Social Influencers and Employee Advocates
In 2020, French luxury fashion house Dior utilized the service of influencer marketing agency Buttermilk to recruit 67 influencers across the globe. Dior hired these influencers to drive awareness and generate buzz around the new Dior Forever Foundation, a range of 67 unique foundation shades. The company matched influencers with the proper foundation for their skin tone, and each day for 67 consecutive days, a different influencer would post a photo wearing their appropriate shade. Collectively, the group reached a global audience of 2.66 million, created 1.85 million impressions (the number of times people viewed a piece of content), and 591 thousand points of engagement (interaction with a fan, such as a “share” or “like”) (Single Grain 2021).
Influencer marketing is a method of advertising products and services via individuals with a dedicated social media following on popular platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat. These individuals are perceived to be credible sources of information and, therefore, persuasive marketers who can influence the purchase decisions of the followers (Rahal 2020). Influencers can help a business reach a bigger audience, increase website traffic, generate leads, drive sales, and help grow the business’s social media following (Single Grain 2021). Influencers are often, but not always, third-party individuals. An influencer can also exist within the company. For example, a senior executive or employee with a specific area of expertise can be highly influential. This chapter explores the different types of influencers, beginning with paid external third-party social media influencers, followed by a discussion on those within the company who can effectively reach consumers—c-suite thought leaders and employee advocates. We will finish with a brief discussion of the importance of engaging with everyday consumers who support your brand.
The global social media influencer marketing industry is estimated to reach $15 billion in 2022, up from $1.7 billion in 2016 (Rahal 2020). Influencer marketing is a popular strategy for increasing sales (33.6 percent), building brand awareness (33.5 percent), and assisting in building a library of user-generated content (32.8 percent) (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021). A 2021 international survey of 5,000 brand representatives revealed that 75 percent had or planned to have a budget dedicated to influencer marketing. Ninety percent believed influencer marketing to be an effective form of marketing, with 62 percent planning to increase their funding. Thirty-eight percent expect to increase their budget by 10 to 20 percent (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021). Fifty-six percent of companies that have adopted influencer marketing work with the same influencers across different campaigns, indicating a preference to build a relationship with a select group of individuals. The most widely used social channels by social influencers in 2021 were Instagram (68 percent), TikTok (45 percent), and Facebook (43 percent) (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021).
Categories of Paid Social Influencers
Influencers are frequently classified according to the size of their following. There are five primary categories—mega influencers, macro-, mid-tier, micro-, and nano influencers (Different Types of Influencers: Mega, Macro, Micro and Nano 2020).
Mega Influencers
Mega influencers are individuals, often A-list celebrities (e.g., athletes, entertainers, actors) famous in real life for their talent or profession. They have over one million diverse followers on their social media channels, which helps generate awareness of mass-market appeal products (e.g., cars). However, these people have no real relationship with their followers. As a result, depending on the product, this group may not be instrumental in converting awareness to purchase. Mega influencers can also be expensive to hire and are often only suitable for big brands with big budgets. These influencers typically charge a minimum of $10,000 per post. Some, such as the artist Beyonce, can command over $1 million (Different Types of Influencers: Mega, Macro, Micro and Nano 2020).
Macro Influencers
Macro social media influencers usually have between 500,001 and 1 million followers. These individuals may have gained fame through the Internet. For example, they may have a popular YouTube channel or blog. Typically, macro influencers focus on a specific product category (e.g., video games, cosmetics, fitness) and are considered experts in their field. Unlike mega influencers, who view promoting products as a tiny part of their job, social media may be a full-time job for macro influencers. This influencer category is helpful for companies with a large consumer base (e.g., teenage girls and gamers). This influencer earns $5,000 to $10,000 for a single social media post.
Mid-Tier Influencers
Mid-tier influencers have attracted 50,001 to 500,000 social media followers. They are mildly successful and perhaps on the cusp of becoming famous. They are known for a specific product category (e.g., fashion). Despite their smaller following, they can be very effective at generating high levels of engagement and are best suited for campaigns with medium-sized budgets. These influencers earn $500 to $5,000 per post.
Micro Influencers
Micro influencers have followings in the 10,001 to 50,000 range. This group has a niche following, meaning their audience is more focused, perhaps around a specific industry or topic (e.g., travel or photography). Because of the size of their audience, micro influencers can interact with their followers regularly. This interaction helps build strong ties and positions the micro influencer as more relatable to their followers than some of the other categories. Whereas different categories of influencers can successfully generate mass awareness, micro influencers ability to create high levels of engagement can help drive consumers through the
decision-making process closer to the purchase stage. This group is highly invested in creating their content, unlike other influencers that may rely on the company to supply content. For that reason, their posts may appear and feel more authentic. They earn $100 to $500 for each post.
