Internal marketing is a great way to encourage a positive working environment. Here are 5 strategies that you can use to help increase brand advocacy in your business.
1. Brand Education
Help your employees to understand the history and mission of your company. This is an important step to help them feel like they are a part of something bigger. When onboarding new staff, take the time to introduce them to your company history and culture. This can include short presentations (or if you’re remote, emails) on how the company has grown and involved. You can also use this opportunity to welcome new staff with freebies such as branded water bottles, pens or notebooks.
2. Employee Recognition Programs
Employee recognition programs helps with rewarding great performance. It also shows employees that their hard work is seen and (more importantly) appreciated. This can be done in the form of awards, monthly incentives or even a company-wide notice or email that explains the results achieved. (Bonus points if you can explain why the results matter to the company in the long-term). I worked for a company that had socially distanced awards during Covid. I never got an award but I still thought it was such a cool way to reward people.
3. Team Activities
Team activities are a fun way for employees to get to know each other out of the workplace. It especially helps build comfort so that employees feel free to share their ideas or ask questions. Some activities that you can try are a team breakfast or lunch, team building activities such as an escape room or a hike.
4. Encourage Employees to Get Involved:
Make it clear to your employees that you’re open to them posting on social media. This is a great way to turn employees into brand advocates. But be sure to provide them with a list of do’s and don’ts so that your brand is protected. Not getting social media content from your employees? Drive engagement by running an employee-only competition on social media.
5. Develop a Strong Company Culture:
You can’t drive a strong company brand without a strong company culture. Make sure your company culture aligns with your brand values. (i.e if your brand values people, you should be valuing your employees too- not just the customers that contribute to your bottom line). Identify what your brand values are and make sure your company culture matches those values.