If you could be a fly on the wall for the water cooler chatter of your Millennial employees (or get a peek at their digital conversations), what do you think you’d learn? If you’re still sending emails requesting they share corporate content from legacy systems like intranets and internal networks but are getting little response, it’s likely something like this:
*Crickets*
*More crickets*
That’s right. They’re probably not doing it, let alone talking about it. Frustrating? Certainly. But there could be a reason. Millennials—and, frankly, most employees in this digital, mobile age—expect their corporate communications experiences to be similar to their experiences as a consumer when it comes to things like accessibility, ease of use, etc. If sharing content is not simple—or if it’s not clear what is allowed to be shared versus what needs to be kept in-house—it’s not going to be a top of mind activity for a workforce that’s always connected and easily distracted.
That’s the problem, so what’s the solution? The answer is employee advocacy, and it involves a lot more than just finding ways to get your employees to share the content you produce. It’s about the drive to increase brand understanding, the desire to teach them about the company mission, and the process of humanizing your brand internally—just to name a few.
Really, employee advocacy is a lot like onboarding a new hire—and it hinges on something data shows many corporations are struggling with: Engagement. Seventy-one percent of Millennials in particular, in fact, report that they’re not engaged in the workplace. We can do better than that.
A new eBook from PostBeyond (Evolving Enterprise Communications for Today’s Millennial Mindset) breaks down what employee advocacy is today, what it should be, and how to get your business from point A to point B. We’ve covered the high points and offered our insight over on The Marketing Scope, and we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Read: Want to Nail Internal Enterprise Communications? Start with Employee Advocacy
Photo Credit: trendnewsb Flickr via Compfight cc
Shelly Kramer is a 20+ year marketing veteran and CEO of V3 Broadsuite, a marketing consultancy, and the President of Broadsuite Media Group. She’s also a founding partner in Futurum, a research and analysis company, and a founding partner in XVA Labs, a company focused exclusively on helping brands navigate the process of digital transformation as it relates to corporate culture.
Shelly is a brand strategist focused on digital transformation, and delivering integrated marketing solutions for clients. She’s an expert at lead gen, omnichannel marketing, all things tech-related, content strategy and execution, connecting social media to business initiatives, and helping clients leverage the web for growth and profitability.
Research conducted by Onalytica throughout the course of this last year named Shelly as #42 on their list of Big Data: Top 100 Influencers and Brands for 2016, #38 on their list of Content Marketing: Top 100 Influencers and Brands for 2016, #38 on their list of Future of Work: Top 100 Influencers and Brands for 2016, and #66 on their IoT: Top 100 Influencers and Brands for 2016 list. This recognition indicates that when it comes to all things related to technology and how it powers business today, she brings a wealth of experience to the fore.
She was also recognized as one of MediaPost’s Top-100 Social Media Power Influencers, 2015 Edition, and has been recognized by Forbes on a number of occasions, most recently as one of the Top 40 Social Selling Marketing Experts and Top 50 Social Media Influencers.
Shelly is part marketer, part tech analyst, part futurist, and all geek, with a propensity for numbers, and producing results. You can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