Nano Influencers
Individuals with 1,000 to 10,000 followers are categorized as nano influencers. These are everyday people who have amassed a modest following of highly engaged people. These influencers likely have real-world relationships with a large number of their followers. An example of a nano influencer could be someone in your company, community, or within your circle of friends. Because they are essential “normal” people, they are more relatable, approachable, and considered the most authentic. They can be highly persuasive with their followers. Nano influencers are plentiful, easy to find, and inexpensive. They typically earn $10 to $100 per post.
Identifying and Hiring Influencers
As the popularity of influencer marketing grows, so too does the number of agencies and platforms offering services to help companies identify and recruit influencers and manage their campaigns. During 2015 and 2020, the number of influencer-focused agencies and platforms grew from 335 to 1360. Platforms such as UpInfluence, IZEA, and Intellifluence allow companies to discover and interact with suitable influencers. Companies can search for influencers, automate campaigns, pay influencers, and measure success all from one platform.
Despite the availability of agency support, the preference for many companies is to run influencer campaigns in-house (77 percent) (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021). Whether a company chooses to utilize an agency, a platform, or manage the entire campaign in-house, they need to think carefully about the category or categories of influencers that are the most appropriate given the goals they have set for their campaign.
The importance of identifying and creating relationships with influencers is well established. In truth, recognizing “the right” influencers is one of the most challenging tasks. When evaluating potential candidates, four factors should be considered—relevance, risk, reach, and resonance.
• Relevance is how well the influencer aligns with your brand. Does the influencer have the expertise and subject-matter credibility with your target market? Are they already using your product? Do their values align with those of your company? Influencers must share your market’s same values, culture, and demographics. The essential factor here is to ensure the characteristics of their followers are similar to those of your target market.
• Risk refers to the potential for the influencer to make a social media post that could harm your brand’s reputation and image. Does an influencer have political beliefs that are not in line with your brand’s values? Are visual and language choices not “on-brand” for your company? How have they historically engaged with their followers? Ultimately, when you form a relationship with an influencer you are providing an endorsement. Their bad actions will, therefore, be interrupted as your company’s bad actions.
• Reach is the number of followers that the influencer has within one or more of their social platforms. The larger the following, the greater the number of people that will be potentially exposed to the message. The influencer will need to be active and have a significant following on the same platforms your target consumers use. Also, the larger the following, the higher the cost. Do you have the budget to support this level of influencer?
• Resonance refers to the degree of engagement that consumers have with the influencer. When the influencer posts content, what is the level of engagement? Do they receive a significant number of likes, shares, and comments? Are they going to amplify your message to a broader audience successfully? If you subscribe to one of the influencer platforms mentioned earlier, they will provide data that will help you evaluate the relevance, risk, reach, and resonance. If you are not, you will need to research potential hires before entering into a formal relationship.
Structuring Influencers Programs and Compensation
Marketers need to approach a relationship with a potential influencer like a new budding friendship. As such, rules of “normal,” real-life relationships are still applicable in this context: get to know them, be a good listener, and be respectful. Brands that follow and actively engage with an influencer before they recruit them are more likely to be successful. Ultimately, collaboration is the key when working with an influencer. Marketers need to meet with influencers and provide them with sample content and a general outline of their story—but influencers need to have input, “skin in the game”—because it is their playground you are asking your brand to play on. In truth, you are approaching an influencer because you want to capitalize on their preexisting consumer relationships. You also rely on their communication and content expertise within specific social media platforms (Maoz 2016a). Following is a list of items adapted from Klear’s influencer informational guidelines for you to share with the influencer (Maoz 2016b).
• Company and product overview: You should educate them about the company and the product if they are not already familiar with the brand.
• Campaign overview: Provide them with a description of the campaign, its objectives, theme, applicable hashtags, and URL links.
• Creative: Outline the key messaging points you are looking for, highlight great examples of posts the influencer has previously done, and identify other social media posts consistent with the creative approach you would like to see. In some cases, you may want to offer some creative materials for them to use.
• Social media platforms: Identity the platforms where you would ideally like to see the influencer post.
• Content volume and disclosure: Identify the preferred number and frequency of posting. Also, explicitly state your method of disclosure.
