It’s no secret why all companies in this day and age are flocking to social media platforms like LinkedIn, and it’s not for the memes and cat videos. There’s a better reason why businesses are investing in social media brand awareness, because it works.
Did you know there are around 7.5 billion people on this planet? 3.17 billion of them use the Internet, and 2.3 billion of that are on social media! In the 21st century, you must have an online presence.
Great, so you’ve made all your accounts, and you’ve either hired a stubborn millennial or a marketing company to maintain them for you, but there’s one piece of the puzzle everyone seems to keep missing – your employees! Believe it or not, your employees aren’t only cruising Amazon in a hidden web browser behind their email; they’re also on LinkedIn.
So how can I utilize my employees to leverage my business on LinkedIn?
Educate your employees on the benefits!
Your employees know why LinkedIn benefits them, to showcase themselves as professionals. But what they probably haven’t realized yet, is it’s also an opportunity to showcase their position with your company and help promote it. But why should your employees help promote your company on their personal page? It’s actually pretty simple logic. Employees who post career-related content will get more profile views, connection requests, likes, and shares, which will ultimately be elevating your brand as well as highlighting their own personal accomplishments.
Employees sharing content related to their company benefits both them and the business as a whole. It’s a win/win situation.
Great, so now that all your employees are on board, here are a few tips and tricks to make this an easy process for them.
Create Guidelines, make it easy for everyone!
You want your employees to advocate for your business on LinkedIn, but the last thing you need is Karen from Finance to post something dumb like “OMG I love my company, they r like so cool xoxo!”. Even though we love Karen and she always bakes the best holiday cookies, we wouldn’t want this type of content to cheapen the appearance of your brand.
LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE! SHARE! SHARE!
One of the easiest ways to raise visibility of your brand through your employees is to encourage them to like, comment, or share the posts that are being published on your business page. Why? It’s not rocket science, the more engagement you get on your posts, the more people will see it on their newsfeed. Think about it, 10 of your employees just liked your recent post, each of their profiles have 500 connections that are now seeing activity on your page. Get your posts fired up with engagement from your employees first, the rest will come naturally.
You did it! Your employees are now advocating for your company, and engaging with your posts. These processes are a for sure way to raise brand awareness and get a lot more eyeballs from all your employees connections onto your brand!
Always remember to give back to your employees though!
Highlight your employees on the business page!
You spend a lot of time promoting your business on the LinkedIn page, but just as your employees are helping to promote it, you should help promote them! When an employee gets a promotion, does a great job on a project, or has went that extra mile in any aspect of the business, POST ABOUT IT! People love to see an appreciation for your employees, and if they’re succeeding, it means you’re succeeding, LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT!
Always remember your employees are your most important assets, get them involved in your business, you need their help in your success!
Joey is a Graphic Design and Marketing Specialist with years of experience working in the Non-Profit sector developing graphics and marketing strategies for corporate events, including Long Island’s Largest Trade Show. Joey specializes in print and motion graphic design, branding, web design, and marketing.
