WHAT’S INSIDE

03 Why Employee Activation is The Future of Marketing

04 The Brand vs. Employees Who Represent Your Brand
05 Activated Employees Talk
06 Your Employees Are Micro Influencers
07 Employee Activation Translates Directly Into Customer Loyalty
08 What Is Employee Activation?
10 Employee Activation vs. Employee Advocacy
10 Employee Activation Fosters Trust
11 Activated Employees Drive A Business’s Marketing
12 Employee Activation Starts With Improving Communication Channels
13 How To Activate Your Employees
14 Identify Your Activators
15 Foster Internal Social Engagement
16 Encourage Your Employees To Be Content Creators
17 Give Your Employees Platforms
18 Create Content Employees Want To Share
18 Gamification For Keeping Activation Going
19 Keep Improving With Feedback
20 The Right Messaging To Gain Buy-in For Your Employee Activation Program
21 Good Management Matters To Employees More Than Most Think
22 Your Customers (And Future Hires) Listen To Your Employees More Than
You Think
23 Technology Makes Employee Activation Easier Than You Think
24 Activation Has More Potential For Them Than Most Employees Realize
24 Getting Past The Assumptions
25 Why Marketing Should Own Culture And Employee Management
27 Why Is Culture So Important Right Now?
28 The Shared Goals Of An Engaged Culture And Management
29 Why Marketing Leaders Are Primed For The Culture Shift
30 When To Start Activating Your Employees For Marketing Success
31 How Employees Can Boost Your Marketing ROI
33 Is Your Company Ready For Employee Activation?
35 Give Your Employees A Reason To Be Part Of Your Marketing
35 Start Activating Your Employees Today
 WHY EMPLOYEE ACTIVATION IS
THE FUTURE OF MARKETING

What if your organization was staffed by a while beliefs, perspectives and insights to
team of experts – employees who are skilled, share. But, it’s your job to activate them in
driven, and have a lot to offer, not only to order to harness this potential.
your customers but also to society?
Through employee activation, you’ll find
Imagine what a powerhouse your company yourself as the coach of the dream team of
would become. We’re not just talking con- your industry. You’ll be leading people who
sumer trust here. This is about respect and your buyers turn to for advice, tips, and to
your audience fostering a deep confidence learn how things are done. For B2B brands in
in what your company can do for them – particular, where confidence in your brand
because your employees are recognized supersedes details like pricing strategy and
as thought leaders and individuals who are ad campaign by a long shot, activated em-
passionate about what they do. ployees will motivate your buyers and forge
customer loyalty like nothing else can.
Here’s the thing. You are sitting on this gold-
en egg right now. Your employees are skilled
experts with their own unique and worth-

3
The Brand vs. Employees Who Represent Your Brand

The reality is, ‘your brand’ is an entity without while you are running with your industry’s
a face. It’s a thing. It has no family. It’s never dream team.
struggled. It hasn’t accomplished anything.
So, how much, really, can you expect con- Employee activation involves relinquish-
sumers to trust it? ing control and empowering employees to
share their expertise. It’s giving them a plat-
But, when your employees are themselves form, supporting and encouraging them to
the face of your brand, you’re giving your express themselves and share their own per-
audience someone to believe in. sonal brand, which, in turn, comes back as
That’s powerful stuff. a positive reflection of the ‘mother brand.’
That’s not just a marketing technique. It’s a
Still emerging from (and for many, still living shift in organizational culture. But, it’s one
in) the traditional corporate structure and that will stretch the reach of your marketing
the traditional marketing methods, in which to a whole new level, helping to engage, in-
a structured, controlled, carefully crafted spire, and retain customers.
brand identity is used to market to custom-
ers, a lot of companies aren’t tapping into Here’s why you may want to start launching
their employees’ voices for marketing, stick- your employee activation initiative, or im-
ing with the brand voice only. prove what you already have, today.