While creative freedom is good, it is essential to create explicit guidelines and a firm contract stating your goals and expectations (Maoz 2016a). Specifying the frequency of posts is the first step in having some control. The most common sponsored posting durations are more than once a week and two or three times a month (Halverson Group 2015). It is also important to clearly explain any legal or regulatory issues they must abide by, including meeting the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) guidelines for disclosing a material connection between them and your brand. We will cover this in Chapter 7.
In terms of compensation, a global study revealed that 36 percent of companies surveyed preferred offering payment in the form of free samples, which is a common strategy for those employing nano- and micro influencers. A further 32.4 percent provided monetary compensation, with the remaining 21 percent offering discounts and 10.5 percent providing entry into a giveaway (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021). Not surprisingly, as a company’s investment in influencer marketing grows, so too does the importance of being able to measure outcomes and show a healthy return on your investment.
Measuring Social Influencer Success
The metric that you will use to measure the return on your investment is tied to the goals you set. What was the purpose of implementing an influencer campaign? Was it to increase awareness of your brand? Drive more traffic to your website? Generate more sales? The most popular measures of ROI are conversion sales (38.5 percent), and increased social media engagement, including click-throughs (32.5 percent), followed by increased visibility measured by views/reach/impression (29 percent) (Influencer Marketing Hub 2021).
A straightforward approach to measuring click-throughs is through the use of URLs. Each social influencer is provided with a unique URL to include in their posting. Website analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, and Angelfish Actual Metrics can track where your site visitors originated from (e.g., clicked on a link in an Instagram post). Having a unique URL for each influencer makes it easy to tie the traffic and any subsequent sale to a specific influencer. You can create a unique URL using UTM (Urchin Traffic Monitor) parameters. A UTM parameter is a string of code placed at the end of a URL to define the source, medium, campaign, term, and content that directed the consumer to your website. There are five parameters that can be added to the end of each link.
Source content: The source or platform driving the traffic, for example,Facebook.
Medium: This allows you to specify the medium which captured the user’s attention, for example, promoted tweet, video, or display ad.
Campaign: If the content is tied to a specific campaign, you can add the name or descriptor for the campaign. This can be particularly helpful if multiple campaigns are being promoted simultaneously (e.g., floral dress or summer hat). Alternatively, you could use the name of the influencer (e.g., JaneD).
Terms: This parameter is added when running an advertising campaign where you may have paid for keywords or search terms (e.g., free shipping).
Content: This parameter is added when you want to track specific pieces of content. For example, if the content was a photograph of a girl wearing a green dress versus another picture where she is wearing a red dress. This can help identify specific content that appears to be a more significant driver of engagement (e.g., the picture of the red dress generated more sales than the picture of the green dress).
When tracking the success of influencer campaigns, four of the five parameters are commonly used: source, medium, campaign, and content. The terms parameter is used when you have paid for keywords.
The following is an example of a unique URL for paid influencer “Jane D” promoting a “red dress” on “Instagram” for the “Gap.” The first part of the URL is a link to the item on the Gap website. The remainder of the URL contains the UTM parameters. These parameters have been bolded to make it easy for you to identify them.
Full URL: www.gap.com/ladiesreddress?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=paidinstagram&utm_campaign=janeD&utm_content=reddress
This URL can then be embedded in an image. When the consumer clicks on the link, it will take them directly to the item on Gap’s website.
If the social post includes words but not an image, the UTM parameter can be reduced in length using a URL shortener (e.g., bitly.com) and added as text.
Shortened URL (using bitly.com): https://bit.ly/3c26wBY
UTM parameters can be generated using the parameter creator in your analytics platform (e.g., Google Analytics). Alternatively, you can use a web-based parameter generator like UTM Tag Builder (www.utmtagbuilder.com).
Another common strategy for measuring success is to provide each influencer with a unique coupon code to add to their post and track the number of times the coupon is applied (e.g., JaneD20% or JoeB20%).
Internal Influencers
C-Suite
Senior executives can be powerful influencers. People form connections with other people more than companies or brand logos. Your audiences are more likely to follow and engage with a social media post from a person than they are a brand (Williams 2019). If written correctly, a social media post from a senior executive can feel more authentic and spontaneous and therefore more persuasive than a carefully created posting from the marketing department. Through consistent posting, senior executives can use social media to position themselves as thought leaders in their industry, adding credibility to and raising your company’s profile. So, what type of content should they post, and on which platforms should it appear? One of the challenges that executives and companies face is maintaining a constant stream of content to post. To ensure that the quality and quantity of content do not dissipate, you need to create a manageable posting schedule (e.g., one post a week) and identify a variety of content to post.
