannot match.

Let’s explore how to transform your employees into brand champions and unlock the full potential of your company’s reputation.

Why Employee Influencers Are Important

Employee influencers are vital parts of corporate success, playing a crucial role in promoting company culture, products, and values within their networks.

These internal advocates can share experiences, provide testimonials, and offer genuine recommendations, fostering trust and credibility with potential customers. By leveraging their social media platforms, employee influencers can increase brand awareness, drive sales, and improve the company’s overall reputation.

Moreover, they can serve as brand ambassadors, advocating for the organization’s mission and values, thereby enhancing employee engagement and retention.

They’re honestly like any other influencer out there, and can occasionally be better and more effective because they have first-hand experience with the inner workings of your brand/company because they work there, so customers trust their words more than the average influencer who was paid to promote/market your brand and its products.

In a study on how millennials and baby boomers consume user-generated content 76% of people say they trust content shared by “normal people” over content posted by brands.

According to EveryoneSocial, employee voices help elevate the brand, increase awareness, and even aid in talent acquisition.

Source: Harish Vadla

Now you’re asking,

How do I get my employees to market our company/brand through their social media?

Let’s take a page from Steve Jobs, Recognizing the critical role employees play in shaping a company’s image, in 1997, Steve Jobs embarked on a comprehensive effort to rebrand Apple from within, by marketing Apple to its employees, inspiring a new era of innovation and customer focus.

Here’s what John Lilly, an Apple employee at the time has to say about this

I remember being at a talk he gave shortly after returning in 1997 as Interim CEO. A bunch of us employees (I was at ATG at the time) were in Town Hall in Building 4 at Infinite Loop to hear him, and he was fired up. Talked a lot about how Apple was going to completely turn things around and become great.

It was a tough time at Apple – we were trading below book value on the market – our enterprise value was actually less than our cash on hand.

And the rumors were everywhere that we were going to be acquired by Sun. Someone in the audience asked him about Michael Dell’s suggestion in the press a few days previous that Apple should just shut down and return the cash to shareholders, and as I recall, Steve’s response was: “Fuck Michael Dell.” Good god, what a message from a CEO!

He followed it up by admitting that the stock price was terrible (it was under $10, I think – pretty sure it was under $2 split-adjusted), and that what they were going to do was reissue everyone’s options on the low price, but with a new 3 year vest. He said, explicitly: “If you want to make Apple great again, let’s get going. If not, get the hell out.” I think it’s not an overstatement to say that just about everyone in the room loved him at that point, and would have followed him off a cliff if that’s where he led.

From this example, you can see that to effectively leverage employees as brand advocates, you must cultivate a deeply rooted sense of belief and ownership among your workforce.

When employees are genuinely passionate about a company’s mission and values, they become authentic and compelling brand ambassadors. This intrinsic motivation is essential for building trust and credibility with external audiences.

Here’s a pyramid chart called Maslow’s Pyramid or Pyramid of Motivation, that you can use to determine what motivates your employees and identify specific opportunities within your organization to make employees more effective.

Source: Maslow’s Pyramid

Achieving this level of employee engagement requires a strategic and sustained effort.

Organizations must invest in internal communication and engagement initiatives to inspire and inform employees about the company’s vision and goals. By fostering a positive and supportive work environment, companies can empower their employees to become enthusiastic advocates who contribute significantly to the brand’s reputation and success.

Here are 10 steps to achieving this:

Step 1: Identify Your Brand Advocates

To turn your employees into influencers, begin by identifying those who are passionate and active on social media. Employees who already engage with your brand positively and who have a strong online presence are ideal candidates.

Metrics such as follower count, engagement rate, and content relevance are essential to evaluate employees’ social media presence. Social media analytics tools can help you gauge which employees have the potential to be effective influencers.

Step 2: Provide Training and Resources

Once you’ve identified potential influencers, support them with the necessary training. This includes teaching them how to effectively represent the brand online.

Organize workshops that focus on content creation skills. From photography tips to writing engaging posts, these workshops can empower employees to create high-quality content.

Effective training plans like the ones described by GaggleAMP can set the foundation for successful employee advocacy.

Step 3: Encourage Authenticity

Authenticity is crucial for credibility. Encourage employees to share their genuine experiences and insights rather than scripted marketing messages.

Help employees develop their personal brand in a way that aligns with the company’s values. When employees feel authentic and free to express themselves, their advocacy efforts will come across as more genuine and trustworthy.

Step 4: Create a Social Media Policy

A clear and comprehensive social media policy is essential. This policy should guide employees on what is acceptable to share and how they should conduct themselves online.

SproutSocial offers a detailed guide on creating effective social media policies that align with organizational goals. Such policies help protect the employer and the employees while maintaining a consistent brand voice.

Recognition and rewards go a long way in fostering long-term commitment to influencer activities. Employees who feel valued are more likely to continue advocating for the brand.

Step 5: Incentives and Acknowledgments

Consider implementing incentive programs where top-performing influencers are rewarded. This could be through public acknowledgment in meetings, special bonuses, or professional development opportunities. Recognizing employees’ efforts, as discussed by GreatPlaceToWork, can significantly motivate your workforce.

Step 6: Develop a Content Calendar

A well-structured content calendar ensures a steady stream of engaging content.

