Even if your title is not “communications coordinator” or “marketing manager,” you are still an important spokesperson for your company. To everyone you know on both a personal and professional level, you are seen as a representative of your company. You, therefore, have a great deal of influence over how your company is perceived by those people.
Why should you care what your professional and personal contacts think of your company?
- Helping to build and maintain a good reputation for your company makes it more likely that your company will be successful. Usually, when a company thrives, so do its employees.
- If you consistently have a positive influence on how others view the company, that makes you valuable. Your boss will recognize and respect your efforts, meaning that you’re more likely to get promoted.
One of the easiest ways you can positively influence how others perceive your organization is to be an online brand ambassador.
How can you be an online brand ambassador for your company?
- If you’re proud of something you’ve accomplished at work, tell your story through Facebook and Instagram posts, as well as through tweets and snaps. Always be mindful not to divulge any confidential or legally protected information. That said, if you truly enjoy your experience in your workplace, letting others know helps the company attract more talented employees. Do not be intimated by the thought of attracting highly skilled people to work alongside you. When you work in an office full of talented people, you learn from others and experience personal growth. The company also succeeds.
- Share your company’s social media posts. When you share your company’s posts, people in your personal and professional social networks are more likely to be up-to-date on your company’s news and events.
- If your company is using a hashtag to promote a product or campaign, use the hashtag in relevant posts and join the conversation. The use of the hashtag will support your company’s efforts and will make your personal posts about your company visible to people who are not likely to see them otherwise.
- Post positive reviews for your company on review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed. When posting an online review about your company, be honest, transparent and only post one review per site. Do not post multiple reviews posing as different people. That will hurt your company, not help it.
- Get personal. Sharing your personal interests online that are unrelated to work is a good thing. It makes the people you deal with professionally feel as if they know you on a more personal level. If external stakeholders feel like they know you, they are more likely to want to do business with you and your company than they are with someone they don’t know.
- Do as you say. Or, in this case, do as you post. If your personal posts reflect the same values that your company promotes, your support of the company will comes across as authentic and genuine. For example, if you’re involved in your company’s initiative to end cyber bullying, sharing your company’s posts about that initiative will be helpful. Engaging in civil and respectful dialogue through your personal social media accounts will show that you’re walking the talk. Words are only meaningful when paired with compatible action.
Follow these steps online, and you can become an effective and valued brand ambassador for your organization.
Davis Young and Scott Juba own Fast Is Good® LLC which offers communication training in 90 minutes or less.
Davis has provided communication training for some of the best known organizations in the country and, in recent years, has taught more than 200 college classes focused on communication.
Scott is an experienced communication trainer. He is a recognized thought leader and consultant on social media and the use of technology to communicate.
Material for this column is based on their book — Avoid Workplace Communication Screw-ups: They’ll Cost Money and Get You Fired! — published by Smart Business.