And let’s be honest. Change takes time. So,

let those other companies slowly wake up

4
Activated Employees Talk

One of the biggest reasons employee ac- taking place person-to-person. Engaging
tivation is so effective is that it is another customers in conversation that makes them
channel for person-to-person communica- feel valued and appreciated can go a long
tion. You already know how useful word of way to encouraging them to tell others…
mouth marketing (WOMM) is – 64 percent Retailers need to put a word of mouth mar-
of marketing executives view WOMM as keting system in place that is heavy on the
the most effective marketing method and analog side of the equation that will amplify
it’s believed to drive $6 trillion in consumer social media efforts.”
spending annually.
When your employees are invested in the
But, WOMM is only as powerful as the voice company they work for, not just to earn a
the word is coming from. Where a lot of mar- salary, but because they are viewed as a
keters go wrong is they believe social me- valued part of the brand, they are more like-
dia marketing is WOMM. But, the reality is, ly going to have those engaging conversa-
as much as two-thirds of word of mouth that tions with customers.
makes an impact happens offline.
Think of it this way. What they say about the
Market researcher and author of Shops that company they are a part of, is also what
POP, Pamela Danziger explains: they are expressing about themselves, their
career, and what they believe in for their fu-
“While digital WOMM is important, the most ture.
effective and powerful WOMM is analog

5
Your Employees Are Micro Influencers

Like word of mouth marketing, using micro • Software company – encourage your

influencers – niche experts within your indus- internal experts to share their knowledge

try who have a social media following – is a through online tutorials. Hold Q&A sessions

powerful tool for building trust with your tar- where your audience can ask questions –

get buyers. A study by Expertcity found that even better, use Facebook live streaming

82 percent of consumers are highly likely to or a live chat platform to up the appeal of

follow a recommendation from a micro in- your marketing event.

fluencer. • Even B2C brands can harness their

internal micro influencers – think beauty

Your creatives, data analysts, strategists, tutorials, golfing instructional videos,

and other experts on your team are the healthy eating eBooks, style guides – all

skilled, passionate, knowledgeable influenc- created by your internal experts. This is how

ers people want to learn from. You have to you can get premium content to generate

look at who your audience is looking for, but leads, and at the same time, build

there are people within your organization relationships between your customers and

who can expand the reach of your mar- your experts/employees.

keting simply through sharing news, insights,

and their own thoughts on personal or busi- When you tap into your employees for mi-

ness social media profiles, as well as other cro influencer campaigns, you also tap into

channels. their social networks. But, more importantly,

in the long-term you are effectively helping

Here are some examples: to grow their individual online presence, giv-

• Financial services – what financial advice ing them even more influence with your au-

are your finance experts sharing by writing dience.

featured blog posts on your company

website?

6
Employee Activation
Translates Directly Into Customer Loyalty

If customer loyalty isn’t on your marketing gaged employees outperform those with-
priority short list, it should be. New customers out by as much as 202 percent.
are expensive to convert while your existing
customers are likely to bring in more reve- Pay attention to your employees. Ask, mea-
nue. You may have heard the stat – or ex- sure, and track employee sentiments so you
perienced the difference in your marketing can see where you can improve and what
ROI firsthand when you focus on loyalty and you can do to empower them.
retention – it costs 5 to 7 times more to ac-
quire a new customer than it does to moti- Communicate with them – how can you
vate action from a current customer. support them to create a platform to share
their expertise? What ideas do they have?
And what’s the number one way to encour- When they are engaged, inspired, and mo-
age customer loyalty? Like I said almost a tivated, the impact of their positivity and ex-
decade ago – it’s cultivating satisfied and pertise is mind-blowing.
engaged customers. Companies with en-

7
WHAT IS
EMPLOYEE ACTIVATION?
Want to run a more effective organization? But, we’re not done evolving. Right now, vi-
Employee activation is the key to driving your sionary companies are seeing that the next
business into the future with the resilience re- stage is not forging a more intensive relation-
quired to move further into the post-digital ship with customers with all our sophisticated
era. digital tools. It’s time to look internally.

When your employees are activated, they Where the focus has been on empowering
are engaged, more productive, and will customers, now we’re seeing the benefit of
help to establish your business as a trust- empowering employees too. It’s a more dy-
worthy, authentic brand with whom your namic level of the engineered serendipity
target buyers can get excited about doing I talked about a few years ago where you
business. win, I win, the customer, employee, man-
ager, marketer, brand – everyone wins be-
Let’s face it. Things are moving fast in work- cause we’re elevating the connections with
place culture. Businesses who have put in more technology and more information.
the foundational work for a successful digi- The next stage after digital transformation
tal transformation are able to offer a better and customer centricity is employee acti-
customer experience and live up to the high vation. Managers and leaders, at both the
bar set by the customer-centric marketing executive and department level, need to
model. create a more meaningful work experience
for employees.
Better communication. Inspired advocacy.
Alignment and shared vision. The results of
engaged, activated employees are mind-
blowing.

