By Clancy Clarke
You already know that employees are the key to company productivity and success, but are you leveraging that power to market your brand through employee advertising? Your workforce is your biggest asset when it comes to brand promotion; and by fostering a positive environment, you can encourage your employees to become your most dedicated marketers.
Happy Employees Love Your Brand
Upselling is a traditional way of attempting to get customers to buy more than what they initially came for. However, it's often seen as pushy and is more likely to drive people away than make them want to engage with your brand.
Instead of directing employees to make a hard sell, work on fostering positive, respectful relationships and an upbeat work environment. The happier and more comfortable your employees are, the more apt they'll be to naturally talk up your brand.
"Camaraderie in the workplace can lead to greater job satisfaction and commitment to the organization and doing a job well," writes Christine M. Riordan, professor of management at the University of Kentucky
A happy workforce translates to a company full of brand advocates who will sell without being prompted because they believe in what the company has to offer.
A paper by Alex Edmans, an associate professor of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, proves that businesses with high employee satisfaction achieve more than those without. Additionally, research from the University of Warwick says people are 12 percent more productive when they are happy.
Make Promotional Marketing Fun
Employees who believe in your brand are more than willing to spread the word through promotional materials. Provide items with high visibility such as t-shirts, hats, travel mugs, and messenger bags that workers can use outside the office to promote brand visibility. Small items such as pens and magnets have a higher retention rate than business cards and can be given away when customers make purchases or handed out to potential clients.
Online promotion is an important part of the equation as well. Establish a company social media policy and provide your employees with quality content that they feel good about sharing. Empowering your workforce this way will boost your content marketing strategy while increasing brand awareness among your target market.
Encouragement Through Rewards and Perks
A low-key incentive program that rewards your most dedicated brand ambassadors serves to encourage employee participation in corporate marketing efforts. Simple perks such as small gifts, days off, flextime or pay bonuses are all great motivators. Be careful to choose rewards that are appropriate for the type of company you run and are in line with your employees' lifestyles.
According to organizational psychologist Dr. David G. Javitch, "Flextime helps create a happier, more satisfying workplace. Because employees are often so glad that their employers are willing to allow for a work-life time adjustment, they tend to work harder and in a more dedicated fashion to hold on to their now-perfect schedule and re-balance their lives."
Make sure employees know that there's a greater reward as well: the improved performance that comes from having a well-established company brand. Brand recognition contributes greatly to business success, and the more your workforce can help grow your brand through employee advertising, the better off the company will be.
Get Employees Out There
Your workforce isn't just a crew of faceless people who go through daily tasks like wind-up toys. They're a dynamic group of individuals with special talents, and each of them brings something special to your company. Let the public see this by putting your employees out there online, allowing them to write on your company blog, and in person at events such as trade shows. Consumers often identify with employees more easily than with those in higher corporate positions, and you can make that connection work for you.
Give your workers a chance to tell stories about their own experiences with your brand. Leverage their credibility to create a "real" image of your company that customers can connect with. Associating the faces of real people to your brand makes your company more approachable and builds trust with your target market so they'll want to come to you for products and services.
Finding brand ambassadors is as simple as looking to your workforce. Keeping the workplace positive, creating a fun atmosphere in which to foster brand loyalty, and offering rewards to those who do the most to grow your brand brings in more customers and establishes your company as a leader in your field.
