Make your company stand out in a crowded social media landscape

Many companies not only have a corporate website, but also a corporate page on social media. But, unfortunately, the majority of businesses don’t benefit from these pages in the way they could. Social media platforms only allow for limited corporate messages, so only 1 to 2% of these messages reach the target group. Moreover, with standard social media planning tools, you can only schedule your corporate messages at fixed times, making this communication very impersonal.

Companies that spend money on social media use the funds primarily for advertisements. But, not every company has the opportunity to invest in social media, especially in times of crisis like these. How can you ensure your company will stand out amongst the others? In short, you need an innovative social media strategy: use the online presence of your employees.

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Why are employees key?

Considering the above, appealing and effective marketing can be quite a challenge these days. To get noticed, your social media strategy needs to be well-executed, and you can do this by providing a continuous stream of unique content. But, how to gather all that content? By benefiting from your employees! They can provide unique and authentic content that will make your company stand out strong among all the other companies. A company that uses its staff as “brand ambassadors” will have much better online visibility.

The secret to using employees in your social media strategy is the personal touch your employees can add. The goal of Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn has always been to improve “peer contact”. And that's exactly what you do when you give your employees a role.

The personal influence of your employees will attract more involvement. Not only among your staff, as might be expected, but also among your target group. Messages from employees are more accessible than corporate messages, which will encourage people to respond to them faster. After all, it’s much easier to ask a friend or acquaintance for information than to ask a company you don't know personally. This personal contact will improve the reliability of your company.

Thus, using this strategy, you not only improve on credibility, but also reach many more people. Together, employees have an extensive and often relevant network; on average it will be 10 times the number of followers a company has! Therefore, a personal message will reach 561% more people than a corporate message. Moreover, the chance of revenue with personal messages is up to 7 times higher than with corporate posts. (Read more about this research in the PDF down below).

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How do your employees benefit?

It’s not only your company that can take advantage of personal marketing; your employees can benefit as well. Through personal branding, they get the opportunity to present themselves, strengthen their personal identity, and share it with their network and colleagues. By involving employees in your social media strategy, they get to know each other and your company much better, feel more connected to your organization, understand how social media works, and have more interaction with their network.

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Using employees as brand ambassadors: what do you need?

First of all, discuss with your employees the unique features your company has to offer. Because this strategy involves them, it is extremely important to give your staff the support they need. Only then can they build a personal brand and successfully promote your business. From that point on, you need to encourage your employees to share content on their own social media channels.

There are various employee advocacy tools and services available to schedule these social media posts for your employees. Subsequently, your employees can share the message on their own social media profiles.

Based on a good content strategy, you can also give your employees the freedom to decide for themselves whether to post, and on which channels to do so. In addition, there are social media planning tools that bestow final management to employees: this way, they can make their own adjustments to make the content fit and personally relevant.

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Stand out with the help of your employees

Now you know why employees are invaluable for the online visibility of your company. But, where and how to start with such an innovative social media strategy? Fortunately, that has already been considered! Companies like Apostle offer various tools and services you can use to turn every employee into a brand ambassador.

And, in current times, that might be more useful than ever before. In order to actually activate and motivate your employees as brand ambassadors, Apostle not only offers a platform, but also various e-learning trajectories, motivational challenges for your employees, and the possibility to record motivational videos from a CEO.

Are you ready to benefit from the secret powers of your employees? Discover more now and find your path to success!