• A boost in customer retention rates by as

much as 18 percent.
• A 20 to 25 percent jump in productivity.
• The Workplace Research Foundation
found that increasing employee
engagement investments by 10 percent
can increase profits by $2,400 per
employee, every year.

But, just like accepting the hard work and

multifaceted change that is necessary for
digital transformation, this next business evo-
lution doesn’t happen overnight.

Especially when we are currently working

with some dismal statistics. The number of
enthusiastic employees has been edging
up slightly over the past few years but it’s still
low.

Imagine how potent your marketing would

be with 99 percent committed and con-
nected employees, not 33 percent?

But, to get anywhere close to the ultimate

engagement goal, you need to understand
what employee activation is.

Where a lot of marketing leaders and man-

agers get off track is they mistake employee
advocacy with employee activation.
Employee Activation vs. Employee Advocacy

True activation goes far beyond the basic, I believe employee activation is the process
two-dimensional concept of holding out a of encouraging your employees to create
carrot to get your employees to become and share their passions and expertise. This
brand advocates. You want to activate your shows your employees they are valued, giv-
employees so they become advocates. But, ing them more confidence to express their
the end goal is much broader than asking own personal ingenuity at work, which in
your employees to share press releases and turn, reflects on the level of customer ser-
brand content on their social media pages. vice, sales and marketing, and even the
quality of the products or services offered
The intent is to not just incentivize but to em- by your company. Ultimately, the intention
power. Change the intention, and you alter to empower your employees to greater suc-
the direction in which your business is mov- cess puts your organization on the course to
ing. greater, and more sustainable, success.

Employee Activation Fosters Trust

Activation is a trust builder all around. for work satisfaction. And, listen to the re-
search or just common sense and life expe-
Guess what? When you trust your employ- rience – employees who aren’t satisfied at
ees by empowering them with the right plat- work can’t do their best at work.
forms, tools, and encouragement, they’re
more likely to trust you. This is more important But, here’s where employee activation be-
than simply improving work relationships. comes really monumental if you get it right.
Your buyers trust your employees, possibly
According to a recent study, for 93 percent more than upper management, the PR de-
of employees, trust in a direct boss is critical partment, or general brand messaging.

10
Activated Employees Drive A Business’s Marketing

Inspire your employees to become a part of media accounts supported by your

your brand messaging, and your marketing brand or web pages for your employees
takes on a whole new level of importance to share content and ideas and to
and reach. How you activate your employ- showcase their own work and expertise
ees will depend on what works for your orga- • Offer more opportunities for employees
nization and what specific goals you want to take on temporary or rotating
to achieve, but here are a few strategies leadership roles
you can use: • Feature their stories, projects, and
accomplishments on brand channels
• Invest in your employees’ growth with
skills training Trust that the efforts you put into your em-
• Develop an internal mentorship ployees – from the intention of empowering
program their passions – will pay off, and you’ll get
• Hold regular one-on-one’s to give back way more than you put in. They’ll have
employees a chance to directly tell you everything they need to advocate for your
what they need in order to do a better brand, as well as a reason to do so because
job (hint: this is 1000 times more they know they are working for an employer
effective than employee surveys) who believes in them.
• Set up and encourage individual social

11
Employee Activation Starts With
Improving Communication Channels
So, you can get up on the soapbox and tell your employees you want them to shine. You
can send out an internal newsletter or a weekly email.

Or, you can upgrade your internal commu- Look at this statistic – a study by Siegal+Gale
nication channels and empower your inter- found that a third of employees find their
nal communicators in order to more effec- workplace complex and difficult to navi-
tively activate your employees. gate because of a lack of transparent com-
munication.
Communication is likely going to be a road-
block in getting your employee activation Tackle communication first and then devel-
initiative off the ground unless you tackle this op a strategy to activate your employees.
problem early on. Just like all the work you’ve been doing to
engage your buyers – exploring new com-
• How do your employees like to munication channels and then refining your
communicate? delivery as you learn more about your cus-
• What channels do they respond to? tomers, finding more effective ways to moti-
• What works and where are the failures vate your target audience, and developing
in collaborative platforms that you are more sophisticated content marketing strat-
using right now? egies to empower your customers – it’s time
• What communication tools are avail to do it with the people who are the driving
able today thanks to technology that force behind your brand.
your organization hasn’t yet adopted,
but should?
12
 HOW TO
ACTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES

Looking for a way to bring your brand au- In order to, not only gain back consumer
thority to the next level? Consumers don’t trust but also to keep it, brands need to re-
just have higher expectations today, grav- veal the man behind the curtain and stop
itating towards quality content, better ex- hiding every company’s greatest asset –
periences, and meaningful brands. It’s also employees.
harder to gain their trust.
Which is why employee activation is critical
Over 40 percent of American consumers to energizing your marketing right now, let
trust brands less than they did 20 years ago. alone reaping the productivity rewards of
And, nearly half want to see a stronger iden- an engaged culture. Studies show that con-
tity in the brands they engage with. sumers are more likely to buy from brands
they feel are authentic, and are less likely to
be swayed by ads.

