Like most forms of social media, Twitter is largely used by businesses to promote a message, product or service. However, there are a number of uses for Twitter beyond purely promotional activities. Twitter, and other social media tools, can actually provide big benefits to businesses in multiple ways. Some of the ways we have used Twitter outside of traditional marketing include the following: Continue reading “Twitter: Beyond Promotion”
Category: Internal Communication
Creating an Exceptional Digital Team
While many small business owners start out as jacks-of-all-trades, as the business grows, it becomes necessary to bring on talent to specialize in specific areas of the company. Digital marketing is no exception. Just as an entrepreneur will at some point need to separate the digital marketing duties from the operations duties, a more sophisticated company will eventually want to break up the roles of the digital marketing unit. Here are some tips and strategies for putting together an effective digital marketing team. Continue reading “Creating an Exceptional Digital Team”
Ideas for Choosing and Working Effectively With Freelancers
According to a recent article in Harvard Business Review, freelancers represent 34 percent of the American workforce. This includes more than fourteen million so-called “moonlighters” who have full-time jobs but use freelancing to supplement their incomes. The good news about this data for freelancers is that there are a lot of opportunities for freelance work. The downside is that there is plenty of competition as well. Continue reading “Ideas for Choosing and Working Effectively With Freelancers”
Should Rank-and-File Employees Be Speaking on Behalf of Brands?
The question of whether front-line, everyday employees should be speaking on behalf of a company and its brand has been in the minds of business owners and executives for years. On the one hand, harnessing the full weight of a company’s workforce can put a lot of bodies into the marketing effort. At the same time, companies often fear the potential negative, counter-productive impact of “rogue” or un-coached employees. Think of the employee complaining about her job on her Facebook page, or the insider who gives friends and neighbors the “real story” about his company at a backyard BBQ. Continue reading “Should Rank-and-File Employees Be Speaking on Behalf of Brands?”
Managing the “Employer Brand”
Every company is–or should be–concerned about its brand. Even those that are, though, tend to focus more on the customer-facing brand. Granted, customer and prospects perspectives are important. But there’s another key audience that often gets overlooked in the rush to build brand. Continue reading “Managing the “Employer Brand””
Boosting the Effectiveness of Your Employee Communications
It’s a constant challenge for many organizations: finding ways to ensure that their employees have the information they need not only to do their jobs, but to boost their engagement and loyalty and to serve as effective brand ambassadors. I was asked recently for my “top tips” on how companies, large and small, can improve their employee communication efforts. These were my top three recommendations: Continue reading “Boosting the Effectiveness of Your Employee Communications”
The Critically Important Audience You May Be Overlooking
It’s probably no surprise that poor customer service can have an enormous amount of negative impact on your business. But what about poor service to employees? Does the internal satisfaction of your employees weigh on that metric? A recent article by Christine Porath in Harvard Business Review would suggest that it does. Continue reading “The Critically Important Audience You May Be Overlooking”
Walking The Talk: Do Your Actions Match Your Words?
PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. chairman Robert Moritz recently discussed the issue of engaging younger employees in an article for Harvard Business Review titled “The U.S. Chairman of PwC on Keeping Millennials Engaged.” While the article contains a number of intriguing insights, one point that stood out from a marketing perspective was Continue reading “Walking The Talk: Do Your Actions Match Your Words?”
An Often Overlooked Audience You Shouldn’t Ignore!
I had an opportunity recently to speak to a group of human resource (HR) professionals in my community about a topic I’ve always been passionate about–employee communication. My undergraduate degree was in Psychology and Social Work. My dream as a child was to become a psychologist and, from seventh grade on, that was the path I thought I would take. However, during my senior year of college, I had my first internship and realized that I was not cut out to be a counselor. So, I pursued another path. I was working for a local governmental agency at the time, and I took an interest in HR management. The concept of employee motivation was very interesting to me and clearly aligned with the psychological principles I had learned about in school. So, I toyed with the idea of potentially creating or serving in a role that might be called a “corporate psychologist.”
Then, as fate would have it, Continue reading “An Often Overlooked Audience You Shouldn’t Ignore!”
The 3 Most Powerful Words to Boost Your Career
Humility is a powerful thing, but it’s rarely seen in action. This may be because, in order to rise to the top, leaders need to have a strong ego and self-confidence. They must be willing to take risks and move forward, even in the face of significant adversity. Too often, though, leaders may be unwilling to admit when they’re wrong. After all, admitting that they’re fallible may seem, on the surface, as an admission of weakness.
However, the opposite is true. Continue reading “The 3 Most Powerful Words to Boost Your Career”