Content marketing has become an invaluable branding tool. Brands of all sizes use it, from global giants to mom-and-pop retailers and everything in between.
The beauty of social media in general, and content marketing in particular, is that it’s a wide-open world full of marketing possibilities. Take Denny’s, who have made an art form out of their social media antics. Or look at Delish, who have used their short, entertaining video recipes to draw over five million followers to their brand on Facebook. Or consider GE, who use Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram to tell awe-inspiring stories, share what they’re up to, and inspire the next generation of young scientists.
Despite their different approaches to content marketing, these brands all have one thing in common: Thriving social employee advocacy programs.
Why Social Employees?
Social media marketing all about being authentic and engaging. Denny’s, Delish, and GE all make social succeed because they share content that is helpful, humorous, or informative—and sometimes all three at once. In doing so, they create authentic connections with their bases in ways that both stay true to their brand and maintain the human element.
And the best way to create authentic, human content is through empowering your social employees. Even the numbers bear this out:
- Employee-generated posts often outperform traditional digital advertising based on consumer responses—with 21 percent reporting they’ve “liked” employee-generated posts (source: Altimeter).
- Employee-generated or shared content is eight times more effective than content shared by a branded account (source: Social Media Today)
- Among other things, employee advocacy leads to increased visibility, inbound web traffic, brand recognition, and brand loyalty (source: eMarketer)
With this kind of data, it’s no wonder that 90 percent of brands are either already pursuing social employee advocacy or have plans to do so.
Learn How to Activate Your Social Employees in an Exciting New Workshop
Are you ready to bring the Social Employee Revolution to your organization and turbocharge your content marketing efforts?
Blue Focus Marketing and the American Marketing Association (AMA) invites you to our innovative new workshop, “Build an Employee-Driven Content Marketing Strategy.” Taking place Nov. 3–4 at Chicago’s Summit Executive Centre, this two-day event will cover everything you need to begin designing a thriving social employee advocacy culture within your organization.
Register today to reserve your spot!
Throughout the workshop, attendees will learn:
- How to craft and share compelling content through a focus on storytelling and the 80/20 rule of social sharing.
- The 5 Ds of social employee advocacy—and why beginning with a pilot program will benefit your long-term strategy.
- How to measure results gather insights, set goals, implement tactics, and test for success as you scale your program.
Guiding this two-day workshop are two themes: the why and the how. After establishing foundational concepts on the first day, attendees will then learn how to design a social employee advocacy pilot program and use compelling content to engage across a variety of social channels.
