Sara Stokes — March 21, 2017 
So, you have a great company. You have amazing products and services, tons of experience in your industry, and awesome employees. You were smart enough to realize you need a presence on social media, so you set up a Facebook business page. Fantastic! But…after three weeks you only have eleven likes, three comments, and one share. Now what? Clearly, your best brand evangelists (other than happy clients) are your wonderful employees, so enlist their help to spread the word about your company.
Here are some ideas to get you started.
1. Create Excitement
Explain to employees why this benefits them individually as well as the brand as a whole. Effective posts on their own social media profiles can showcase them as an expert in their field, plus, they can enjoy greater connections to their coworkers and the overall company culture. For your company, current and relevant posts can improve some aspects of SEO, validate to current clients that they made the right choice, and get the attention of potential new clients. Employee buy-in is key!
2. Have a Plan
Know your strategy and guidelines before you pull the trigger on this cool, new idea. Ideally, you can partner with a company that’s skilled in employee engagement, so workers can share curated content on all or some of their social networks with just a few clicks. Next, create a #hashtag that’s distinctive but also easy to remember. In short, make it as quick and easy as possible for your employees to become advocates for your business.
3. Realize You Can’t Control Everything (But Still Put Some Guidelines in Place)
As our work and personal lives increasingly overlap online, there can be both positive and negative consequences. You can urge employees to make wise choices, and remind them that they are potentially a reflection of your business, but ultimately, you have to rely on their good judgment. One personal suggestion is a question I ask myself before every post: Would I want my mom or my CEO to see this? It’s a humorous way to get your people to think before hitting that post button.
Many companies create social media policies for their employees. If you think it’s necessary, you can draft a short document outlining what employees should consider when posting if they are representing your business online. For example, if they list that they’re an employee of your business in their Twitter bio, they’re acting as a company representative, and you probably don’t want them posting NSFW pictures or links to vulgar stories. Think about what’s best for your brand and talk to your employees about what they think is acceptable. You want them to feel comfortable representing your business online, and setting up some loose guidelines can help with that.
4. Make it Fun!
Use your imagination! Have contests for the number of posts shared, and post pictures of events that demonstrate your awesome company culture. Holiday parties and contests are perfect for this, so reward participation. Brag on the increased exposure that’s helping your company’s online presence. And for those that show interest in a larger role, encourage them to share or write articles on things they’re passionate about.
Employee engagement on social media can be a highly effective way to demonstrate why people should work with or for your company. Do it the right way, and the benefits will be substantial and long-lasting.
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