1) The document discusses empowering employees to represent brands on social media. It argues that companies should empower customer-facing employees to communicate with audiences in a humanizing way.
2) It recommends establishing social media policies with employee input to provide structure while allowing freedom. Training employees on core values and appropriate social sharing can make them powerful brand advocates.
3) Building healthy employer-employee relationships through mutual understanding and respect can help attract and retain talent in a competitive environment. Treating employees as investments rather than costs can create a nurturing culture with advocacy.
Experience brands understand that a customer’s or prospect’s path to the brand passes directly through their own people. And if those people aren’t aligned to the organization’s purpose and brand and business ambitions, there’s little chance of delivering the kind of positive experience clients will want to repeat and share.
Starting up a business has many challenges and demands. This paper from Swystun Communications provides ways and examples for how branding can better ensure success if the focus is there from the start.
The ethical way to make money with facebookHubert Boothe
Social networking holds the promise of being the next biggest marketing arena in town. However, the rules are far different on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter for marketers than they are for conventional formats like television ads or direct marketing campaigns. A more subtle approach is required because of the policy that many of the social networks do not allow direct solicitation of their members.
Experience brands understand that a customer’s or prospect’s path to the brand passes directly through their own people. And if those people aren’t aligned to the organization’s purpose and brand and business ambitions, there’s little chance of delivering the kind of positive experience clients will want to repeat and share.
Starting up a business has many challenges and demands. This paper from Swystun Communications provides ways and examples for how branding can better ensure success if the focus is there from the start.
The ethical way to make money with facebookHubert Boothe
Social networking holds the promise of being the next biggest marketing arena in town. However, the rules are far different on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter for marketers than they are for conventional formats like television ads or direct marketing campaigns. A more subtle approach is required because of the policy that many of the social networks do not allow direct solicitation of their members.
As part of an assignment, here is a book concise of "Personality not included" by Rohit Bhargava. This doc would go well with the presentation ppt that I have uploaded on the same topic.
Eighty percent of companies think their brands have superior experiences. Unfortunately, only eight percent of their customers agree.
It’s time for brands to tackle the experience gap – the gap between how consumers want to experience brands, and what brands are actually doing.
It’s not just a marketing imperative; it’s a business imperative. That’s why we’re proud to share our latest research looking at brand experience examples and ideas that you can apply to your brand.
Trade shows won't help you achieve all of your marketing and business objectives. But they are an important milestone to getting there. A win on the trade show floor can reverberate throughout all your marketing efforts.
Here are seven tips to help your brand score points, win customers and be awesome:
1, Define your strategy for getting to the next level
2. Earn points by playing to win
3. Understand your arsenal and bring the right equipment
4. Know the rules
5. The game begins when you start playing
6. The game doesn't stop when the whistle blows
7. Refine your strategy to advance to the next level
Judging creative idea guide, this material will help the marketer especially those who work on advertising or brand to be able to formulate rational and structured thinking of judging creative idea
Employee engagement meetings are powerful experiences.
Done well, corporate meetings can have a transformative effect on an organization, unifying employees and elevating the company’s goals and objectives.
However, meetings that don’t live up to their potential can be damaging, with a negative effect on morale, a failure to deliver key messages, and provide little in the way of ROI.
At Jack Morton, we’ve been elevating corporate meetings and engagements for over 75 years, and we’re sharing our thoughts on four principles that are proven to deliver extraordinary results for our clients.
Read our POV, and make your meetings extraordinary.
What do you need to know about small business marketing (post pandemic)AtheethBelagode
In this article, you are going to learn everything you always wondered about small business marketing like how to do marketing on a small budget, which digital channels are worth important, how to grow fast, and whether to outsource your marketing work to a digital marketing agency or keep everything in-house.
Reputation: How it is built and maintained, and the role of PR - A report by ...Ashraf Engineer
Businesses are getting increasingly conscious of the power of reputation. It is customers’ perception of a company that drives purchases. It is also what attracts talent and assures partners that they are doing business with somebody they can trust.
