6 Tips to Making Your Personal and Corporate Brand Mesh Well Together

How often have you considered telling your corporate brand stories through your employees? Not many of us go down that route because of the fears associated with that possibility. “What if our competitor notices one of our star employees and steals them from under us?” “What if they do better than our brand?”

However, restricting employees from talking about their employers on social media is nearly impossible given 4.62 billion people globally use social media. Not to mention the benefits of linking your corporate brand with your employees’ personal brand are far-reaching. Let’s jump in to see how you can leverage this power of joining both your corporate and your employees’ personal brands.

Benefits of Merging Corporate with Personal

Builds Trust

When your corporate brand story is coming from an employee, it encourages your audience to place their trust in you. People are more likely to believe those who are directly experiencing the company’s values.

Creates Distinction

Using different voices can help you market the values that are important in your company. Think of it as a way to stand out among the sea of competitors.

Broadens Influence

Mixing the company’s brand with your employees’ brand can spread your reach. It can also sustain the power of your brand because that’s the image that’s more likely going to come to their mind when people think about your business.

Promotes Recruiting

Nourishing your employees’ personal brands can also help you with recruiting because it will show that your staff is important to you.

The truth is that people may still leave the organization irrespective of whether you support their personal brand or not. But nurturing the positioning they have for themselves might even help you if they choose to work at another company.

If they progress and grow at other brands, they could acquire positions that promote your brand. Not to mention that your sincere support will encourage them to say good things about your company.

Steps The Company Should Take

1.?????Establish Simple and Realistic Instructions

Make sure that the information you’re handing out to your employees isn’t confidential. At the same time, don’t restrict what they can or cannot share on social media to the extent that they have trouble talking about the company’s brand. The key is to practice professional and clear communication that provides enough information to reflect trust and still be within the confines of privacy.

2.?????Allow Employees to Access Social Media from the Office

If you want your staff to expand their personal brand in line with your corporate brand, strategically allowing employees to access Facebook, Instagram etc. must be part of the deal. Collaborate with your HR managers to devise and enforce proactive social media policies that work towards the company’s advantage.

In saying that however, this rule must apply to all. Allowing access to only those employees who you think are fit to elevate your corporate brand will isolate many others. This will, in turn, create rifts within the organization and might even provoke those employees to speak negatively about your company on social media.

3.?????Simplify the Process for Employees to Tell Your Brand’s Stories

Telling your company’s brand stories should be easy and fun for your employees. Ask them for ideas or involve them in the way you share the content. Be open to ideas and ask them how they think the stories should be told. You can also share suggested posts on a weekly basis that exhibit your content and ask your staff to make it viral. ?

Steps The Employee Should Take

1.?????Create a Personal Brand that Aligns with Your Company’s Brand

Understand your employer’s mission and what your own goals are. Then, decide which news or products are relevant to the positioning you have for your brand. The key is to maintain a balance between combining appropriate content and making sure you share your own content as well.

2.?????Share Content Specific to Your Industry/Role

To elevate your brand in the industry, you need to personalize content through comments and not only through shares or retweets on social media. This will help you create authentic engagement with your brand, especially if you choose to explore industry-specific events.

3.?????Stay Updated on Company News and Events

Stay connected to important stakeholders to know what’s happening in the company and in the industry. They’ll be able to provide vital insight on what you should post, as well as give their expert opinion on new research being conducted.

Conclusion

All in all, personal and corporate brands go hand-in-hand. If done right, they can both contribute to each other’s success provided the right social media policies, advertising and collaboration between the employer and employee are implemented.?