13
Activated employees are the key to estab- A company recognized for its skilled, enthu-
lishing your brand as a trustworthy company siastic experts, on top of quality products or
in this evolved consumer-brand-employee services, dedicated customer service, and
relationship matrix. When they are engaged a strong brand identity – now that’s a force
and empowered, they become something to be reckoned with.
more profound than brand advocates.
But, activating your employees to be more
They are the passionate people who your than passive participants is going to require
target audience can look to as industry more than an incentive program. You have
thought leaders. to create that spark in your employees and
then commit to keeping it alive.

Identify Your Activators

In order to empower your team, you need someone to manage employee activation. Who
are your communicators? Who are your most engaged employees right now? Is someone
already in a leadership role a good fit?

Determine who your internal activators are. These are the people who can communicate
with other employees to make sure everyone is on board with your company’s initiatives,
to elicit feedback, launch conversations, and answer questions or offer help to other em-
ployees.

14
Foster Internal Social Engagement
Whether you use a social media platform such as LinkedIn or Facebook Groups, or a spe-
cialized app like Smarp or Simpplr, the goal is the same – create and cultivate an internal
community.

Employees at socially engaged companies are 20 percent more likely to feel inspired and
27 percent more likely to feel optimistic about the future of their company.

These are the sentiments you want your employees to have. Ultimately, you want a culture
that makes them want to be involved and an active part of marketing and business growth.

15
Encourage Your
Employees To Be Content Creators

There are two ways you can do this. ence, making your brand more
relatable. At the same time, it will build
• Bring your internal experts into your up their clout as thought leaders, which
content marketing strategy, inviting your benefits them professionally and will
employees to create blog articles, reflect positively on your company.
video, podcasts, social media posts or
other content. This is effective if you • Your activated employees can also be
have skilled experts on your team who your content creators for your internal
are interested in building their own content. The rest of your staff will be
personal brand. Let them share their more interested in, and more likely to
insights and experience with your audi trust, content created by their peers.

16
Give Your Employees Platforms
Your employees are more likely to share content as representatives of your brand when you
make it easy for them. So, give them a platform. A lot of companies are doing this already,
creating employee pages on the company website or through social media.

Take Hootsuite’s #HootsuiteLife, for example, a hashtag created to feature the company’s
employees, or Zappo’s dedicated Twitter page for employee sharing, #eyezapp.

When employees have a place to share their own content, whether it’s sharing what goes
on at work behind-the-scenes, issues that are important to them, or their own expertise,
you’re giving them the opportunity to be a part of the brand voice and the industry con-
versation.

17
Create Content Employees Want To Share

According to a report by the Marketing Ad- • The useful, educational content with
visory Network, brand messages shared by infographics, videos, and blog posts –
employees have 561 percent more reach the better the quality, the more likely
than messages shared solely on the brand’s they’ll be interested in sharing it with
social channels. their friends and followers.
• Content that is aligned with your
To encourage more employee sharing, employees’ values – when your brand
you’ve got to have content they want to content speaks to their interests and
post on their social channels. Offer a mix passions, they’re more likely to be
of different types of content and you’ll see active in sharing that content
more employee advocacy. • Human stories, from what’s going on
in-house to employee triumphs outside
• Content created by other employees or of work – people like to interact with
directly by them as an in-house content that puts a human face on a
collaborative effort. company.

Gamification For Keeping Activation Going

Gamification is great for keeping employ- der to keep employees involved over time,
ees engaged. It’s one thing to activate your you can inject a sense of newness into your
employees but keeping them interested initiatives by using a variety of techniques.
and inspired is a whole art form in itself. By
using gamification, you can offer real-time Rewards for the most activity on social me-
rewards and feedback. This is important as dia. Leaderboards or badges to recognize
employees don’t want to feel like they are effort. You can also use straightforward mon-
making an effort for the good of the whole etary rewards like a free lunch, coupons, or
without any recognition. even cash.

