More and more companies are relying on corporate influencers – but what are they actually? The definition as well as best practice tips and examples for corporate influencing can be found here.
More and more companies are relying on corporate influencers – but what are they actually? The definition as well as best practice tips and examples for corporate influencing can be found here.
When you hear the word "influencer", you think of stars on Instagram, YouTube, etc. who have a large reach. But companies generally don't need these well-known faces to advertise themselves. Much better brand ambassadors can often be found within their own ranks - namely among employees. We shed light on the phenomenon of corporate influencers and explain the advantages of this modern communication strategy.
Read also: Social Media Recruiting: How to attract new talent with social media!
Influencer marketing is trending: A person with a lot of followers on social media advertises a product or company and reaches a correspondingly large number of people. The stars of the scene often demand a high budget for collaborations. But instead of spending a lot of money on well-known influencers, companies are increasingly looking internally and simply turning their employees into their own influencers - so-called corporate influencers.
They publicly share their opinion about their work and recommend their employer in this way. But isn't practically every employee a corporate influencer? After all, almost all employees, whether consciously or unconsciously, talk to their contacts on social media about their job and thus help shape the company's image.
The difference, however, is that corporate influencers use this influence in a targeted manner - they sometimes receive instructions and support programs that teach them how to effectively give the company a face on their channels. They are therefore a supplement or part of a company's PR work and communications strategy.
In principle, any employee can become this type of company ambassador – the clever secretary, the old hand in marketing or the cool trainee.
The prerequisite for this is, of course, that they can communicate the company's values and messages to the outside world in an authentic and personable way. The intrinsic motivation to create personal content with a corporate reference - whether as text, video or in another format - should of course be present.
It is also advantageous if the employees have a large media reach. On the other hand, it can also be enough (initially) if they have a few target group-specific followers who are receptive to the messages. The reach can then be expanded over time and, if necessary, with the help of the company.
Numerous companies are already relying on corporate influencers. One of the best-known examples is the online retailer Otto, which trains its ambassadors with its own corporate influencer program. This includes various modules with focuses such as "Social Media Insider," which focuses on work-related content on social media, or "Networker," where the focus is on effective exchange with others at job fairs and events.
The Swedish furniture giant IKEA uses corporate influencers and is particularly active on YouTube. While the company once cooperated with influencers such as "AlexiBexi" or "Klein aber Hannah", its own employees are now increasingly playing the main role in various video formats. Although they usually do not have their own accounts, they regularly post on company profiles. One well-known example is the series "IKEA Tips & Tricks", in which employees give furnishing tips.
Other companies with corporate influencer programs include Microsoft, Telecom, Daimler and Datev.
To implement the Corporate Influencer project in your company, the following steps and best practices can provide good guidance.
What should your influencers actually talk about? What message should be conveyed? All of this needs to be determined in advance. Before a corporate influencer can get started, he or she must know the culture, goals, values and special features of the company in detail. From this, the message to be conveyed can be derived and the desired positioning can be developed.
Especially at the beginning, corporate influencers will certainly need a lot of support from the company. What can be written about, who can be tagged, what particularly appeals to the target group and which formats can be used? At the beginning there will be many questions for which a fixed contact person is needed. In a corporate influencer program, employees can be optimally prepared for their role and learn the necessary know-how.
Ideally, company influencers are given a list of rules with do's and don'ts as well as best practice examples. Corporate communication standards and marketing or PR strategies should also be included so that ambassadors can adhere to them. This ensures a consistent brand image. Internal communication should also be clearly regulated in the guidelines - for example, if leads arise from influencer activities, there needs to be a functioning collaboration between the ambassador and the departments responsible for lead management.
Corporate influencers can be supported by providing them with topic ideas, tools, templates and pre-made content that may only need minimal adjustment. You should also consider how colleagues can support the new "celebrities" - for example by proofreading texts or providing images. With all this support, many mistakes can be avoided (especially in the initial phase) and high quality can be ensured, and it also speeds up the creation and sharing of content. Finally, it should not be forgotten that in addition to their influencer activities, the ambassadors are also "normal" employees who have to pursue their main job and therefore only have a limited amount of time. The time spent on their ambassador activities is usually charged as regular working hours.
If the employee has made a name for themselves with their ambassador role on social media, corporate channels such as blogs, etc., and at trade fairs, they can also be used specifically in recruiting processes. For example, they can act as a speaker on the company culture at an open day, offer a guided tour of the premises, or give candidates authentic insights into everyday working life on site during a job interview. As an influencer, the employee knows perfectly how to represent the company and convince candidates.
Employees as company ambassadors are of course fundamentally different from well-known star influencers. In contrast to the "big names" in the scene, they usually convey significantly more authenticity and closeness, because they "promote" their company out of conviction, not because they are entering into a cooperation for payment.
Further reasons why using corporate influencers is worthwhile:
In short – an employee as an influencer can Employer
Branding operate at a credible level and have a positive influence on the corporate culture both internally and externally.
Even though, as described above, every employee can in principle be considered as an influencer, there are a few things to consider when making your selection.
One factor is the Employee motivationIf there is a colleague who publishes articles about their employer on their own initiative, you can start here and develop a joint strategy for expanding this content and its direction. Developing such a motivated employee with a certain wealth of experience can make more sense than training a complete newcomer in this field to be a corporate influencer.
Another point is the composition the corporate influencer, if you rely on several. It is best to experiment with different age groups, jobs and experience levels. After all, a trainee will reach different people with his content than the marketing manager.
Experimentation is also possible in terms of ChannelsIf employee A is successful on YouTube, employee B on Instagram and employee C has a successful blog, it is important to consider which of these channels make sense with regard to the company's target group. Of course, you can also pursue a multi-channel strategy and be present on various channels at the same time.
Also to consider: Use existing reachIf there are employees who are very active on social media and already have a large number of followers, it may be advisable to focus on them. With their strong online presence, the posts are most likely to have an impact.
Corporate influencers are an effective alternative to traditional marketing measures and manage to convey corporate messages in a credible way. They enable human-to-human exchange and, as representatives, make a company "approachable". Many users are also more willing to follow a person who gives a company a face on social media and the like, rather than a company account managed by an anonymous employee.
The opportunity to create brand ambassadors from within your own ranks should not be missed. However, support through special corporate influencer programs is key to success.
(Cover image source: Chaay_Tee – Shutterstock.com)