So, it’s not just the end users that corporations are looking to impress; they are striving to connect with all stakeholders, which include employees, vendors, the community and the government.
For the public relations (PR) industry, this is a unique opportunity. Its scope is widening from the narrow media relations space to leading the overall brand building and maintainance function. It is now up to the PR industry to evolve from second fiddle to advertising to the leader in the marketing communications ecosystem.
MSLGROUP in India's latest report, co-authored with Eikona PR Measurement, analyses the growing importance of reputation management and its impact on the PR industry.
Some of the points the report makes:
• Reputation is an intangible asset, but its effects are real. It is an invisible, yet powerful influence that can help or hinder a company as it strives to meet its objectives.
• From credit terms to employee retention, reputation has a serious impact.
New Delhi HUG September meetup held on 25th September, 2019 included a quick recap of the Inbound 2019 sessions, and a deep dive into the latest HubSpot product announcements.
I can already see business owners discussing how wrong of a statement this headline is. The owner is the visionary and their role is paramount to the business. Right?
I am no stranger to being the person behind driving a business. But there was once a question my mother asked me when I was studying business at College – it seemed somewhat of a simple one…
The Insiders Guide to Employer Branding - 27 Best Practice InsightsKelly Services
Many of the old tools and strategies for building an authentic, globally relevant employer brand have been discarded, and new ones are taking over. Both the challenges and opportunities have grown almost in tandem, and it’s all happening at break-neck speed.
One thing is clear: employer branding has changed, dramatically.
Our Global Best Practice Xchange (BPX) Roundtable on the subject confirmed it. It was 90 minutes of rigorous discussion with eight seasoned professionals leading the way in employer branding innovation for their organizations. They shared their successes, mistakes and thoughts on their plans for the future.
So, if you are wondering if there’s a better, clearer way to lead your organization and practice through this change, this guide is for you.
As part of an assignment, here is a book concise of "Personality not included" by Rohit Bhargava. This doc would go well with the presentation ppt that I have uploaded on the same topic.
Eighty percent of companies think their brands have superior experiences. Unfortunately, only eight percent of their customers agree.
It’s time for brands to tackle the experience gap – the gap between how consumers want to experience brands, and what brands are actually doing.
It’s not just a marketing imperative; it’s a business imperative. That’s why we’re proud to share our latest research looking at brand experience examples and ideas that you can apply to your brand.
Trade shows won't help you achieve all of your marketing and business objectives. But they are an important milestone to getting there. A win on the trade show floor can reverberate throughout all your marketing efforts.
Here are seven tips to help your brand score points, win customers and be awesome:
1, Define your strategy for getting to the next level
2. Earn points by playing to win
3. Understand your arsenal and bring the right equipment
4. Know the rules
5. The game begins when you start playing
6. The game doesn't stop when the whistle blows
7. Refine your strategy to advance to the next level
Judging creative idea guide, this material will help the marketer especially those who work on advertising or brand to be able to formulate rational and structured thinking of judging creative idea
Employee engagement meetings are powerful experiences.
Done well, corporate meetings can have a transformative effect on an organization, unifying employees and elevating the company’s goals and objectives.
However, meetings that don’t live up to their potential can be damaging, with a negative effect on morale, a failure to deliver key messages, and provide little in the way of ROI.
At Jack Morton, we’ve been elevating corporate meetings and engagements for over 75 years, and we’re sharing our thoughts on four principles that are proven to deliver extraordinary results for our clients.
Read our POV, and make your meetings extraordinary.
What do you need to know about small business marketing (post pandemic)AtheethBelagode
In this article, you are going to learn everything you always wondered about small business marketing like how to do marketing on a small budget, which digital channels are worth important, how to grow fast, and whether to outsource your marketing work to a digital marketing agency or keep everything in-house.
Reputation: How it is built and maintained, and the role of PR - A report by ...Ashraf Engineer
Businesses are getting increasingly conscious of the power of reputation. It is customers’ perception of a company that drives purchases. It is also what attracts talent and assures partners that they are doing business with somebody they can trust.