Gamification doesn’t need to play a major The trick with gamification is not overdoing it.
role in employee activation – in fact, you However, your employees are boosting your
don’t want to go overboard and make em- brand, even with the simple act of sharing a
ployee advocacy a competition. But, in or- blog post. They deserve a reward!

18
Keep Improving With Feedback

Once you get employee activation going tent? Are they inspired and want to get
within your organization, you want to take more involved, creating webinars, setting
a proactive approach to making it better. up demos at industry events, or developing
Even if you see results at the beginning, your a blog or video series? How can you give
team isn’t going to magically stay activat- them a better platform for sharing their ex-
ed. pertise? What ideas do they have?

Keep the conversations going to find out The best way to keep your employees ac-
what you can do to better empower your tivated and engaged is to engage them in
employees – do they want a knowledge their own activation.
base to help them share and create con-

19
THE RIGHT MESSAGING TO GAIN BUY-IN FOR
YOUR EMPLOYEE ACTIVATION PROGRAM

Companies with engaged employees out- than a one-off initiative. It’s a different way
perform those without by up to 202 percent. of approaching the relationship between
This stat alone should be enough to gain employees and managers, and employees
buy-in for an employee activation program. and the brand they work for.

Even though you and I know your engaged, You’ll also need employee buy-in. Your
activated employees are worth their weight company’s staff need to know how em-
in gold, your organization’s budget decision ployee activation benefits them. The thing
makers and managers may need some con- is, employee activation is a win-win for ev-
vincing. After all, we are talking about one eryone. Not just because they get a career
of the largest shifts to organizational culture boost by working for a successful company,
in the 21st century. And, the next evolution but also because becoming a part of the
in modern marketing. conversation is a way to build their own per-
sonal brand and to develop themselves as
You’ll need the support of upper manage- industry thought leaders.
ment for your activation program. Not only
to make sure resources are available but In order to get the buy-in necessary for sus-
also to ensure everyone is on the same tainable employee activation, here are the
page. Employee activation involves more key messages you’ll want to demonstrate.

20
Good Management Matters
To Employees More Than Most Think

What’s one of the most effective drivers of When there is a sense of trust and respect,
engagement and a cornerstone for any employees are more likely to stay motivated
employee activation program? and to give it their all on the job. This boosts
Sound employee-manager relationships. productivity, but it also can translate into
A survey of over 2,000 workers in the US business growth.
found that:
Highly engaged employees are more likely
• 93 percent of employees say trust in to act as brand advocates. With a sense of
their boss is a must for job satisfaction – trust and support at work, you’re going to
and most say without job satisfaction, see more of your experts sharing branded
it’s pretty hard to put in a lot of effort at content, getting involved, and becoming a
work part of the conversation by creating thought
• 80 percent say they feel they don’t leadership content for the brand.
even need their boss
• On the other hand, with a good boss, This won’t just give a little juice to your brand’s
over half say they would do without a marketing impact. Activating your internal
10 percent pay raise to stay with a experts has the power to transform it.
manager they like
Your Customers (And Future Hires)
Listen To Your Employees More Than You Think

Having happy, engaged employees does Your employees’ social posts can:
lead to happy, engaged customers. Cus-
tomers are more responsive to content • Generate 8 times more engagement
shared and created by your employees • Increase brand awareness by 14 times
than the brand itself or by the CEO. Employ- where it would be with brand-only
ee shared content is a version of word-of- content
mouth marketing – and 84 percent of con-
sumers trust people they know, while only 15 Employee activation is also a powerful tool
percent trust brands. for attracting top talent. Just look at the hy-
per-successful brands, like Apple, which fea-
Considering the fact that employees, on tures employee quotes and stories on their
average, have 10 times more social media job website, and Zendesk, which shares vid-
connections than the company they work eos of current employees to announce the
for, simply getting your engaged employees positions they’re hiring for. What happens
to share brand content can blow the top when employees become a part of the re-
off of your usual social media engagement cruitment process is they invite talent into a
numbers. Metrics aside, you’ll reach more community. It’s human, approachable, and
potential customers, with each message really powerful.
driving more impact because of the great-
er trust consumers are going to have in the
content shared by employees.
Technology Makes
Employee Activation Easier Than You Think

Years ago, marketers believed the height- nication, to make it convenient for employ-
ened personalization and worthwhile cus- ees to share content, and custom-created
tomer experience we can deliver today tools have made activation doable – even
was impossible. But technology changed at the enterprise level.
that. Marketing automation platforms and
other AI-driven tools have made it possible Take BMW for example. In order to empower
to learn more about what customers want their sales workforce with better knowledge
and to create a seamless experience across about the brand’s vehicles and to connect
touchpoints. a workforce 125,000 strong, they created
the BMW Insiders Platform. It led to a 300 per-
Technology has evolved what we can do cent increase in branded content shared
today with employee activation in the same by employees, helping to boost BMW sales
way. Platforms to improve internal commu- numbers to reach $1.2 billion in revenue.