There are at least four content categories—company, industry, thought leadership, and lifestyle. Company information will include sharing your company vision, behind-the-scenes insights, project updates, and breaking news. Industry information requires the executive to keep up-to-date with current news in their sector and share that with others. It can be as simple as reposting a recent news article (with a comment added to personalize it) or writing a new post. Thought leadership will perhaps be the most potent piece of content. A thought leadership post is where your executives share their insights and thoughts on a particular issue. A well-written thought piece can garner engagement, attract more followers, and position the executive as an industry leader (Moss 2022). Lifestyle content can help humanize the company and make the executive appear more approachable. To identify the appropriate content to post, consider the personality traits of the people who follow you and what is likely to resonate with them. It might be content related to travel, books, new technology, or entertainment events. The purpose of lifestyle content is to build a connection with followers and emotional capital with employees (Lozano 2019).
Emotional capital is the feeling of goodwill toward the organization and its leadership. The executives’ actions and how they communicate can create an attachment to and pride in the company. When employees feel that attachment, they are motivated to advocate for the company (Huy and Shipilov 2012). Good examples of thought leaders include Richard Branson, founder, and CEO of Virgin Group. Branson actively engages with followers on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. On LinkedIn, Branson provides various content (photos, videos, status updates, and a blog) on his entrepreneurial efforts and the industries in which they operate (thought leadership, company, and industry). He ties his business activities to world events on Twitter and reposts lifestyle content (company and lifestyle). On Instagram, he shares photos and videos of his travels, famous friends, entertainment, and content related to his businesses (lifestyle, company). In some cases, he posts similar content on more than one platform. Still, the narrative is often calibrated to suit the characteristics of the platform and the audience (e.g., formal versus informal language or short posts on Twitter versus long posts on LinkedIn). Another example is entrepreneur and business magnate Elon Musk. Musk is an avid user of Twitter, where he often posts multiple times a day. His posts are free-flowing. It is not uncommon for him to fire off numerous posts in succession so that when strung together, they read like a conversation or story. His approach is very organic.
Employee Advocates
An employee advocate is a person who represents the interests of the company to internal and external audiences. Advocates help promote the business, products, services, and important news to others (Chen 2021). One research study examining employee advocacy revealed that over 70 percent of those surveyed indicated they are more likely to trust the content that everyday people share than companies. When an employee shares, brand messages can reach five times as many people as messages shared by official company accounts. In some instances, the lead to conversion is seven times greater when developed through an employee’s social media (The Business Justification of Employee Advocacy 2020).
A company may already have a culture of advocacy whereby employees naturally share and promote company information via personal social channels. If this culture does not exist, it may be worthwhile to establish a program that will become part of the company culture over time (Mahato n.d.). There are five steps to creating a social media employee advocacy program.
Step 1: Create the Team
An employee advocacy program requires the support of several people. The team should comprise a program leader—someone who understands social media and has vision and leadership skills. You will also require one or more people from legal, IT, and marketing communications, a content creator, and someone to assist with the training of employees. Perhaps, most importantly, you will need one or more executive sponsors. The executive sponsor will become the face of the program. They must be strong supporters who are actively engaged in the company’s social media efforts.
Step 2: Set Goals and KPIs
Once you have formed the team, the second step is to develop goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). Tie the program’s goals to a specific company initiative, such as an important new product launch, a campaign, or an upcoming event. The goals that you set should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Aggressive but Realistic, and Time-bound. For example, “increase the positive sentiment of X brand by 10 percent by the end of 2023 using LinkedIn and Facebook.” A specific program goal will keep everyone focused on the desired outcome, time frame, and platforms. Once you have defined your goals, you need to determine how to measure success. There is no single metric that will determine the value of your program. Instead, the metric selected will be closely aligned with your goal. If the goal is to raise awareness of a new product, appropriate metrics will include reach and engagement. If the goal is to enhance reputation, then a relevant metric may be consumer sentiment. If the goal is to increase sales, the metric will be the number of products sold. The most commonly used metrics are reach, engagement, share of voice, sentiment, web traffic, lead generation, and sales.