So, it’s not just the end users that corporations are looking to impress; they are striving to connect with all stakeholders, which include employees, vendors, the community and the government.
For the public relations (PR) industry, this is a unique opportunity. Its scope is widening from the narrow media relations space to leading the overall brand building and maintainance function. It is now up to the PR industry to evolve from second fiddle to advertising to the leader in the marketing communications ecosystem.
MSLGROUP in India's latest report, co-authored with Eikona PR Measurement, analyses the growing importance of reputation management and its impact on the PR industry.
Some of the points the report makes:
• Reputation is an intangible asset, but its effects are real. It is an invisible, yet powerful influence that can help or hinder a company as it strives to meet its objectives.
• From credit terms to employee retention, reputation has a serious impact.
New Delhi HUG September meetup held on 25th September, 2019 included a quick recap of the Inbound 2019 sessions, and a deep dive into the latest HubSpot product announcements.
I can already see business owners discussing how wrong of a statement this headline is. The owner is the visionary and their role is paramount to the business. Right?
I am no stranger to being the person behind driving a business. But there was once a question my mother asked me when I was studying business at College – it seemed somewhat of a simple one…
The Insiders Guide to Employer Branding - 27 Best Practice InsightsKelly Services
Many of the old tools and strategies for building an authentic, globally relevant employer brand have been discarded, and new ones are taking over. Both the challenges and opportunities have grown almost in tandem, and it’s all happening at break-neck speed.
One thing is clear: employer branding has changed, dramatically.
Our Global Best Practice Xchange (BPX) Roundtable on the subject confirmed it. It was 90 minutes of rigorous discussion with eight seasoned professionals leading the way in employer branding innovation for their organizations. They shared their successes, mistakes and thoughts on their plans for the future.
So, if you are wondering if there’s a better, clearer way to lead your organization and practice through this change, this guide is for you.
This eBook is a proverbial shot-in-the-arm, intended to help HR executives and recruiters understand what it takes to leverage the latest networking and online engagement tools, and get out in front of your peers. We’ll offer the “why” and “how” of employer branding in a new media environment by looking at the adaptions marketers have made in the last five years. We’ll also look at innovative recruiting strategies that use new media to attract and engage knowledge workers.
Get Scrappy: A (Small) Business Owner's Guide to Marketing on LessMichelle Fitzgerald
Get Scrappy is a pared down, practical guide about how to incorporate marketing into the heart of any business plan.
Packed with expertise from Fortune 500 marketers and SMB consultants, Get Scrappy provides real-life examples on how organizations, even those on less time and money, can make seemingly tactical objectives become strategic initiatives that generate results.
Do more on less. GET SCRAPPY.
Businesses CAN’T afford to have disengaged employees! According to Gallup, a disengaged employee costs a company 34% of their total annual salary. On aggregate 17.2% of a workforce is disengaged.
Since the Dotcom boom of the 90’s, companies have been trying to obtain high standards of employee satisfaction through: company perks, wellness incentives and even subsidized food plans to satisfy the foodies.
Has any of these strategies really helped with employee engagement? How do organizations get their employees engaged and find their swagger?
Employee engagement is very tied to the MAGIC of the company. To capture the magic, employees must have five key elements to help them become successful.
In the MAGIC of Employee Engagement white paper, it'll will break down each element and map out the benefits of each one.