“When our employees are engaged and clearly understand our

business, it gives them the feeling that they’re part of something
valuable.”
- Andrew Cutler, BMW’s Executive and Internal Communications Manager

23
Activation Has More Potential
For Them Than Most Employees Realize

But employee activation isn’t just about who use social media outsell their peers
making employees feel like they are part of • Having a platform to share their
the brand. It’s about helping them develop expertise is a great way for them to
professionally, and allowing their skills, pas- become thought leaders and giving
sion, and expertise to shine out. At the root their personal careers a competitive
of employee activation is the understanding edge
that what is good for the individual is good
for the whole. Don’t forget to incentivize your employee
advocates. They are stepping up to support
And the whole, as it thrives, is good for the your brand’s image and marketing efforts.
individuals who are a part of it. To get buy- Anything from a financial bonus when goals
in from employees, let your staff know this are met to recognition can encourage your
isn’t just another initiative for the good of the employees to get excited about becoming
company. It is an opportunity for them. a part of the brand – and industry – conver-
sation.
• Employee activation benefits
salespeople – 78 percent of salespeople

Getting Past The Assumptions

A vibrant employee activation program benefits employees, the business itself, and cus-
tomers. But, ultimately, taking action and demonstrating results will convince even your or-
ganization’s greatest skeptics. Start small to get employee activation going in your compa-
ny if you need to, keep getting the right messaging across, and help bring your organization
into the future as a successful brand.

24
 WHY MARKETING SHOULD OWN
CULTURE AND EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

No department understands the idea of Blame it on a half-baked approach – Ce-

change like marketing does. Forced to sare Mainards of Northwestern University’s
adopt new technology, upskill like crazy, Kellogg School of Management and Paul
reshuffle positions and create new roles to Leinwand of PwC explain that executive
manage content marketing, social media management focuses on reacting to prob-
marketing, and marketing analytics, mar- lems rather than creating change. “In these
keting has already gone through the ring of reactive responses, the company leaders
fire. I challenge you to find a single CMO or avoid the difficult work of developing a bet-
marketing manager who doesn’t recognize ter strategy and making the fundamental
the dire need for culture change and en- changes that are needed to build real com-
gagement. petitive advantage.”

We get it. What a lot of marketing profes- Or, blame it on millennials. Culture change
sionals don’t understand, however, is why has become linked with making a few
C-suite doesn’t. changes to attract millennials – more flex

25
ible work hours, unlimited vacation time, Whatever you want to blame it on, the fact
gym perks. Which has totally watered down remains, two out of three change manage-
what culture change actually is. Letting ment initiatives fail.
people come to work in jeans and a t-shirt
and showing up at 9 is a pretty narrow-mind- Which isn’t just a hiccup in business. It’s seri-
ed view of culture change and employee ous wasted resources, wasted time, and the
activation. type of frustration that has led to what Hub-
spot’s Katie Burke calls a “can’t do attitude”
C-suite is thinking too short-term or too small. when it comes to culture.
Which is where marketing comes in. We
think big for a living. Culture change isn’t This is exactly why culture should be in the
bean bags. It’s overhauling internal com- hands of someone who understands its signif-
munications, creating mentorship programs, icance. Marketing professionals understand
offering better training for new technology, the urgency, importance, and the complex-
launching platforms for employee advoca- ity of what’s involved. They also have the
cy, giving employees a voice in the brand most to gain – the benefits of an activated
conversation. It’s empowerment and sup- workforce support the goals of marketing
port. It’s bringing the best out of each em- seamlessly. And, getting people energized
ployee, which in turn, brings the best out of and motivated about the brand – ahem –
the brand. that’s what marketers do. Translating the
practice from motivating and empowering
customers to stakeholders isn’t a big leap.

