Influencer marketing has been growing within the industry for the past several years. Consumer products, particularly health and beauty businesses, have been at the forefront of this growth. Sports figures, actors and musicians were often paid to endorse particular products and services in the earliest days. Today, influencer marketing has much more far-reaching and sophisticated strategies. Perhaps one of the biggest trends is using your employees as brand influencers. Here are tips to do that effectively:
Tip One: Foster a positive corporate culture and work environment.
Paid endorsements can never measure up to genuine comments from happy employees. Your team is in the unique position to be a real insider of the company while at the same time being seen as a transparent source of reliable information. However, in order to capitalize on that strength, your employees must be genuinely content with their jobs and believe in the company and its mission. No amount of edicts from bosses will produce the same result.
Tip Two: Communicate the overall goals and vision.
Employees who see themselves as an important part of a business that has laudable goals, as well as the ability to deliver on those goals, will be motivated to share the vision on social media, blogs or in other communication vehicles.
Tip Three: Train employees on messages as well as timing.
The last thing you want to do is to inundate your employees’ social media accounts with sales talk. Instead, you want to come up with a strategic message and interesting conversations that support your messages. Then, train your employees to combine their own expertise and opinions with those messages and start those conversations with the audiences that matter to your organization. Help employees see the importance of timing messages so that they encourage stakeholders to have your organization top of mind at important moments.
Tip Four: Link successful efforts to employee rewards.
Just like superstars get paid for endorsing particular brands or products, be sure to link the success of influencer marketing campaigns back to rewards for the employees. Some studies show that for every dollar of money spent on influencer marketing, companies earn $6.50 back. Share that with those employees making great influencer marketing contributions.
Tip Five: Tap into external expertise.
Although many organizations are bringing influencer marketing efforts in-house, be sure to tap into the expertise of agencies to support your efforts. Those who work in the marketing trenches every day can lend valuable advice to your efforts.
GYC Vegas, PR firm Las Vegas, can help you with influencer marketing efforts. Whether you’re a start-up or a decades-old company, this agency specializing in public relations in Las Vegas has years of expertise in multiple industries.