If you want to keep consumers engaged, you must leverage and take advantage of the content your employees create and share on behalf of your brand, known as employee-generated content (EGC).
With the rise of social media, EGC has become more accessible than ever. Your employees can become brand ambassadors by creating images, videos, podcasts, or blogs that represent what it's like behind the scenes at your company.
The chairman and former CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, when speaking about baristas and store managers in his book Onward: "They are the true ambassadors of our brand, the real merchants of romance and theatre, and as such the primary catalysts for delighting customers."
Here are some business benefits of employee-generated content:
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It creates a sense of inclusion. Employees feel included in the business when they have a platform to voice their opinions and showcase their expertise. This also breaks down barriers between hierarchy levels.
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It leads to higher retention rates. Valued employees are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, which increases company retention rates.
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It attracts top talent. If people see your employees speak honestly about how much they like their job or what they do day-to-day, they will be more enticed to apply for job opportunities within your company.
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It expands brand visibility. Employees have 10x more followers than a brand account, allowing your business to reach wider audiences when your employees share their content.
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It's a low-cost marketing strategy. You are already paying your employees, but convincing them to create and share content comes at little to no extra cost.
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It keeps consumers engaged. According to a survey by MSL Group, content that employees share sees 8x more engagement than content shared from brand channels.
While you can see that employee-generated content reaps many benefits for your brand, we want to take a closer look at five ways that content from employee ambassadors can engage consumers:
5 Ways to Use Employee Ambassadors to Drive Engagement
1. Meet The Team Content
Information about the people who work behind the scenes at a business can promote trust and make consumers feel closer to a brand, as it humanizes them. This, in turn, drives consumer engagement as they know who they will be dealing with when they connect with a business.
Regarding social media, brands can allow employees to take over their Instagram temporarily accounts to share posts or stories, introduce themselves to followers, and share stories from their day at work. This form of EGC showcases what it's like behind the scenes through real-life examples.
In addition, you could have a 'meet the team' page on your website, which can include quotes from employees and information about them, both professional and personal. This is an excellent way for consumers to get a view of the people who represent a company.
For example, at Digital Marmalade, employees have a trading card-style profile detailing their name, job title, industry accomplishments, personal facts, and superhero powers. This is a fun way to engage visitors, highlighting a friendly culture within the marketing agency while balancing professionalism.
2. Employee Guest Posts
Guest posting has become a key component of any digital marketing strategy, as it generates leads, increases brand awareness, and improves SEO through backlinks.
While guest posts from outside your organization are essential, publishing guest posts from employees is a great way to build trust and engage consumers. This form of EGC offers consumers humanized information with which they can engage better.
For example, you could invite employees to write a guest post highlighting their professional industry experience. Consumers are more likely to connect to this type of blog post as it includes real-life examples, compared to evergreen content usually used on blogs.
3. Create A Careers Campaign
70% of people trust employees as a source of information about a company more than any other source.
Having a career hashtag such as #HootsuiteLife or #InsideIndeed encourages employees to create behind-the-scenes content about their role to post with this hashtag. This offers consumers a closer insight into your products or services or how your business operates.
For example, Starbucks has a 'Partners' page on Instagram, inviting employees to share content. A barista is likelier to have tried a new drink on the menu than the marketing team, so their honest opinion may entice the public to try and engage with the brand.
In addition, labeling employees as partners gives them a sense of belonging and inclusion within such a large global organization. An inclusive work environment is not only an essential aspect of employee well-being and job satisfaction, but it can also attract and engage top talent.
4. Include Everybody
In 2022, around 44% of consumers were considered "purpose-driven consumers".
Purpose-driven consumers, or shoppers, choose brands and products based on how well they align with their values. So, it is crucial to showcase your values through employee-generated content.
Ensure you invite employees in all roles to create content rather than focusing on those at the top of the hierarchy, as this shows you value your employees and their opinions.
5. Create Content That Consumers Can Also Get Involved With
Finally, when consumers see employees getting involved with brand hashtags or competitions, they engage with it by sharing their content. This is where user-generated content (UGC) comes in.
Instagram posts with at least one hashtag on accounts with less than 1,000 followers get an average of 29% more interactions than those without hashtags.
Think about creating a hashtag for your employees to add to their content. When this trends, you will find consumers adding the same hashtag to the content they are sharing.
For example, a travel agency may ask employees to include '#travelwithus' in any content they have created about holiday packages they sell. In turn, customers may include the same hashtag on content they have shared from their holidays booked through the business. Both of these become free promotions for the travel agency's holiday packages.
Conclusion
Employee-generated content is essential in 2024, and social media makes it easy for everyone to get involved, no matter where they are working.
However, keeping your employees safe on social media and avoiding sharing any content that could create an unclear narrative about your brand is essential. So, it would help if you asked your marketing team to host training sessions so the rest of your employees can feel safe and confident on social media. The training sessions could include social media guidelines, information on why they might want to be active on social media, examples of good content, and tips on creating and sharing content.