26
Why Is Culture So Important Right Now?
Cultivating the right organizational culture We also are dealing with a culture shift.
and engaging employees is going to go Not just from millennials, who do truly want
down as the 21st century’s greatest business aligned values and to have purpose in their
challenge. In the wake of the digital era – job, but society, in general, has changed.
when the name of the game was to adopt It’s a plugged-in world. We’re more con-
newer technology and move business pro- nected, have easier access to information,
cesses to the digital world – we’re doing an and are more in tune to what’s going on in
about-face. Now that we have a tech-driv- business and government. There are fewer
en business landscape, we’re realizing that walls, less mystique. As a result, from custom-
the real value comes from a tech-driven ers to employees, we all expect more.
business landscape driven by human inge-
nuity. Businesses need to catch up to these chang-
ing trends, both in messaging – how the
It’s not that we’re looking at man vs. ma- brand is marketed – and internally – who the
chine. It’s that businesses need skilled, cre- brand is. But, culture change continues to
ative, visionary, and meticulous human be a challenge for most organizations. We
brains to operate and create innovative are still working with abysmal employee en-
and effective ways to man the ship in this gagement rates – 70 percent of the Ameri-
new landscape. can workforce isn’t engaged.

Prometheus just brought us the next gener- Which means the potential benefits of an
ation of fire. We need a new approach to empowered organizational culture are
work in order to leverage it. blowing out the window of 70 percent of
businesses.

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The Shared Goals Of An
Engaged Culture And Management

Here’s the thing. Those potential benefits ment programs – for the improved idea
are the same goals on any marketing de- sharing, faster innovation, and higher rates
partment’s agenda. of productivity.

Attracting Top Talent More Authentic Brand Identity

This has been a huge priority for marketing Building brand trust and authority with cus-
managers as there are so many new skills tomers is always one of the top content mar-
and roles to hire for or to upskill your current keting goals. Culture change has the same
employees for. We’ve already been focus- aim, just with a focus on employees. The win-
ing on bringing on top talent in order to fill win comes from the fact that when your em-
the data science and tech skills roles and to ployees are engaged with your brand, they
cope with the changes to marketing from themselves help to build your brand, making
an ad-based form of demand generation your company more appealing to your mar-
to inbound. And a huge chunk of that re- ket. When you evolve your organizational
cruitment effort by marketing has focused culture, you create an empowering, mean-
on culture change. ingful environment:
• You can more easily recruit top talent
Boosted Brilliance because potential candidates are
Marketing could be described as the cross- attracted to more meaningful brands
roads of creativity and business. It is the • Those talented hires become your
application of strategy and new ideas to internal experts, inspired by your
achieve business goals. Which is why mar- leadership and culture, which helps to
keting managers are always adopting ways build your brand’s authority
to squeeze out that creative and strategic • Your customers trust your brand more
brilliance. Just look at the agile movement because your employees are part of
in marketing today. This is the same reason the conversation
organizations launch employee engage-

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Employee Advocacy
A lot of marketers are catching on to the im- industry thought leaders – which furthers the
portance of employee advocacy for market- reach of your marketing and puts employ-
ing. This is also one of the benefits of a culture ees in a greater position of value within the
change. With the right culture, employees are company.
both naturally inspired and well-supported to
share content, create content, and become

Why Marketing Leaders

Are Primed For The Culture Shift

Marketing should own culture and employ- ployee activation. Even better, they know
ee engagement not just because they have how to measure the results.
the most to gain but also because engag-
ing employees is so similar to engaging cus- Burke sums it up well with Hubspot’s motto:
tomers. “Culture is to recruiting as product is to mar-
keting.”
Marketing professionals already know how
critical authenticity is. They know how to Marketers are motivators. Why look outside
create strategies that will draw people in of the company or try to find solutions within
and keep them engaged. They also know management on how to activate employ-
how to deliver the right messaging with con- ees and evolve the company culture when
tent in order to both engage externally for this is the marketing department’s bread
recruitment purposes and internally for em- and butter?

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WHEN TO START ACTIVATING YOUR EMPLOYEES
FOR MARKETING SUCCESS

When your internal experts become a part the brand itself – it’s the inherent potency of
of the industry conversation, your audience word of mouth marketing.
will pay attention. But, in order to gain this
marketing advantage, you need the right Which for most organizations, is still mostly
climate for activation. You need an en- untapped potential.
gaged team.
But, brands are waking up to the impact
Once you do successfully motivate your em- activated employees can have on market-
ployees to share branded content, create ing goals – on top of the productivity and
their own, and to build their reputations as recruitment benefits and even the improve-
thought leaders in your industry, the sky’s the ment to workplace culture.
limit. People trust other people more than

30
How Employees Can Boost Your Marketing ROI

Today’s consumer, from business profession- consumers. They are the human face of
als to everyday buyers, research a compa- your company and so are more trustworthy
ny’s products or services way before mak- in the eyes of your audience. 84 percent of
ing a purchase decision. That’s why being a people trust recommendations from people
major player in the conversations going on they know over all other types of marketing.
in your industry is so important. According to Edelman’s 2018 Trust Barome-
ter, 41 percent of people believe employ-
However, those conversations shouldn’t be ees rank higher in public trust the compa-
solely brand-started. Your employees are ny’s CEO, Founder, or PR department.

