How to Widen Your Reach as a Brand

According to Hootsuite, employee advocacy programs drive improvements in reach and recruiting. Companies saw a 28% increase in reach of messaging without using social media ads and a 25% in brand health when employee engagement was strong. Additionally, brands saw an 11% increase in recruiting when current employees advocated for the brand online.

With more than 56% of adults on more than one social media platform and an employee having five times more reach than a corporate account, your company’s employees are its strongest brand advocates.

Employees connect your company to your audiences – architects, specifiers, contractors, and other construction professionals – through the voices they already trust. When employees are actively engaging with your brand on social media, they are showcasing pride in the company and their industry expertise, reinforcing the knowledge and reputation of the company itself.

Why Does Employee Engagement Matter?

When employees interact with their company on social media, it increases visibility and positive perceptions. Beyond raising brand awareness, this can ultimately contribute to growth in sales as well as staff recruitment and retention.

When prospective customers see employees – people with first-hand knowledge of the company and its brand – share the company’s content, it reassures those customers that they are making a smart buying decision if they’re prepared to purchase a product from the company.

For HR purposes, social media is an excellent resource for talent acquisition, establishing a reputation, and communicating your company culture in a cost-effective manner. Highlighting team-building efforts, health and wellness initiatives, and office functions offers a glimpse into life at the company and the achievements of those who work there.

Getting Participation

An easy first step in increasing employee interaction is to ask employees to follow all your company’s social media accounts. Once your employees are actively seeing your content and increasing their personal knowledge of the organization’s online presence, they can begin engaging with content. That could mean sharing content to their networks, or it could mean employees offering a glimpse into company culture on their channels by posting their own images and articles.

Your employees have smartphones and laptops at work, so leverage that constant connection by giving space to engage with customers and colleagues throughout the day. Building personal relationships through social media can expand networks and strengthen business connections.

Employees should never feel forced to participate, which can cause ill feelings toward engagement. Rather, encourage employees to be open and share their enthusiasm for the company or recognition with their networks. Asking employees to share posts from the company without adding additional captions is a great way to increase post reach and maintain consistent messaging.

Staying on Message

How does your company ensure employees don’t share the wrong messages to their networks about the company when they are interacting on social media?

Share your company’s social media goals and mission with all employees. When the goal is clear and employees have bought into the mission, they feel as if they’re part of the team.

Employees need to feel free to express themselves, but providing guidelines on how to share work-related information and engaging with the company online can limit risk. By developing a social media policy and creating a social media style guide, you can protect your company’s reputation.

Start by getting everyone up to speed on best practices, such as leaving financial information offline and maintaining professionalism in all interactions.

BLD Marketing can guide you through the entire process, from establishing a cohesive brand identity on social media to developing a strategy for connecting with employees and their networks.

CONTACT US TO GET STARTED