What are the Pillars of Effective Communication in the Workplace.pdfXoxoday Empuls
At its core, effective communication in the workplace is about understanding and empathizing with your audience. To make your communication strategy, solution, and synergy aligned with each other, make sure to focus on these pillars: listen, engage, connect, inspire and guide.
https://blog.empuls.io/pillars-of-effective-communication-in-the-workplace/
IN THIS SUMMARY
In Brains on Fire, Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church, and Spike Jones relate how their marketing agency has de-emphasized the use of campaigns and instead fosters the growth of word-of-mouth movements to build customer loyalty for a brand. They recommend that brand managers should focus on creating movements that tap into the passions of customers and inspire them. Researchers have shown a strong correlation between a company’s success and the degree to which the company is engaged with its customers. The authors believe “closeness” to customers is a signal of corporate health and profitability.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
http://www.bizsum.com/summaries/brains-fire
The Role of Social Media in Employer Branding and Recruitment in Modern Organ...Aakriti Agarwal
This project includes understanding the concept of employer branding and it's need in today's organisations. It stresses on why social media recruitment is a preferred approach to recruiting nowadays and how mainitaing an organisation's brand image is more than just the Marketing department's onus
The Disruptive Reader: Three Urgent Questions for B2B Marketing InnovatorsShelly Lucas
This reader is dedicated to the marketing misfits. The interrogators. Because marketers who are courageous enough to ask probing questions are the ones who transform their businesses and ignite their careers.
In the Social Business Journal Volume 1, eighteen thought leaders share their insights on key topics on the road to social business success. Sign up to receive Volume 2 on the last slide. Enjoy!
Pushed to the Limit, Managing Your Employer Brand in Troubled TimesN. Robert Johnson, APR
Foregoing employee experience in lieu of cost cutting and business survival actions represents a false choice. How employers answer the question of how they treated people during the pandemic will shape their talent landscape for years to come.
Wake Up Your Brand: Talking Finger & Michael Desroches PresentationBrand Inspiration
Co-hosts Bill DeRosa of Talking Finger, Social Media Marketing Agency and Michael Desroches of Brand Inspiration present an engaging talk and workshop -- sharing some of their favorite tips for breaking through the noise to invigorate your brand.
In this seminar, you will learn:
• How to leverage social media to build brand awareness and advocacy
• How to develop a consistent brand narrative between traditional “static” marketing programs and interactive social media channels
• How to react to your customers’ voice within online media channels
It's another new era of digital and marketers are faced with making big bets on their digital strategy. If you are looking at modernizing your tech stack to support your digital evolution, there are a few can't miss (often overlooked) areas that should be part of every conversation. We'll cover setting your vision, avoiding siloes, adding a democratized approach to data strategy, localization, creating critical governance requirements and more. Attendees will walk away with actions they can take into initiatives they are running today and consider for the future.
The Forgotten Secret Weapon of Digital Marketing: Email
Digital marketing is a rapidly changing, ever evolving industry--Influencers, Threads, X, AI, etc. But one of the most effective digital marketing tools is also one of the oldest: Email. Find out from two Houston-based digital experts how to maximize your results from email.
Key Takeaways:
Email has the best ROI of any digital tactic
It can be used at any stage of the customer journey
It is increasingly important as the cookie-less future gets closer and closer
How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
Core Web Vitals SEO Workshop - improve your performance [pdf]Peter Mead
Core Web Vitals to improve your website performance for better SEO results with CWV.
CWV Topics include:
- Understanding the latest Core Web Vitals including the significance of LCP, INP and CLS + their impact on SEO
- Optimisation techniques from our experts on how to improve your CWV on platforms like WordPress and WP Engine
- The impact of user experience and SEO
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
Top 3 Ways to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Rapid GrowthDemandbase
In this session, Demandbase’s Stephanie Quinn, Sr. Director of Integrated and Digital Marketing, Devin Rosenberg, Director of Sales, and Kevin Rooney, Senior Director of Sales Development will share how sales and marketing shapes their day-to-day and what key areas are needed for true alignment.
For too many years marketing and sales have operated in silos...while in some forward thinking companies, the two organizations work together to drive new opportunity development and revenue. This session will explore the lessons learned in that beautiful dance that can occur when marketing and sales work together...to drive new opportunity development, account expansion and customer satisfaction.