Step 3: Recruit and Train
The third step is to recruit employees and build out the program. An effective employee advocate embodies the company’s best interests and has been identified as a credible spokesperson because they are an expert, a long-term employee, or someone with influence. Look for employees with a genuine sense of company pride and affinity, value the opportunity to share their experiences, want to be recognized for their efforts, and are looking to enhance their reputation (Chen 2021). They also need to have a social media presence across relevant platforms, are actively engaged on those platforms, and whose current posting appears to generate engagement. Whereas the number of followers a person has is appropriate to use in selecting an advocate, it should not be the only criterion used. Quality of contacts and level of engagement are arguably more important, as is their motivation to be part of the program.
Once you have identified a handful of motivated employees, you need to empower and support them. Encourage them to use social media, seek their input, and listen to their suggestions. Support them by offering training, guidance on where and when to post, and a selection of approved resources and content to share. Remind them that there needs to be complete transparency in their postings. They will need to adhere to the FTC guidelines and disclose that they are an employee of the company. See Chapter 7 for guidance.
Step 4: Create Content
One of the reasons that employees agree to participate in an advocacy program is to help build their brand—enhance their reputation and position themselves as thought leaders. So, they will want high-quality content to share and some flexibility to select what to share. The employee advocacy team will need to create a selection of content for all the platforms that have been approved for use. Create a repository for this content and update it regularly. For each piece of information to be shared, offer variations in style and format. The employee needs to select the content that seems most authentic to them and that their followers will respond positively. Remember, quality is more important than quantity. If you only provide them with product information, enthusiasm for the program may wane. Provide a mixture of content, corporate, industry information, and lifestyle information that may interest their followers (Mahato n.d.). When deciding on which platforms to post on, think carefully about the intended audience and what type of content they would expect to find on that platform. Consumers utilize different social media platforms for various reasons.
Consumers use Twitter for entertainment, to obtain discounts and deals, to hear breaking news, and to access exclusive content and information. So, Twitter is a great location to share the “hot off the press” news.
Compared with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, Twitter generates the smallest amount of sharing (Delzio 2015). To encourage engagement and social sharing, consider joining multiple tweets together to tell a story, a popular strategy by journalists reporting live events. Each Tweet provides a new piece of important information, and when the Tweets are read in succession, the whole story unfolds, and the message comes across as more conversational. A string of related tweets is considered a “thread” and is often denoted by a spool of thread emoji and numbered tweets (e.g., 1/, 2/). As mentioned early, Elon Musk uses this approach.
Engagement is linked to enjoyment. The more a follower enjoys your tweet, the more likely he is to engage (e.g., click on the link contained) and the higher level of engagement (e.g., moves from watching to sharing to commenting). Avoid excess company or product information (Kwon and Sung 2011). A tweet in a natural conversational tone is better than a perfectly crafted sound bite.
LinkedIn is the ideal platform for allowing existing and potential customers, vendors, investors, and shareholders to learn about your company and products. This platform is perfect for sharing industry information, company updates, and thought leadership pieces. LinkedIn provides the opportunity to link to existing company materials, including blogs, interviews, videos, and white papers. Your company’s materials will probably need to be redesigned to make them more palatable—less advertising, more educational.
If LinkedIn is the business/corporate platform, Facebook is the personal platform. Facebook provides the opportunity to humanize the company and communicate its mission. Facebook is an excellent platform for reaching and interacting with potential decision makers and influencers less formally. This is the platform that you will use to share lifestyle content. Any content that follows into the other categories (company, industry, or thought leadership) should be redesigned to be less corporate.
Consumers follow brands on Instagram because they love the brand. They are drawn to images and videos to learn about new products to purchase and help pass the time (Mander 2016). Visuals are compelling at evoking emotion and motivating social media users to react. Instagram is an excellent place to share behind the scene images of your business or lifestyle content. But not all pictures are share-worthy. Many photos end up on the cutting room floor or the digital trashcan. Just because Instagram offers you seemingly, unlimited storage doesn’t mean that you should post everything. Be selective. When selecting photos to post, ask yourself, “is this image Instagram-worthy?” Or perhaps an even better question to ask yourself “is it billboard worthy?” If you are not willing to use the image in a billboard campaign then why would you use it on Instagram? In that case, this should help you identify high-quality images that evoke emotion and, therefore, encourage engagement (likes, comments, and sharing).
