Today there are very few places left for brands who want our attention to go to if this pandemic continues to decimate revenues, and the subsequent brand marketing budgets that companies have gotten used to are at best a fraction of pre-Covid spending, or at worse non-existent.

'Social Media' can be a life saver for brands if they understand that social media is about being social first, and selling second.

The cost don't increase because being social means you measure 'engagement' over reach. 

You don't need a database, so no GDPR issues, if you operate an 'employee advocacy' strategy your outsourced 'social agency' could pretty much become redundant.

So, what does this tell us about the power of influencers?

"Lauren, who as a part-time influencer makes money by partnering with brands on sponsorships. Lauren said she charges around $350 for an Instagram or YouTube sponsorship (but that price varies).

She emails the brands she wants to work with directly, DMs smaller brands on Instagram, and sometimes finds an influencer marketing contact for a brand on LinkedIn and then messages the person."

In simple language, an influencer is someone whose story you are prepared to listen to, and maybe act upon, something we all do every day in real life - example;

Jenny from marketing comes back from the sandwich shop that's just opened down the road, she tells you it looks really cool, and here's the sandwich she just bought, so you decide to take a trip in your lunch hour and buy a similar sandwich - now all you have to do is multiply that story on social media and that sandwich shop just got some very cheap, indirect, and yet highly relatable marketing from Jenny. 

Brands can also tap into existing micro-communities by partnering with niche influencers. 

The best of these have a clear vision or personality that is perceived as authentic and trustworthy at a time when Instagram is flooded with manufactured fake followers.

A Social Strategy

is about being authentic, and growing 'followers' and is not something that can be bought, it has to be earned.

Employee advocacy

strategies seem to scare the pants off those in the C-Suite, mainly because they feel they're not in control of what the employee can/can't say.

Well, let me tell you that's just a huge insult to your people, and a complete waste of an amazing opportunity for your company, especially when the C-Suite are included as part of the 'employee advocacy program'. 

Who better to tell a company’s story than its employees? Team members are far more capable than any external marketing agency. When team members generate content, they themselves become the face of the company, and consumers often find it easier to relate to a real person than a company entity.

"Matching content with a face helps brands gain consumer trust".

Employee Advocacy strategies can unleash so many 'Superpowers' for a company, but just remember if not done within the right framework, and supported by skill based training from experts it can also go very badly wrong.