OFF-MUTE 🔈
🙃 We were supposed to build and launch a new website this year (but it’ll have to wait).
🆒🆕 Instead, we used the budget to create a more helpful intranet.
💻 Why? Because we are rethinking the workplace like everyone else, including how we share information with our team.
💡 Knowledge is power. And we know what’s good for people is good for business. That’s why we recommend treating employees as one of your top priority audiences.
✨ Employees are some of the best, but often untapped, influencers for your company. Their advocacy can help increase awareness, drive revenue, attract talent, and even establish brand trust.
🤔 So, how can you turn your employees into brand ambassadors? Here are 7 ways to get started:
☑️ Build a real workplace culture. Whether hybrid or fully remote, it takes serious time, resources, and good intentions to shape your employees’ experiences. Find ways for them to foster connections with each other and give them something to look forward to (and talk about). It could range from new benefits and policies to a food competition or ice skating outing! Remember, people are searching for much more than better pay; they want balance and purpose.
☑️ Communicate your vision and your values. When everyone can articulate the “what and who we are,” they’re more likely to share that in their conversations with family and friends and their online social networks. This is key to our internal content strategy on our new intranet. Teams need a single source of truth regardless of when and where folks choose to work.
☑️ Provide guidelines but don’t squash creativity. A simple do’s and dont’s list is helpful when employees want to post. These guidelines can also provide tips on the best types of content to share (including when and how to do it). You don’t want such tight control that you lose authenticity.
☑️ Keep it simple. Employees are doing you a favor when they amplify your content. Make it easy for them! We typically post news to Inkhouse social channels first and then send those links to staff via Slack to like and reshare with their personal networks. This approach provides us with much higher engagement rates instead of asking employees to post on their own. And the less time and effort it takes for your team members to share content, the more they’ll participate.
☑️ Ask but never demand. Employees should never feel coerced to use their personal networks — in-person or online — to share anything about work. Always make it clear that you appreciate and encourage sharing, but only if they want to. You should never penalize someone for not sharing content, nor push too hard for participation. Be respectful.
☑️ Embrace a not-so-humble brag. Be proud of all the industry accolades your company is getting—both big and small! It boosts morale and makes employees feel great when they have positive news to share about where they work. There are plenty of easy, free ways to internally promote press coverage: create a company-wide #press Slack channel; send a weekly news roundup via email; include top media hits in quarterly company updates; or ask the CEO or other top executives to share coverage with the whole company. This transparency also helps employees feel connected to the business.
☑️ Engage with active employees. There’s usually a core group of team members who post often, sharing job openings or promoting company news. Identify who they are, follow them and engage with their content. Keep a close eye on new hires posting about their upcoming start date and welcome them. These organic touch points are opportunities to add positive sentiment and improve the share of voice for your brand.