Trust is the currency of employee advocacy- A discussion on content marketing – yet another buzzword or the growth engine of business?

1. Trust is the currency of employee
advocacy
A discussion on content marketing – yet another buzzword
or the growth engine of business?
Andrea Edwards, The Digital Conversationalist
June 15 - 16, 2016
Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre
Singapore

2. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
It’s the digital revolution!
How we buy & learn has fundamentally shifted
Consumers are 92% of the way through the sales cycles
before we even come to a brand. We are learning and
deciding outside the brand.
Source: Nielsen
For B2B it’s 65-90%
Source: Forrester

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Where are we learning?

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The big one – 1.65 billion

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But it’s not all
learning
We’re being
distracted too

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7. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards

8. Whatever the reality -
it’s getting SO noisy…
and it’s not all good!

9. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
What is content marketing?
It’s about creating content so good, it earns
the right to exist in your customers world,
where they are
Over time, you build their loyalty to your
brand and that’s when they buy from you

10. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
6 levels of content marketing
• Level 1 – What is it?
• Level 2 – We have a blog & social pages
• Level 3 – We have a blog & external contributors
• Level 4 – We ask employees to share content – but it’s marketing
• Level 5 – We help employees – nearly all of them – create content in
their own voice and then feature their insights on our site, demonstrating
their expertise as a way to incorporate their personal brands with our
corporate brand
• Level 6 – We have moved beyond our business and now incorporate the
entire ecosystem of our company – employees, customers, partners,
influencers, associations, and so on
Inspiration: OP|EN for BUSINESS!

11. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
Content Marketing is fundamentally
about business transformation
It’s not something the marketing team
‘does’
Everyone must be on board and it starts
at the top

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13. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
15% of people trust recommendations from brands
84% trust recommendations from people they know
Reference: Nielsen
This is why employees are critical

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The average employee
Has 500 connections
500 x 500 = 250,000
Days, weeks, years

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That’s where employee advocacy comes in
It requires
1. Culture
2. Guidelines
3. Employee brand first
4. A Platform
5. Effective measurement
6. Champions
7. 1-2-1 Coaching

16. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
Benefits of a content-led business?
• Engaged and valued employees
• Retain & recruit the best
• Agile business
• Connected to ideas
• Customer loyalty
• Industry leadership
• Competitive advantage

17. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
Because let’s face it
If your employees aren’t
your biggest fans, you’ve
got problems WAY bigger
than social media
Jay Baer

18. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
5 ways you can lead this
1. Siloes down
2. Partnership
3. Train & trust
4. Leaders on board
5. Culture change

19. #HROToday@AndreaTEdwards
@AndreaTEdwards
AndreaTEdwards
/AndreaTEdwards www.thedigitalconversationalist.com
The Digital Conversationalist
The Digital Conversationalist
Thank you and stay in touch
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock