With over 2 billion users worldwide, social media is a very powerful tool. It’s no secret that consumers base daily decisions on outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and they can pose positive or negative effects. However, when implemented the right way, it can work in your favor and boost recognition for both your brand and your employees. Today I will focus on how to improve your brand recognition on social media.
Know your audiencePromoting your brand on social media can either come from your corporate account or your individual employees. In both cases, it is important to take some things into consideration for it to have a meaningful impact. Either way you have to know your audience. The content that you are pushing out should be engaging and relevant. Consumers turn to social media platforms for useful and personable/relatable information. Keep that in mind to ensure it’s not too formal, or you could lose followers. Share reviews from community members, as well as other pertinent information to your community. Did you check out a new local restaurant for a company lunch? Post about it, and they will be likely to return the favor.
Employee advocacyWhen you create a work environment where your employees want to be there, care about the company and genuinely believe that you are confident in their abilities, their contributions, and the future of the company, they will be much more compelled to want to share information. When that happens, you are reaching unique followers (not directly associated with your brand followers) and the message will come across as more genuine, while also exponentially increasing the number of impressions or views. Consumers are more likely to follow a lead from a friend or acquaintance than a corporate blast. Fast Company reports that content shared by employees gets eight times more engagement than content shared by brand channels, and is reshared 25 times more frequently. It concludes, “when employees share messages, companies not only expand their social media reach, they also get measurably better results.” Just be careful not to over-do it. Employee sharing should be less frequent than corporate/brand accounts, so they don’t lose their power.
Be consistentAs with most aspects of running a successful business, it is important to be consistent. If you commit to posting something 3 times a week, then that’s your minimum, and you can always go above and beyond that goal. Also be sure to consistently interact with responses, questions, and opinions. This let’s people know that there is a person or people behind the screen, and that you care about what they have to say. Whatever your social media strategy might be, stick to it so that your followers have some idea of what to expect.
Stay tuned for part two on how to use social media for your employee recognition programs!
Fast Company.com: How to Turn Your Entire Staff Into a Social Media Army. November 6, 2015
