Building Brand Advocates

The real marketing dream? Organic growth! But what is it and how do we get it? While it is becoming harder and harder to attain, true organic growth refers to the act of getting your members (and future members) to come to you naturally as opposed to through paid or sponsored posts. Organic growth is really just growth based on your own resources. When considering how to tap into “your own resources”, there is a huge asset right in front of you that may be the next frontier of advancing your marketing message...your employees! 

In 2017 a study found that while 63% of people trust other people, only 52% trust businesses. We also know for a fact (because Mark Zuckerberg told us) that we’re seeing less public content from businesses and brands. This is where we look to employee advocacy to help build trust as “normal people” and potentially stay visible to a wider crowd. After all, they are the ones with a unique perspective and help carry out your institution’s mission on a daily basis. 

Deciding to harness the power of your employees helps build your brand’s narrative, but also helps the employee build their personal brand.  Sharing good and relevant content is the key to leveraging the circle of influence of your employee brand advocates. When you post good content that they are excited to share in their circles, it reflects well on your brand and on themselves.

Some of your employee influencers, or brand advocates, may have different strengths or levels of social media awareness. Perhaps this looks more like a team than a single point of contact - which is also a positive!

Curators - a subject matter expert who is creating the content and knows what “good looks like” for you and your brand, your tone of voice, etc. It is also important to consider how much product/service content is focused on. It is key to keep information varied and relevant, but avoid sounding like a promotional robot. 

Influencers - social media stars that already exist in your local community. Finding people that can help sing your praises with a strong following, or even just inviting them to your location to see what you have to offer could be the beginning of a great friendship. 

Storytellers - your “sales” team who make the connection between content sharing and social selling. This is where you relate your curated, relevant content into a new member or even someone to attend an event that isn’t a current customer.

The next step is making sure your other employees are out there helping the cause as well. Everyone is part of the cause - and responsible for helping drive that engagement. Like the posts, share the stories, comment on the cute photos. Even small organizations can see big impacts when the entire team is posting, commenting and liking - which immediately begins to leverage the compounding power of social media.

The key, like most organic plans, is to make it fun and easy. Ensuring the right content is provided and the key components of your brand’s message are accessible for your entire staff. Doing this will provide you the opportunity to turn your employees into ambassadors, not to mention trusted advocates, for your brand in your community!