In 2020, SanMar U launched an employee-generated content campaign, asking their employees to take pictures of their bags and talk about what they put in their bags. They stated it was “…one of our most successful product-focused social media campaigns of 2020” (SanMar U). When your employees make content, they share how they feel about their job, the company, and the people they work with. Having them make EGC, or employee-generated content, promotes healthy engagement between your employees, and it makes them feel celebrated and heard. This increases overall engagement within your company and helps build company culture. When your employees can have a voice and have fun at work, they will be more productive and more likely to spread positive comments about the company. As a result, this helps increase brand awareness and will cause potential employees and customers to have a positive view of your brand.
You might be asking, why should you let your employees make content for you?
Employees showing that they love their company gives off a positive brand image. When potential customers see employees speaking highly about their company, they will be more willing to buy from it. Additionally, having employees make content causes an increase in brand recognition, reach, and helps develop brand image and personality. According to Everyonesocial, “Employees have a 5x increase in reach than corporate accounts”. As employees make content and share it, more people become aware of your company. Employees can share their videos, causing their followers to learn about your company and increasing reach. As more and more people see employees posting positive content about your brand, your company is building a positive brand image. Finally, when your employees get to create fun content, it encourages them to interact with their fellow employees more. Thus, they can increase a positive company culture.
So, what kind of employee-generated content can your employees make? Here are some ideas!
⚫️ Monthly check-ins with your employees: Have them make short videos expressing their feelings about their work. This is a great way to understand how your employees are feeling. Which, in return, allows you to know how you can serve your team and build a positive work environment for them.
⚫️ Celebratory posts: At the end of a project, employees who worked on the project can make videos celebrating the accomplishment. This can be individual videos, or each team can make videos where they get together to celebrate the project’s completion.
⚫️ Growth posts: Employees can make content talking about how they grew professionally/ increased their skills through their job.
⚫️ Team Building: Your company can host team-building exercises/events, and your employees can make content while participating. This is an excellent way for employees to create non-work related content and show how much fun they have during the team building.
⚫️ Professional Events: Your company can host professional events for your employees, which helps them network and allows them to create content to support their professional goals. They can post this professional content which can help build their professional profile.
⚫️ Charity Event: Employees can make content at or after the event, where they can talk about their experience and what the charity meant to them.
Now that your employees have made the content, how can your company use it?
⚫️ One great way to use employee-generated content is to post it on your company’s social media. This is an opportunity to highlight employees, whether once a week or once a month. By doing this, your employees will feel special, and they can even write a small message about what they love about their job for the description. This encourages a healthy and supportive work environment for your employees.
⚫️ Another great way to use EGC is to host contests for your employees. One idea is to have a contest where the employee that makes the most unique content gets a prize. Additionally, your company can have a contest where employees can vote on their favorite EGC, and the winner gets a prize. This not only gives your employees an incentive to make content but also celebrates the employee who took the time to make unique content.
⚫️ Also, your company can ask employees to share the EGC they make to their social media. According to PostBeyond, “Employee posts get reshared up to 24x more than a branded post”. Having employees share content will increase reach and brand recognition since more people will be able to learn about your company, and they will remember the unique content they saw.
⚫️ Finally, your company can use the EGC in advertisements. Your employees can create content where they are using your company’s product and are enjoying it. According to PostBeyond, “When 42% of people distrust messages coming directly from brands, putting a face (or several) to the name is vital”. This way, your employees can act as advocates for your brand. Consumers tend to favor content that shows how your product can enhance their lives, which would benefit your company greatly.
Employee Generated content not only benefits your brand’s image but it enhances your company’s culture. By having employees create content for your brand, they can express how much they enjoy their job. Your employees can make different types of content, and there are many ways to utilize it. As a result, your company will experience an increase in reach, brand awareness, and employee engagement, which is always the goal, right?
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