Align the calendar with the company’s marketing goals and provide employees with content ideas and themes. Tools like Hootsuite or Buffer can help in planning and scheduling content. By providing a framework, employees can contribute consistently without feeling overwhelmed.

Step 7: Measure and Analyze Performance

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of your employee advocacy program. Monitor metrics like social media reach, engagement, website traffic, and sales conversions. Tools like Google Analytics and social media analytics platforms can provide valuable insights. Analyze the data to identify successful strategies and areas for improvement.

Step 8: Foster a Supportive Culture

Create a company culture that encourages open communication and collaboration. Ensure employees feel valued and empowered to share their thoughts and ideas. A positive work environment is essential for building strong employee relationships and fostering a sense of loyalty.

Step 9: Leverage Employee-Generated Content (EGC)

Showcase employee-generated content on company channels to amplify its impact. Highlight exceptional posts on the company website, social media, and internal communications. This recognition motivates employees and demonstrates the value of their contributions.

Step 10: Continuous Improvement

Setting up an employee advocacy program is an ongoing process. Regularly evaluate your program’s effectiveness and make adjustments as needed. Gather feedback from employees to identify opportunities for improvement. Stay updated on industry trends and best practices to ensure your program remains effective.

Case Studies:

Source: Post Beyond

Here are 3 real-life examples of companies implementing employee advocate programs in their marketing and understanding the value of employee influencers from Haiilo

KPMG

In 2017, KPMG Sweden discovered an untapped opportunity to engage their employees in driving more company awareness, improving marketing and sales metrics, and enabling their employees to act as thought leaders in management consulting.

Soon after the launch of a new employee advocacy solution, KMPG saw impressive results in many different business areas.

Why do we love this employee advocacy example?

KPMG’s advocacy program is a perfect example of the extent to which employee advocacy can impact various business aspects. More precisely, after the implementation of the advocacy program, the organization managed to:

• Improve internal communication by encouraging employees to have discussions around the latest company news and industry trends regularly
• Increase brand awareness (in less than one year, employees have generated 1.74K shares and 12.90K unique clicks. Posts shared by employees have driven 10.90K reactions on social media)
• Strengthen the company’s brand and business growth by encouraging employees to share informative and engaging content regularly.
• Build a pool of high-quality job candidates by boosting the company’s employer brand.

Just by taking a look at KPMG’s Facebook page, you can see how active their employees are in sharing the organization’s content with their networks.

Google

Google is a giant with over 100,000 employees across the world, and they are doing an excellent job of empowering employees to be brand advocates.

As one of the most important Google’s differentiation strategies is the acquisition of the best talent out there, they are particularly successful in leveraging employees to attract the best job candidates and building a strong employer brand.

Why do we love this employee advocacy example?

Their employees are excellent at creating and sharing their own content, which makes it more credible, authentic, and attractive to potential job seekers. Employee-generated content is shared by advocates and posted on Google’s @lifeatgoogle page – an Instagram page designated to employees’ stories and work experiences.

Adobe

Adobe’s Social Shift employee advocacy program is one of the most popular and inspiring employee advocacy examples. After realizing that employees’ activities on social media have a direct impact on the organization’s revenue and talent acquisition efforts, they decided to implement a formal ambassadorship program and train their employees across the world about the benefits and best practices of employee advocacy.

As Natalie Kessler, Global Head of Talent Marketing, puts it:

“We wanted to make sure employees are given opportunities to become brand champions and tell the company’s story. That’s because building the employer brand and awareness means higher quality candidates.”

It is no secret that Adobe is doing a great job in driving employee advocacy in many different ways including:

• Encouraging employees to create and post their own content on Adobe Life blog
• Driving incredible employee engagement on various social media channels including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram using the #AdobeLife hashtag
• Building a special brand ambassadorship program.
• In September 2014, the Corporate Reputation team assembled 21 employees from 7 different locations to take part in Adobe’s brand ambassador program. These employees were selected based on the fact they were already doing a great job sharing socially and they were asked to help tell the Adobe story.

By following these steps and incorporating best practices, you can create a powerful employee advocacy program that drives brand awareness, customer engagement, and business growth.

Turning your workforce into influencers isn’t just a trend; it’s a strategic approach to amplify your brand’s voice. But remember, this is a long-term strategy and it can lead to sustained brand growth, increased engagement, and a stronger, more authentic online presence.

While building a strong foundation of employee advocacy is crucial for long-term success, you might be looking for quicker wins to boost your bottom line. That’s where influencer marketing comes in.

Why is influencer marketing often seen as a faster path to ROI?

• Immediate Reach: Influencers already have established audiences, allowing you to tap into a ready-made market instantly.
• Higher Conversion Rates: People trust recommendations from influencers they follow, leading to higher conversion rates compared to traditional advertising.
• Measurable Results: Influencer marketing campaigns can be easily tracked and measured through various analytics tools, providing clear ROI data.
• Brand Awareness Boost: Collaborating with influencers can significantly increase brand visibility and reach a wider audience.

While employee advocacy is essential for building a strong brand foundation, influencer marketing can provide a powerful short-term boost. By combining both strategies, you can create a well-rounded marketing approach that delivers long-term growth and immediate results.

Reach out to us if you need some clarity on how to make this work