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This is why you want your employees to be Not only will this help to drive traffic, cus-
starting those industry conversations. Your tomer engagement and conversions, it also
internal experts then establish their place transforms your campaign into a team of in-
in the conversation, sharing their insights, fluencers.
sparking questions, providing answers, and
becoming recognized experts. Ideally, over
time, consumers will look to your employees
for solutions.

32
Is Your Company Ready
For Employee Activation?

But, you can’t just send out a company Here are three strategies to prime your orga-
memo and have this new marketing super- nization for successful activation:
power.

Become a Socially Engaged Company

In fact, if your organization is like most, only People who work at socially engaged com-
a fraction of your employees would be inter- panies are more connected to each other,
ested in becoming employee advocates. inspired and optimistic about their compa-
Gallup’s 2013 State of the Global Workforce ny’s future.
Survey revealed that only 13 percent of
employees consider themselves to be en- • Create LinkedIn or Facebook groups for
gaged. internal conversations
• Use tools to make social sharing easy
In order to get to a state of employee ac- and engaging
tivation – where your employees are ac- • Provide content that aligns with your
tive participants in industry conversations – employees’ interests and values so they
you’ve got to inspire engagement first. are proud to share it with their social net
works

33
Improve Employee Communications to one or two so everyone knows where to
Often, where engagement falls short or look, better onboarding so more people will
breaks off completely, is in poor commu- use team collaboration tools, and ensuring
nication. You may have a communication someone is managing communication and
network in place but often what happens is can address future shortfalls.
the connections aren’t, well, connected.
Prioritize Support and Approachability
• Your company uses an internal In order to activate employees so they’ll
communication platform like Slack or want to become a part of your brand’s mar-
Cliq, but only half of your employees keting strategy, you need to empower them
ever use it to optimize their potential.
• Emails are sent to company email
addresses but everyone doesn’t have • Check-in on a one-to-one basis to see
one what each individual needs to do their
• Newsletters are created but are rarely job and advocate.
read because they don’t speak to your • Offer growth opportunities through
employees’ interests training and mentorship.
• Content is there to share but employees • Make sure managers are accessible
have to dig to find it and approachable – according to a
recent survey conducted by Ultimate
Identify where communication is falling short Software, 75 percent of employees say
or isn’t streamlined. In order to successfully approachability is the most important
activate your employees, everyone has quality their manager should have.
to be on the same page. That may mean
dwindling communication channels down

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Give Your Employees
A Reason To Be Part Of Your Marketing
To really activate your employees, look a group of people, or to address today’s
at your brand values. The most successful challenges?
brands have a clear vision that doesn’t just
guide the brand, it also inspires both your According to a 2016 Gallup poll, only 23
employees and your customers. Apple, percent of US employees feel they can
Nike, Intel, Burt’s Bees – these companies apply their organization’s values to their ev-
aren’t just selling a product or service, eryday work and just 27 percent would say
they’re selling a vision. they believe in their organization’s values.

Equipping innovators. Empowering athletes. The more meaning and fulfillment your
Setting the bar for environmental aware- employees get out of their job, the more
ness or corporate social responsibility. inspired they will be to further the reach of
your brand through social sharing, content
What does your brand do to help society, creation and conversation.

Start Activating Your Employees Today

No matter what size your organization or share and create, and a reason to partic-
your budget, you should start activating ipate, your employee activation program
your employees today. In fact, with a team won’t last very long and you won’t get that
of motivated, activated employees, even sustainable boost to your marketing KPIs.
a small company can grow because of the
organic marketing your employees initiate. That’s the secret to successfully bringing
your employees into marketing. You have
But, to make it really work, start by laying to look beyond advocacy and aim for
the groundwork for employee activation activation, unlocking the vast potential of
rather than jumping directly into advocacy. your skilled, passionate, visionary internal
Without a system in place for employees to experts.

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