Start With The Social Stars
Start by empowering the social media stars you have on staff. They already have a network and a reach… Give them curated content to use on their brand channel and branded apparel to show off - encourage them to share the love!
Empower Employee Mentors
Anyone who is new to a company could use a little help learning the ropes. Assign new employees to volunteer mentors (employee ambassadors) who give them a VIP glimpse into their new company, including a campus tour, lunch the first day, etc.
Use Incentives
A little incentive goes a long way to engage, inform, and motivate your employees. Perks and swag can certainly keep people interested, so make your programs, events, and contests fun and compelling.
Show Your Appreciation
Show your appreciation to your employees with company branded products they can use in and out of the office. You will get a lot of traction with this! The latest branded products they would be proud to use and showoff is a great way to say “thank you, we appreciate you”. Expressing your appreciation develops loyalty and that is the start to an effective Brand Ambassador program.
Give a Warm Welcome
Nothing feels more awkward than that first day of work. Building Brand Ambassadors takes time and a consistent message of appreciation. Why not reduce the stress of the first day and welcome each new employee with a uniquely curated welcome gift? A Company branded backpack or tote they would really want to use, (and not stash in the back of a drawer) filled with great drinkware, journals, writing instruments, and comfy and stylish apparel is almost certain to show up on their Instagram feed!
Provide Curated Content
Give your employees a hand in sharing content to their brand networks. Develop content that lives on your website and on your company networks that can easily be used to syndicate to their own networks. Make it fun and interesting, colorful, graphic and use amazing images to compliment your company, then encourage them to share the love!
Get Social
Encouraging a Company and its Brand Ambassadors to “go social” requires well thought out content and thorough social media brand guidelines. Much like your Brand Guide, be specific as to how and why social should be used by your employees.
Encourage Personal Branding
To develop Brand Ambassadors, empower your employees to be the best professional version of themselves. Equipping employees to become industry-specific influencers can lift their respective careers, which also benefits your business, as they are your organization’s digital (and real-world) representatives. Make it advantageous for both company and employee, and you’ll generate sustainable interest.
Teach Your Employees to Advocate
Have a support system in place from the beginning. You don’t have to start out with a social media training academy like Dell or Adobe, but do have stablished guidelines, tips and best practices, and identify the social media stars who can help. Strive to consistently create educational content. Use webinars, how-to videos, training sessions or short monthly meetings to reinforce what’s acceptable to share. Also, take time to show employees how to hone their expert voice on various social media platforms.
Start From The Top
It’s important not to underestimate the impact that your support programs can have on your people. However, this method of leadership requires a fair degree of trust in your employees, and this can be challenging for some managers.
To those who are on the fence, I’d argue that more often than not, when you enable your employees to take greater ownership over their roles and exercise influence in the company, they’ll surprise you in positive ways. We benefit the most by encouraging diversity of thought and allowing others to express their unique thoughts. What better way to develop Brand Ambassadors for your Company?
The Donna Bender Company Can Help
By developing Brand Ambassadors, you can extend the longevity of your employee’s careers at your company, and the enjoyment and satisfaction they get from working with you. You can encourage them and empower them, so they begin to feel more like owners than employees - becoming raving fans of your brand and spreading awareness of your company’s compelling story. It takes a commitment to build an employee advocate program that will groom Brand Ambassadors, but investing in your company and your employees in this way will be totally worth it!
Let The Donna Bender Company help you develop an Internal Brand Ambassador program - call Donna personally to discuss how you can get started - 214-520-8577.
