It may seem unusual to link something traditionally associated with HR (employee engagement) with something generally associated with Marketing (brand), but many would argue the reverse; that is that it would be unusual in the social media age, NOT to have HR and Marketing linked inextricably together. Certainly, this was one of the key observations of Marketing2020, a massive research project in 2014 that drew on the opinions of 350 CEOs, CMOs, CMO peers and agency leaders, and several thousand marketeers from around the world. The study observed that higher performing companies in the research were more focused on engaging their employees around their brand’s purpose. And this makes perfect sense, of course, because as the social circles of both employees and customers widen and collide, the importance of having employees who are engaged in the brand promise increases dramatically; what they feel about the brand impacts both internally and externally.
So, how can Scoop Social assist your organisation to achieve these twin goals around building employee engagement and building brand?
The answer lies in the implementation of our new social media platform for Employee Advocacy; creating brand champions of your employees and giving them their voice.
Being part of a program to spread the good word about the organisation (brands) is, for many employees, an opportunity to feel connected with the end customer that is usually only enjoyed by those in marketing and sales. For ‘back office/support’ staff, this alone can provide a substantial boost in engagement. But more than this, for each of the employee participants in our social media platform, the significant impact comes simply from being immersed in positive messaging around the brand; usually positive messaging that has come from outside the organisation (as this makes for the best shareable content). The constant reinforcement from the customer’s mouth, that the organisation/brand is in the right place, doing the right thing, right where it’s needed, is powerful. Not everyone can work for Google or Apple and enjoy the constant reinforcement from the news/ their friends/ peers etc that their employer is both a ‘vendor’ and an employer of choice…..but by connecting your employees with all the positive messaging in customer-land around their organisation or brand, you can travel a LONG way in that direction; building employee engagement and brand, together.
How does it work?
Employees are invited to participate in a program that sees them log in (via computer or phone) to an online platform which ‘feeds’ them pre-approved content to share via their personal networks. The sharing process is quick and simple. And the pre-approved content, as mentioned above, is typically articles that have been posted elsewhere online that reflect favourably on the organisation/brand. So it’s great for them to read, as well as the organisations customers!
It’s a win-win for Marketing and HR, and if you would like to find out more, please call us on +612 8006 1616 or email us.
