There’s nothing better than a quick and easy marketing strategy that boosts your business’s visibility. But are you using all of the PR strategies that are available to your business?
Small marketing initiatives can be just as effective as large-scale press conferences and advertising if handled effectively, and often far more affordable to small businesses.
Use the assets that you already have. A simple marketing strategy that your business can employ is, upon hiring new staff, encouraging them to promote the business on their personal social media. Turn your employees into your brand advocates.
Their self-promotion of the brand will foster a better image of your business to their friends and audience, and give your products a spotlight in an alternate arena.
Gifting them branded accessories as a “congratulations” for starting their new job may lead to them linking back to your business – promoting a positive internal culture, a company value of appreciating your employees, and a spot of free advertising on top of it. You can also elect to gift your employees small products throughout the year (as a thank you, or congratulations for example) that they may have mentioned in passing.
Use your employee’s social media to your advantage. Create shareable moments that your employee would promote, such as company events, sports teams and other activities. These can be shared via social media or word of mouth and can feel far more authentic and personal than company-driven promotion.
You can also acknowledge your employee’s contributions and achievements on the business’s social media. This personalises the account, and grants faces to the brand. You can also choose to make these acknowledgements face to face, over internal channels (such as company newsletters) or on the public social media account of your company (such as LinkedIn or Facebook). This will enable the employee to share their success with others outside of work, including friends and family. It is also a great way to build brand reputation externally, and through networks outside of your own.
These PR strategies involve your employees, which is a resource you really should utilise more in your marketing. If you’ve built a strong internal culture for your business, your employees are more likely to take pride in their work and show off their achievements themselves.
Take the time to consider how you can strengthen your employee’s sense of belonging within your business culture – the benefits will speak for themselves.
