Are your employees brand ambassadors?

For many organizations, it seems like a risky endeavor but if you handle it correctly, allowing your staff to be brand ambassadors on social media can pay off tremendously.

While you can’t really force any of your staff to promote your products or services online, many actually want to. It helps them get more involved in the growth of your company and can give them an added role that could create value to your marketing and PR efforts.

And then there are some who do not want to participate in being a brand ambassador. But by doing so, it could help them personally such as sales people. So convincing those staff members could prove to be valuable for both the company and their own growth.

Develop Social Media Policies:

It is absolute critical you develop social media polices for staff. Many organizations actually have their IT staff lock down social media access because they feel it promotes a lack of productivity. But if you create a social media policy, allowing for some personal time on social media, the urge to waste time instead of doing your job, might actually be tamed down. You can Google “Social Media Policies” and you’ll find many templates available.

Training on Social Media:

Yes by now, many of us are on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter or other social platforms. And while your staff might be well versed in using them to post personal items for their friends, many need some guidance in using these platforms in a professional setting. If you’re unsure how to show your staff how to use social media professionally, search for a consultant. But beware, it can be the Wild West out there. Everyone is calling themselves a social media expert. Proceed carefully when hiring an “Expert.”

Helping Sales Staff:

There are still many organizations out there that have their sales staff use traditional sales techniques such as cold calling, knocking on doors etc… And if those techniques are effective, there really is no reason to alter course. But what if you could convince your sales staff that by promoting what they do online could help them ever further? It really costs them nothing to do so other than maybe a few extra minutes each day.

Whether we like it or not, social media is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Your staff can use it to help your organization and help them further their own growth. It’s out there and companies should learn to embrace it in some form.