Blogs
Long-form blogs continue to be a popular method for sharing detailed updates, discussing industry events, and promoting thought leadership. The blog can be hosted on a third-party platform (e.g., blogger) or on your company website and shared (via URL) with your followers through any one of your social platforms. To ensure your blog is successful, write about a topic that will resonate with your audience and one that you know well—a subject you could easily and comfortably talk about in a meeting. Begin with a clear and concise idea—what is the blog’s purpose, and what points do you want to get across? Write like you talk and allow your personality to shine through. When making statements, back them up with examples or data. When drawing from others’ ideas, cite, and if appropriate, tag them so that they will see the blog (and hopefully share it with their network). Pose questions to encourage engagement. As for the length, shorter blogs (under 600 words) are often best for discussion and attention because the message is often straightforward, and the blog can be quickly read. But the short length can also be limiting in that it may lack sufficient substance to motivate readers to share the post on their social channels. A word count in the range of 600 to 1,500 may be more successful at getting your point across and encouraging sharing (White 2021). But remember, again, think about quality over quantity.
Step 5: Launch and Build Out the Program
Once you have your employees recruited and trained, you need to launch and build out the four program phases:
Phase 1: Consider this the orientation and learning phase. Spend the first month getting your employees comfortable with the various platforms and your expectations. Work alongside them to experiment with posting content and measuring results. It may be good to start with less promotional content and more community-building, employee pride, and industry information. Next, gradually introduce the promotional content. Observe what content resonates well with their audience and modify posting guidelines (platforms, type of content, timing, frequency) based on the results. Remind employees of any relevant industry guidelines they will need to adhere to. See Chapter 7 for guidance.
Phase 2: In this phase, you are empowering employees to share content on their own based on what they learned from phase 1. Ensure the company guidelines are clear about the frequency of posting, the type of content to post, and required disclosures. It may be necessary to send reminders (e.g., weekly) as employees may get sidetracked by other work responsibilities. Offer a small incentive and offer tokens of appreciation. Continue to measure success and modify guidelines.
Phase 3: Now may be the time to recruit more employees for the initiative. Measure and share the program’s impact with senior executives and the broader workforce to build interest. Involve existing advocates in helping to identify and support new members.
Phase 4: This is when you review the goals you set, measure results to date, and adjust as needed. For example, if your goal was to increase positive sentiment by 10 percent by the end of 2023, you would not wait until December 31, 2023, to measure your results. Instead, you should measure at regular shorter intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly based on the posting guidelines you set for employees). If the results are not trending in the right direction and it appears that you will not meet your target, then regroup and revise. Offer refresher training to those employees who may need it. Continue to recognize and reward success.
An example of a company that touts the value of their employee advocacy program is the tech company Dell. More than 10,000 Dell employees worldwide use their social media to share company information. Dell reports that over 12 months, employee advocates generated more than 150,000 shares that yielded 45,000 clicks to Dell’s website. In total, posts by employees reached an audience of over 1.2 million. Another example is the supply chain and logistics company Penske. Within the first quarter of the launch of their advocacy program, the company reported a 9,958 percent increase in total reach and a 333 percent increase in website click-throughs (How Dell Empowers It’s Workforce On Social Media n.d.).
Consumer Influencers
This chapter has focused on the importance of social media influencers, executive thought leaders, and employee advocates. But we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that everyday consumers can also be helpful. Not all businesses need or can afford big names and famous faces. Small businesses may not have sufficient employees to develop a fully-fledged employee advocacy program. But what these businesses may have are loyal, happy, and socially savvy consumers to help spread the word online. Everyday consumers can organically post and should be encouraged to share. For example, a company can introduce a simple hashtag campaign that asks consumers to share a photo or provide a review on social media and include a recommended hashtag. Hashtag-related signage around the store and selfie stations all work to prompt a consumer to post.
Beyond the casual everyday consumer, there are also dedicated fans or brand advocates. Brand advocates are those people who organically infuse their favorite brand in their social media posts. The brand itself may be an extension of their identity (i.e., they mention the brand in their bio, social media profile image, or even have a brand tattoo). These fans delight in not only sharing information about their beloved brand but also recruiting others to join in the brand experience. Companies need to recognize and acknowledge the effort that these people put into these social media brand conversations. A simple “thumbs up” or a brief comment on their posting can motivate them to continue to share the good word. People like to be appreciated.
An old proverb says, “it takes a village to raise a child.” The same adage applies to promoting a company’s positive image on social media. To successfully utilize social media to get the word out about your business, you need the help and support of others. Recruiting external influencers may be appropriate for some companies. For others, it may be utilizing executives and employees or encouraging and acknowledging the work of everyday consumers and fans of your brand. Many social media users make light work.
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