Customer engagement is important. With many people using social media extensively, companies started to leverage social media tools and platforms to better reach and engage with their customers. Companies are able to use these platforms to provide real-time information about their companies and it can easily reach consumers’ news feeds.
However, 94% of these consumers use social media channels to interact with friends, family and people they know. They are not interested to engage with your brand on social media sites. Moreover, only a small fraction of consumers trust posts by companies on social media sites. Thus, apart from just Tweeting and Facebooking updates about your companies’ current crisis or promotions, how can your company better engage your consumers through social media? Have you considered tapping on your vast resources of employees?
Employees are often overlooked as just “human resource” or just people working for the company that does their designated work. However, they can also serve as the biggest marketing assets that your brand or company can have as advocates for your brand and company.
Employees are seen to be more reliable than the CEO and media and as credible sources for information, along with reviews and word of mouth. Furthermore, they are seen to provide authentic and trusted opinions and views that can potentially influence public sentiments about a brand. After all, consumers trust people more than brands.
It may sometimes be hard for companies to reach potential consumers through its social media platforms therefore employees are the untapped marketing channel companies could use to reach potential customers. By tapping on employee advocacy using social media, this serves as another marketing channel that can help extend your company’s reach and better engage consumers with its content.
Employees represent your company and are already talking about their jobs, even on social media, regardless whether their companies like it or not. So why not just tap them and create a social media employee advocacy program? Establishing such a program gives guidance and structure to help give an authentic touch to your company’s social media footprint and further maximize the use of your resources. Employees will be able to help balance out social media conversations and sway consumer sentiments positively.
Apart from your usual online and offline marketing campaigns, your employees can provide better visibility and a more positive perception of your brand. They can potentially add a whole new dimension of unique customer experiences on your company’s social media platforms. With social media, employee advocacy can amplify your company’s marketing efforts. Thus companies should activate them making it convenient for them to share their trusted opinions and drive business value and increase engagement with potential consumers.
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