No, this is not a conversation about MQLs and SQLs. Instead we will focus on a framework that allows the two organizations to drive company success together.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
Digital Commerce Lecture for Advanced Digital & Social Media Strategy at UCLA...Valters Lauzums
E-commerce in 2024 is characterized by a dynamic blend of opportunities and significant challenges. Supply chain disruptions and inventory shortages are critical issues, leading to increased shipping delays and rising costs, which impact timely delivery and squeeze profit margins. Efficient logistics management is essential, yet it is often hampered by these external factors. Payment processing, while needing to ensure security and user convenience, grapples with preventing fraud and integrating diverse payment methods, adding another layer of complexity. Furthermore, fulfillment operations require a streamlined approach to handle volume spikes and maintain accuracy in order picking, packing, and shipping, all while meeting customers' heightened expectations for faster delivery times.
Amid these operational challenges, customer data has emerged as an important strategy. By focusing on personalization and enhancing customer experience from historical behavior, businesses can deliver improved website and brand experienced, better product recommendations, optimal promotions, and content to meet individual preferences. Better data analytics can also help in effectively creating marketing campaigns, improving customer retention, and driving product development and inventory management.
Innovative formats such as social commerce and live shopping are beginning to impact the digital commerce landscape, offering new ways to engage with customers and drive sales, and may provide opportunity for brands that have been priced out or seen a downturn with post-pandemic shopping behavior. Social commerce integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms, tapping into the massive user bases of these networks to increase reach and engagement. Live shopping, on the other hand, combines entertainment and real-time interaction, providing a dynamic platform for showcasing products and encouraging immediate purchases. These innovations not only enhance customer engagement but also provide valuable data for businesses to refine their strategies and deliver superior shopping experiences.
The e-commerce sector is evolving rapidly, and businesses that effectively manage operational challenges and implement innovative strategies are best positioned for long-term success.
Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
And with videos evolving from landscape to portrait and experts promoting shorter clips, one thing remains constant – our brains LOVE videos.
So is there science behind what makes people absolutely irresistible on camera?
The answer: definitely yes.
In this jam-packed session with Stephanie Garcia, you’ll get your hands on a steal-worthy guide that uncovers the art and science to being irresistible on camera. From body language to words that convert, she’ll show you how to captivate on command so that viewers are excited and ready to take action.
Unknown to Unforgettable - The Art and Science to Being Irresistible on Camer...
Empower your employees
1. Masters of CX
Empower your
Employees to
Power your
Customer
Experience
By Ted Rubin
Social Media Strategist
Published by Econsultancy in association with Offerpop
2. Empower your Employees / Ted Rubin
Brands have it tough
these days...
Many are trying to make the “social leap,” but are still
stuck in the traditional marketing thought process of
“controlling the message.”
It can be hard to switch gears, especially when Madison Avenue
still feeds us the same old lines; but Madison Avenue doesn’t get it
either. The days of handing your marketing over to a bunch of agency
wonks without getting and staying involved are over, at least if you
want real results.
Companies must be hands-on, and be willing to jump into the
conversation and participate, because that’s what their customers
demand. Social is where your audience lives. It’s how they want
to communicate with each other and where they share brand
experience - your brand experience.
So what’s the fastest way to evolve from the old “agency” way of
thinking to social communication? Empower those who work for you
to create conversation and represent your brand—especially those
who have a customer service or customer-facing role. If they build it,
service it or sell it, they’re in a perfect position to communicate with
your audience in a way that humanizes your brand.
Many companies are fearful of social media backlash, and muzzle
their employees in an effort to control the social conversation.
However, for brands to have an effective social presence, just the
opposite needs to happen.
3. In a Networking Exchange Blog post ‘Brands
Under Pressure,’ digital and social strategist
Cheryl Burgess highlights Apple’s “Genius
Bar,” which is the ultimate in employee
branding for retail. She notes that the genius
bar is “…a lynchpin of the most successful
retail concepts and innovative employee
brand relationships of our time. Apple simply
gets it,” she writes, “employee branding
matters.”
Check it out for yourself. Go into any
Apple store and count the number of blue
shirts milling about in the retail space.
It’s astonishing—and each one is an
Apple genius whose sole purpose is to
communicate with customers, answer
questions and share knowledge one-on-one.
