Your employees are your biggest marketing asset, here’s why

In today’s ever evolving, digital world, where social media is rapidly driving brand perception and brand positioning, how can companies use this to their advantage?

Employee activation has become one of the hottest marketing trends of 2019 and will be the future of marketing; with content shared by employees receiving eight times more engagement than brand channels. Employees, therefore, present an immediate opportunity to build customer trust, strengthen loyalty and ultimately, increase sales for businesses.

What is employee activation?

To put simply, employee activation is the promotion and exposure of a company by its own employees. Nowadays, employees have an extensive online network of followers, clients, colleagues and friends on social channels, all only one click away. On average, a company’s employees have ten times as many connections on LinkedIn than a company has followers, which shows that content shared by employees has a far greater reach, and businesses need to tap into this organic growth.

Your greatest marketing asset

Employees are the biggest, and often, the most under-utilised marketing asset a brand has. When staff share your company content on their networks, this not only increases your company reach and overall credibility, it also creates a more authentic and a lasting culture of engagement. Your employees’ work successes, proactive choices, and positive actions all reflect well upon the brand itself, elevating both the individual and the whole business. In addition to this, this can open doors to wider, meaningful conversations, which could also have a positive impact on your business growth.

What are the key benefits of employee activation?

Amplify reach and brand engagement

The depth of your employee networks has the potential to reach far more than your company platform. Employees also receive two times higher click-through-rates from their shares compared to company shares of the same content*. Potential reach of employee advocacy can be calculated using the simple formula below:

Number of employees x size of their networks = the potential reach

Increase authenticity and credibility

Many marketing studies on employee activation have highlighted that people trust people more than companies themselves. Employee generated word-of-mouth plays an important role in digital marketing today, with posts shared by employees cementing trust and bringing a level of humanisation to your brand.

Attract new business opportunities

Employee advocacy not only boosts reach and engagement, but statistics have shown that it can also be a magnet for generating leads. 64% of companies with employee advocacy strategies accredit employee advocacy with attracting new business. Therefore, investing in a valuable employee advocacy programme may yield a financial return.

Strengthen thought leadership and brand perception

One of the most powerful ways to spread company thought leadership is by empowering your employees to share insightful pieces of content in their own professional networks. Employee generated content not only contributes to engaging content creation, but also develops an attractive, positive perception of your company – a win-win situation!

In order for your brand to build a strong online presence, you need to tap into and leverage your employees’ online activity. By adopting an employee-focussed social strategy and ensuring staff are fully engaged ‘brand ambassadors’, actively promoting your company content, you will ultimately secure a stronger and more successful online brand position and perception for your business.