Your Employees: The Secret Sauce to Putting Your Brand in the Spotlight.
Why Unveiling Your Brand is a Total Slay
Before we dive into the world of influencer magic, let’s explore why flaunting your brand is a powerful move. In a content-rich landscape, it’s all about genuine connections. When your brand steps into the spotlight, it’s not just standing out; it’s building trust, creating an impact, and owning the runway. Your employees are the ultimate testament of who your brand is and what you represent in your industry.
The concept of employee advocacy programs (or employee ambassador or employee influencer initiatives) isn’t new, yet with platforms like TikTok and Snapchat growing in popularity and reach, they are making an iconic return, getting marketers both excited about this opportunity as well as concerned about the costs of making a wave in influencer content.
So, What's the Buzz on Influencer Marketing? How Can You Make it Your Winning Strategy?
Now, let’s talk influencer marketing. It’s the art of turning heads by having people with serious social cred shout out your brand. Influencers have a lot of pull within online communities, especially when it comes to social media. The influencer marketing industry is doing so well that it’s been predicted to reach $21.2 billion worldwide at the end of this year, 2023. Yet we can’t help but wonder why only 25% of brands worldwide are putting 10-20% of their marketing budget towards influencer marketing.
Our guess? It all has to do with dollars and sense in the end. Not everyone has the budget to hire Addison Rae or Mr.Beast to excite your audience over your product or service, but your employees can be the hottest influencers in town if you give them the chance to prove it- and it comes at no extra cost!
How Your Squad Fits into Your Brand’s Influencer Dream Team
Your employees are more than just your work fam; they’re the VIPs of your brand’s influencer squad. We’re spilling the deets on how their contributions can humanize your brand, making it feel like the ultimate BFF to your audience. You’d be surprised to hear that their added influence can do more than an ad can do nowadays too. For example, messages are re-shared 24X more frequently when posted by an employee vs. the same message posted by a brand. By leveraging your company’s employees on social channels you will also be:
- Extending your social media reach to gain more brand recognition.
- Boosting your social media KPIs including website traffic and clicks.
- Increasing your conversions.
Ultimately, your employee’s influence is powerful. 76% of people say they trust content shared by “normal people” over content posted by brands. Now, who’s more normal than your co-worker? And who wouldn’t want to see those results happen?!
Turning Your Employees into Brand Superstars – Because Why Not?
Every member of your team brings a unique talent to the table, adding to the mega-talents of your brand. Adding this strategy to showcase your brand’s skills through your team, will not only skyrocket your reach but will help prove your brand isn’t just here for the spotlight; it owns the whole darn show.
A whopping 66% of marketing professionals perceived a significant surge in thought leadership within the marketplace during the times of the pandemic and not much has changed in this current landscape. B2B executives and decision-makers continue to be captivated by thought leadership, and this is where a valuable opportunity exists for employees to embrace this role within the organization. Whether it’s your CMO, content, and SEO manager, or the skilled writers in your marketing teams, each can contribute to establishing a powerful thought leadership presence.
Get ready to align those superstar talents with your brand’s goals and create a narrative that has your audience chanting for more.
The Ultimate Takeaway: Your Employees Are the Influencers Making Your Brand Pop
So if it wasn’t clear before, it should be crystal clear now: your employees are the secret influencers that’ll make your brand the talk of the town.
To recap the basics, employee influencers can:
- Provide in-depth knowledge and expertise on your brand
- Bring a new level of authenticity and delight to your content
- Build deeper connections and relationships with your audience
- Boost your KPIs, CTR, leads, sales, exposure, and much more!
By strategically turning them into digital spokespeople, you’ll not only be extending your reach in the game of digital marketing but also be serving up an authentic, irresistible narrative that entices your audience to keep coming back for more (plus, it makes your brand look like an amazing place to work and thrive)!
