Digital brand ambassadors can be a powerful marketing force. Unfortunately, that force often stays untapped by digital marketers and entrepreneurs who overlook its enormous potential.
Who are digital brand ambassadors? The answer is simple. They’re your employees.
Digital brand ambassadors are simply employees who use their networks and social media to share company content and showcase their great work experiences.
Some of the benefits of this marketing method include exploded brand awareness, improvements in reputation, increased lead generation, and quality hiring.
Best of all, this is achieved organically and cost-effectively.
If you want to follow in the footsteps of Nokia, Adobe, and other corporate giants who encourage their employees to become digital brand ambassadors, keep reading!
Build a Community
Building a strong sense of community at work is a great place to start if you want to encourage your colleagues to promote your brand outside of work.
A workplace with a strong community fosters a sense of belonging. This also goes a long way to reduce feelings of isolation, especially with more introverted team members.
Employees who view their workplace as a community feel more comfortable and relaxed, which means increased employee satisfaction.
Building a community is all about positive interactions.
You can achieve it by making employees a part of the conversation and making sure everyone is heard and understood.
Similarly, you can promote effective communication by encouraging people at work to share their skills and learn from each other.
Finally, it’s always a good idea to encourage socializing outside of work. People form stronger ties when they get to talk about things other than work.
With a strong sense of community at work, your colleagues and employees are more likely to share their positive experiences outside of work, too.
Ensure That Employees Feel Connected to Company Goals
Employees are much more likely to become digital brand ambassadors if they feel that their work contributes to achieving company goals.
Connecting individual efforts to company goals keeps workers motivated and engaged. That means they are more likely to share their results and accomplishments outside of work.
However, connecting employees to the company mission has proven to be a challenge to many executives. So much so that a staggering 75% of workers report feeling disconnected from the company mission.
To drive employee engagement by connecting workers to company goals, consider the nature of your mission. Is it easy to understand?
An excellent way to gauge the clarity of your company goals is to compare them to the principle of SMART goals, i.e., making sure that they are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-based
After that, take the time to explain the steps and specify employee roles in achieving your goals.
Don’t forget to allow for employee input and feedback!
Implementing these steps will make sure you’re ready to reach objectives as a team.
Remember that without a higher purpose, our work has very little meaning. To turn employees into brand ambassadors, ensure that company achievements are their achievements as well.
Recognize and Reward Employee Effort
Employee recognition is another essential step on the path to turning employees into digital brand ambassadors.
A job well done deserves recognition—but rewarding the employee for a job well done doesn’t just benefit the employee. It helps the company by aiding productivity and keeping turnover low.
Most importantly, employee recognition works magic for job satisfaction and employee happiness.
Monetary incentives are the most obvious way to reward employees for outstanding achievements. These can include bonuses, profit sharing, and stock options.
However, non-monetary employee recognition programs are often even more effective.
They can take the form of recognition events like banquets or brunches, employee-of-the-month programs, or a section dedicated to employee recognition in the company newsletter.
The two can be combined, of course.
Think of it this way. An employee whose hard work is recognized and rewarded is sure to boast of their achievements.
They will tell their friends and family and maybe even post about it on their social media. And that’s the very definition of a brand ambassador.
Make Sharing as Easy as Possible
Your digital brand ambassadors need the means to share what they love about your company with the world.
Facilitating sharing is essential because it ensures that your content will reach the broadest possible audience. The wider the net you cast, the bigger the benefits.
To begin, make sure your ambassadors are broadcasting the right message. Talk to your staff and educate them about the strategy and goals of the brand.
Next, provide content for them to share. Produce content regularly and make it shareworthy. That means using different formats, like text, infographics and pictures, and video materials.
Finally, help your team understand social media. Communicate the value of social media to your business and educate your staff about social media platforms.
Having a team of digital ambassadors is only half of the job.
Arming them with good content and making sharing a breeze is how you tap into the massive potential digital brand ambassadors represent for the growth of your business.
Conclusion
The key to turning your team into digital brand ambassadors lies in employee happiness. Happy employees have a sense of community at work.
They know that their work connects to a higher purpose and feel seen and valued for their achievements.
These are the workers that are most likely to share their positive experience with the world and talk about the company they contribute to by sharing content to their networks.
Once that happens, you have successfully turned your team into digital brand ambassadors.
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by Lisa Michaels
Lisa Michaels is a freelance writer, editor, and a thriving content marketing consultant from Portland. Being self-employed, she does her best to stay on top of the current trends in business and tech. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter @LisaBMichaels.