How to Turn Your Employees into Your Best Social Media Advocates

No matter your industry, reaching out to consumers and prospective employees via social media is one of the best ways to boost your brand image.

When you’re recruiting candidates, a strong social media presence can help you attract top talent in your field. And when you’re conducting advertising campaigns, your social media presence can go a long way toward increased exposure for new products.

There’s no doubt that social media is one of the strongest tools in your corporate arsenal. But you have a valuable tool that can help make your social media presence even stronger – your current employees.

Below, we’ve put together a list of 5 ways to engage your employees and turn them into powerful social media advocates for your brand.

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Five simple ways to engage your employees on social media

 

According to recent research from the Pew Foundation, 74% of adults who have Internet access use social media.

In the working world, this means that the vast majority of employees are connected to family, friends and coworkers on sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

As an employer, this widespread adoption of social media may give you pause.

Perhaps you’re concerned that employees spend too much time on social media when they should be working. Maybe you worry that disgruntled employees could complain about your company on social media. And while there certainly are downsides to the increasing popularity of social networking, it’s much more productive to focus on the positives.

Consider these five easy ways to encourage positive engagement between your employees and your company on social media:

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1. Craft policy that empowers employees instead of restricting them

 

Create a strong social media policy to ensure that employees don’t overstep boundaries when posting about your company on their personal profiles.

However, carefully word your policy so that it encourages positive behavior rather than discourages negative behavior.

Encourage employees to share photos of the workplace, posts about their day, and stories about special events like picnics and parties.

Focus more on the “do’s” than the “don’ts” (but do make sure your employees understand basic rules of professionalism).

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2. Create social media profiles especially for employees

 

Instead of running a one-size-fits all social media profile targeted at both the public and your employees, create profiles dedicated for employee use.

Encourage them to use the space to discuss ongoing company projects, start conversations, and share news between departments.

Of course, remind your employees that they’re welcome to post to your public profiles too.

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3. Ask employees to share their stories as part of recruiting campaigns

 

If it’s time to hire for open positions, don’t rely on dry, text-based job ads alone. Instead, involve current employees on social media.

Ask if they’re willing to do short, on-camera interviews about their experiences with your company.

Encourage them to share social media posts about their favorite parts of the organization. Remind employees that doing so is a great way to communicate your company’s culture, so that you can attract new employees and continue to grow in the right direction.

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4. Create a “think file”

 

Don’t love the idea of employees posting about your company on their personal profiles?

Consider asking them to contribute ideas to a central “think file” instead. You can host your file on Google Drive, Dropbox, or a similar cloud storage site.

When employees come up with a clever post or run across a story they want to share, they can simply upload it to the file.

Then, a social media manager or other dedicated employee can sort through the ideas and share the most promising on your social platforms.

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5. Share the love with your employees

 

Keeping your employees engaged in social media means more than just encouraging them to post.

It also means sharing your successes.

Update your employees about key social media statistics at monthly or quarterly meetings, and don’t forget to thank them for their contributions to your company’s online success.

And remember that social engagement goes both ways – share posts about your employees’ successes on your organization’s social platforms, too.

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