It’s a fact: internal audiences are the ones organizations forget about most often, but they can also be the most effective. Getting third-party endorsement from a built-in audience that already knows and (hopefully) believes in your mission can have a much higher impact than anything your organization says about itself. The best part? It doesn’t have to cost a thing.
The first step is an obvious but important one: get your key messages ready. Ensure your organization’s mandate, vision and mission is clear, concise and—most importantly—visible so everyone in the organization knows it. Don’t assume that just because you know it that everyone else does.
Once you’re confident that all your employees are well-versed in your organization’s key messages, use the following methods to help your employees become walking billboards for your organization’s work!
Make it easy.
Your team typically won’t shout your message from the rooftops without some help. Create a brief, one-page guide that outlines your organization’s mandate, key messages and goals. Save it in a place where everyone can access it. This guide should become a living document that you update and refer to often when communicating with the team. Make sure you include your organization’s social media profiles and where to find them as well as commonly-used hashtags and any other essential information.
Communicate in person.
Some team members will use a written guide, but others will appreciate an in-person workshop that outlines your organization’s key messages, as well as basic social media functions and how to share posts from your organization’s platforms.
Post content people want to share—and reward them when they do.
It’s not enough to simply tell your team to share your posts on social media. In order to motivate your employees to share your content, make sure your content is compelling and shareable in the first place. Don’t forget to engage with those who do share your posts! Monitor your social media feeds and engage with employees like any other audience.
Model the behaviour you want to see.
Are you a brand ambassador? Make yourself the model for the kind of engagement and excitement you’d like to see in your employees by sharing and engaging with your organization’s online content on your own platforms.
Be prepared.
Have a big event, launch or fundraiser coming up? For noteworthy campaigns, create a handy promotion package for your employees with a variety of pre-written posts and shareable images that you distribute well in advance.
At the end of the day, if you treat your internal audience with the same consideration and effort as your external stakeholders, in time you’ll nurture brand ambassadors that boost your organization’s reach, impact and legitimacy. Want more information about creating brand ambassadors? We’d love to help – get in touch with us to learn more!