Archive for Brand advocates
New York Times Editor Says Let Employees Use Social Media
Posted by: | CommentsAdding to my argument in last week’s post 6 Steps to Empower Your Employees as Brand Ambassadors, David Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times, explains the importance of allowing your employees access to social media while at work.
He is interviewed in this Ragan.com video entitled “Half of U.S. businesses block social media. What’s the point?”
Small Companies Unleashing Their Employees on Social Networks
Posted by: | Comments
Altimeter's Jeremiah Owyang via CrunchBase
More employees of small companies are advocating for their companies on social networks than their much larger competitors.
That’s what the Altimeter Group found in its recent survey of 140 companies. By ratio, smaller companies in the 1-5k range had one 1 out of 195 employees publishing compared to 1 out of 356 in companies with 100k or more employees (see graph below).
More flexibility, less red tape
More flexibility, less red tape, and evolving cultures may be among the reasons.
As I wrote in a post 7 Steps to Making Your Employees Brand Ambassadors, the internet allows companies to empower their employees to promote the company and its products. Small companies can’t compete with the monster advertising and social media budgets of their biggest competitors. But small companies can enlist an army of their own employees to go viral with positive comments on social networks.
I’m glad to see this happening and as the company’s web strategist, Jeremiah Owyang, said in announcing the survey results, “Over time, expect all ratios to drop, as a prolific next generation rises into senior roles. We’ll be measuring this periodically, but for now, I would assert that more employees will be using the official accounts over time, as the younger generation learns their way around the business, climbs up the ladder, and is granted ability to publish.”
The director of operations for Gunwel Associates, a boutique tax and bookkeeping firm with only four employees, wrote a post earlier this year, describing how his firm is building customer loyalty and attracting new customers through the activity of its employees on social media. As Christopher Sheehan wrote, “If you’re not connected then you must get connected…becoming active in social media can and will grow your business as well as build client loyalty. We’ve seen it happen.”
So let your employees publish, you big companies out there. Small firms are nipping at your heels!
Altimeter research on employees on social networks