However, you don’t get a hard sell. The
emphasis is on providing helpful information.
In doing so, each employee puts a “face”
on the Apple brand, and turns a shopping
excursion into a human experience.
The great thing is, you don’t have to hire
a zillion blue-shirts to stand around your
company store to do the same thing for your
brand. With a little guidance, your current
employees can be geniuses for you, in
social circles.
4. The key to effective guidance is creating the
right balance between freedom and order.
This includes having a written social media
policy for your employees, going over it with
them, and involving them in the process. Your
employees can be your best advocates and
a natural extension of your brand that gives
you much better Return on Relationship
than advertising ever could—but you need
to switch your thinking by opening up your
internal communications first.
Sit down and talk to your employees
about how they can communicate your
company mission and values. Open up
a dialogue. Get their opinions. Involve
them in the process of creating a social
media policy so they feel empowered
to spread the word about you within the
right framework.
Make sure that you do not overcomplicate the
process. The best social media policies are
short and easy to understand. Think about
the policies you’ve dealt with in your career…
can you remember paragraph 10, subsection
6? Probably not, but you can remember
things like “do no evil” or “our customer is
always right, unless they’re being mean.”
7777%++J 5454%++J
of senior marketers
say that their
strategy is easy to
apply to everyday
questions.
say that everyone
on the marketing
team understand the
strategy well enough
to describe it.
Strategy is at its best when it’s useful throughout the
marketing organization, and can be used to answer
granular questions. But it’s easier said than done.
Even though leaders tend to think their strategy is
easy to apply to everyday situations, that confidence
breaks down when you scratch the surface.
A good strategy should capture and promote the core
ideas that power socially-forward organizations. If
employees can’t articulate strategy, then they can’t act
on it.
// Source: Leading a Digital Evolution,
Econsultancy (2014): ecly.co/1vEm3Oo
5. Opening internal lines of communication and building healthy
employer-employee relationships is the first step. The next is figuring
out how to train them to communicate externally.
Educate employees about your core values, and about what’s
appropriate to share in social circles. Make sure to involve them in
the conversation. Keep the commandments to a minimum and the
door open to ideas. Give them some leeway. Train them to be your
brand evangelists and you’ll be amazed at the resulting Return on
Relationship!
In the digital age, you can’t afford to try to control your company’s
brand. You need to learn to let go and become involved in the
conversation already going on about you in the social space—and
let your employees help you. Otherwise, the cost in market share is
steep, because competitors that “get it” are already out there eating
your lunch.
Now, I’m not saying you should let go of the reins; there must be
some structure and planning involved.
In today’s world, with the average job length of approximately three
years, employees will have close to 15 jobs in their career. We hear
that there is no such thing as employer/employee loyalty anymore.
Global competition has changed the game forever. For employees,
that means zero job security; they’re always waiting for the axe to fall
(especially in a lousy job market). And for employers, it’s harder and
harder to find and hang onto good employees. As soon as you train
them—they’re looking for greener pastures. So how can we bridge
that divide?
One path lies in revamping the employee-employer relationship.
Employers have to understand that the “buyer’s market” they’re in
right now will not always be the case, and even today doesn’t apply to
the best employees – the ones you want to keep and others want to
poach.
It’s also
important that
employees
understand
that they’re
not under a
microscope...
6. 3434%++J 6565%++J
of leaders say that
they are challenged
by attracting and
retaining digital
talent.
of follower
companies are
challenged by
attracting and
retaining digital
talent.
Econsultancy’s recent analysis of the Global 1,000
organizations suggests that culture has an enormous
impact on their ability to attract and retain digital talent.
Leading companies are much more likely to have
open social initiatives, encourage employee training,
experimentation with new marketing techniques and
design long-term career tracks.
// Source: Leading a Digital Evolution,
Econsultancy (2014): ecly.co/1vEm3Oo
To build a winning team that stays with
you, advocates for you and helps you get
ahead as a company, you have to treat
that team with respect.
