Companies such as Dell, Oracle, Intel and others quickly took the hint that the future of their image depends largely on social networks and that their employees are their best advocates. What questions need thinking through before you ask your employees to build a positive image? What else should be considered? These and other questions were answered on the Fast Company website.
Before addressing your employees, make sure you know how to stimulate properly your "defence" on social networks. Consider together what your employees should share and how this may influence content. Are you certain you are one of those companies for which this type of online marketing is appropriate?
Why should our employees defend us?
1. Brands and employees have different followers and thus employees are an invaluable intermediary between the brand and a public that would otherwise be impossible or too expensive to target. Furthermore, the overlap is often minimal, e.g. Cisco employees have ten times more followers than company profiles and public overlap is only 2%.
2. 84% of consumers trust W-O-M, as pointed out in a recent survey by the Nielsen organisation. Consumers obviously trust recommendations from people they know and such trust in a friend who is also an employee of the company naturally strengthens confidence in the brand too. Another argument is provided by Forrester Research, according to which in 2013 up to 70% of adults in the online world trusted recommendations from their friends and family, while only 15% trusted company posts on social networks.
Three years ago, Dell realized the importance of employee "defence" on social networks. Over 10,000 of its employees, however, have gone far beyond the mere sharing of brand messages: they answer questions, thank customers, write their own blogs, give business tips, and much more. This programme is not designed to have employees parrot marketing cheat sheets; rather, they should become thought leaders of the brand. This brand identity shifts from the actual logos, leadership or products to a company of individual personalities.
Only satisfied employees may strengthen brand image
The marketing activities of your employees have no chance of success if the employees feel miserable at your company. Demoralised staff will never produce credible content; moreover, they risk losing the trust of their friends (and your potential clients). In other words, the culture of your company must be open, friendly and support the expectations of your employees. Often, however, financial rewards are not enough.
Do you have a similar employee reference programme to strengthen the brand image of your company?
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