Why Every Marketer Needs to Read This Guide

An employee influencer is an employee who creates and shares company-focused or company-related content on behalf of their organization.

If you’ve been reading marketing trend prediction lists over the past few years, you’ll have likely heard about changing attitudes towards traditional marketing tactics and buyers craving the humanization of brands with authentic content.

No doubt, you’ll have also seen one or two nods to the rise of user-generated content and even employee-generated content.

These things are at the heart of why employee influencers are so in demand right now! As a result, we couldn’t think of a better time to put together an all-encompassing guide.

Why Every Marketer Needs To Read This Guide 👇

Jump to:

• Brands Need Authentic Content at Scale
• Your Company Needs Employee-Generated Content
• You Want Your Content to Be Seen
• Key Takeaways Infographic

Earlier this week, we released The Ultimate Guide to Employee Influencers by DSMN8. The Ultimate Guide is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to employee influencers and employee advocacy.

It covers everything you need to know to turn your employees into content creators and brand advocates for your business.

The guide covers everything from the business case for employee advocacy to walking you through the pre-launch, launch, and post-launch process.

It’s complete with cheat sheets, infographics, and checklists 👌

But that’s not all.

The guide outlines first the state of marketing, changing attitudes towards traditional marketing tactics, and why these trends have seen the meteoric rise of employee influencers.

You have probably heard of employee advocacy and employee communications, which have both rapidly become vital parts of employee influence and corporate strategy.

However, organizations seldom consider how they can leverage employees’ power to positively impact:

• Their employer brand
• Sales opportunities
• Employee retention rates

So, what is all the fuss about, and why should you read The Ultimate Guide?

Here is a list of reasons why people are talking about employee influencer platforms and the trends fueling awareness.

If the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer told us one thing, it would be that trust in brands is diminishing, while authenticity is what Millennials and Gen Z value most in a brand.

This should come as no surprise, as it seems common knowledge that the public’s perception of traditional marketing/advertising tactics has changed for the worse.

In the wake of Facebook’s embarrassing data management and the exposure of Cambridge Analytica‘s wrongdoings, buyers have become more switched on and technologically savvy, and thus, nothing goes unnoticed.

Despite early calls to boycott social media and #deletefacebook, this does not mean that brands should be shying away from social media or trying to reinvent the wheel.

Rather, they should harness the voices of reputable ambassadors, such as their employees, to restore tarnished relationships with the public. As the public calls for authenticity and operational transparency, social media remains the perfect platform for brands to showcase their efforts.

Authenticity is so much more than being operationally transparent. Brands must provide a service to match, put people first, and hold themselves accountable for their shortcomings.

But if people don’t trust brands, why should their social media accounts be any more reputable? We’re glad you asked! It brings us nicely onto our next point…

The demand for Employee-Generated Content has come about as a result of brand successes using User-Generated Content.

User-Generated Content (UGC) is any form of brand-related content that has been created by anyone not associated with the brand itself. UGC can be blog posts, images, videos… really just about any form of content.

Though marketers predict its rise, UGC is certainly no new idea.

Cast your minds back to Coca-Cola’s now-infamous ‘Share a Coke‘ campaign, which saw roles reverse as customers became the brand’s biggest advocates and, subsequently, the advertisers.

But why is everyone talking about it now? Well, customers’ buying habits and changing attitudes to marketing may have something to do with it.

However, sourcing UGC can be time-consuming and challenging for many brands, especially businesses operating in a B2B environment.

Because of this, employee UGC is on the rise as brands attempt to source authentic content at scale.

Employee UGC can be created and sourced within an all-in-one employee influencer platform like DSMN8, which can be used to both source the content and incentivize the process.

Typically, employees will be willing to create, whether through a want for recognition or to build their own personal brand. If a positive company culture exists, your employees will be happy to create content.

When a brand onboards an influencer for advertising purposes, the influencer advocates for the brand and acts as an ambassador to their respective social media audiences.

Well, what if an employee was able to do that for you? Spoiler alert: they can!

Of course, what would be the point in sourcing this level/quantity of authentic and quality content if it wasn’t going to get the reach it deserved?

There’s no more disappointing feeling for a content creator than to see their efforts go unrecognized.

And when brands are putting in the time and budget to source said content, they’d be equally frustrated to watch it go unnoticed.

Doesn’t it make sense to give your content the reach it deserves?

Employee influencers can help here, too.

It’s one thing to get your employees to create for you, but a full-blown employee influencer advocates for your brand by sharing the content with their audience, too.

Pushing paid content can be a costly process and can quickly eat into your precious marketing budget.

LinkedIn, for example, has an average cost-per-click between $4-7.

The alternative? The average cost-per-click with DSMN8 ranges between $0.50 to $0.90.

An employee influencer program will allow you to tap into your organization’s most valuable asset—its employees—to harness greater reach and engagement on your content in a cost-effective way.

LinkedIn reported that when employees share, they make double the impact of corporate content!

A similar study from MSL Group found that branded content is shared 24x more frequently when it’s shared by employees, as opposed to corporate accounts.

If trust and authenticity are what the people want, let them see the content from the people whose opinions they value.

92% of individuals trust word-of-mouth recommendations, making it one of the most valuable forms of marketing.

So, now you know why you need to read The Ultimate Guide to Employee Influencers!

If you’re still not sold, check out the below infographic to hear our seven key takeaways.

Of course, we had to save some of the best content for the guide itself.

Download your copy of the Ultimate Guide To Employee Influencers

P.S. It’s free!