Treating employees like a commodity and/or a cost center
eventually backfires because it leads to constant turnover, which is
counterproductive in the long term.
Start thinking of your employees as an investment instead. If you
look out for them and help them when they need it, they’ll be there for
you when you need them. It can be as simple as creating a nurturing
workplace that encourages growth and innovation, versus a culture of
fear fostered by so many companies today.
There’s an old saying in networking circles that in order to receive,
you have to give first—and do so without expectation of anything
in return. It’s called the “giver’s gain” philosophy. Doing for others
without expecting anything directly in return always brings good things
back to you.
One company that truly understands this
concept is American Express. I heard recently
from a number of people that American Express
downsizes with dignity whenever the situation
arises. They support those going through the
transition and allow them 60 days to continue
working in their offices and pursue other
opportunities, relieving the stress that always
comes with a change of employment.
So how do you think those employees felt about their employer, and
how did those feelings ripple through their personal communities of
friends, family and future employers? I know American Express has
experienced lots of giver’s gain by helping downsized employees
make a smoother transition.
7. Another way employers can benefit from helping their employees is
by recognizing the fact that digital social connection is an integral part
of our lives now. Remember that in today’s social world, every person
has an extended circle of personal influence and an opportunity to
build their own personal “brand.” By helping your employees build
that brand rather than squelching individuality, you could build an
army of very powerful advocates. Most people, when given the
opportunity, will advocate for their brands, when they feel good about
where they work.
Some companies still fear the “socialization” of the workplace, but
locking employees out of all personal social channels while at work is
a big mistake. It only forces your employees to break the rules. They
end up looking at their iPhones under the table.
Ever wonder why smoking breaks have gone up so much over
the last two years? It’s not because more people are smoking, it’s
because they’re going outside to look at their smartphones! Banning
employees from using social in the workplace only forces them to
use it on a different screen—when they could be more productive, be
aware of daily social trends, and advocating for their brands rather
than griping on their personal platforms.
Why not educate them instead? Let them know you’ll help them
build their own personal brand, and if they want to talk about your
company—great—but don’t make it a prerequisite. Create a social
policy that embraces your employees’ personal brand and give them
guidelines on what’s appropriate to share about your company.
Help them tweak their privacy settings, give them photos to share,
create company-specific hashtags and make it easy for them to find
content and use it when/if they want to. Unleash your employees and
encourage brand advocacy beyond your own social reach.
If we want our companies to prosper in the digital age, we have
to be more proactive in attracting and nurturing good employees.
That means we have to stop thinking of them in terms of costs and
liabilities and start thinking more about connecting with them as
human beings and advocates.
Want more
advocates?
Help your
employees
“be social.”
8. Empower your Employees / Conclusion
In short, if you build them up, support
them and add value to their lives,
the relationships you build with your
employees will pay dividends well
beyond the value of their salaries.
Unleash the power of giver’s gain
personally and socially, and great things
will happen to your customer experience
and your business as a whole.
Empower your Employees...
and they will Power your Brand.
// Ted Rubin
9. About the Masters of CX Published by Econsultancy in association with Offerpop
The Masters of CX series features true marketing thinkers
and industry heavyweights, covering the issues surrounding
your customer experience approach and strategy.
These unique reports will be published between October
and December 2014, along with two dedicated webinar
sessions where you can gain first-hand insight from the
authors on the key issues raised.
We’re delighted to be working with some of the most
influential authors within digital marketing.
Reports in the series include:
Winning Hearts in
Real-time
by Jay Baer
Influence the Influencers
- The Magic of Co-Created
Content
by Lee Odden
Beyond the Sale: Building
Customer Relationships
for Life
by Brian Clark
Empower your Employees
to Power your Customer
Experience
by Ted Rubin
Customer Loyalty
Lessons from Medieval
Times
by Mark Schaefer
Why Brands are Stuck on
Like and Failing at Love
by Mitch Joel
Find out more about the authors and reports at
hello.econsultancy.com/masters-of-cx and
join the discussion using #MastersofCX
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