Why your ESOP needs an Employee Ambassador Program and how to build one
At Strategic Mixtape we love ESOPs. This legal structure sets an organization up for every employee-owner to have a little skin in the game, a seat at the table, if you will. Organizational ownership and agency creates an environment where employee ambassadors are a natural fit.
According to one study, brand messages travel 561% further when shared by employees. Empowering employee-owners to tell stories on behalf of the organization does a few things:
Build culture — ESOPs often have outstanding culture and buy in from their team. Empowering employee-owners to capture, feature, and engage with one another online allows companies to create a digital water cooler of sorts. As teams are more and more dispersed, remote, or hybrid, communities online where team members can celebrate and recognize one another gives longevity to in-person touch points.
Show case your organization — Many ESOPs are doing extraordinary things. They are sitting on mountains of amazing stories that are just yearning to be told. Creating an employee ambassador program where they help tell the organization’s stories will allow for greater reach and help often maxed-out marketing teams do their jobs better. These programs give organizations the ability to bubble up stories that might not ordinarily be told and shine a light all over the organization.
Feature thought leadership for trust building — Your organization likely has subject-matter experts throughout the organization. Identifying and featuring topic relevant to your audience builds trust. Not only that, thought leadership helps employees grow their skills and improve their on-the-job performance through additional research and skill training. Encouraging and facilitating an environment where employee-owners have the freedom to showcase their expertise allows them to build trust for the organization while also advancing their careers. It can be a win-win for both.
How can an ESOP get started?
Consider your goals — Before you or anyone on your team posts a single thing, it’s really important to think through what you’re trying to accomplish. What are your “whys” for being there? Are you looking to use an employee ambassador program for social selling? Do you want to increase your visibility amongst the communities you serve? Ultimately, what does success look like?
Identify your key audiences — Who are you looking to serve? Are you hoping to reach potential customers? Future employees? Current employees? Referral partners? Knowing who you’re trying to reach is essential. Knowing who you’re trying to serve will inform messaging and everything you do. This step is worth spending some time on.
Where do your audiences “hang out” online? — Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish and your “who,” consider where your audiences spend their time online. If your demographic is older, Facebook might be appropriate. If you’re geared toward business to business, LinkedIn might be appropriate. We see excellent content that’s often in the wrong places. Each platform has its own personality and content bend. While content can potentially be used across platforms, it’s likely that some formatting for the channel will be appropriate.
What do your audiences need and want? — How can you and your team best serve the people you care about most? Do they show up to be entertained? Are they looking to advance their careers? Are they interested in meaningful connections online? Be obsessed about bringing the most value to each audience you serve.
Start slow and identify a small team of employee ambassadors — Once you have the answers to a few of these questions, you’re ready to identify ideal team members who would make excellent ambassadors. While the goal may be to roll out the program company wide, we recommend piloting a program with a few and expanding it as you go. Some things to consider when selecting people: Who would naturally be a fit for this? Perhaps there are team members who are already posting content online. What roles are uniquely positioned for external content creation? Customer facing roles might be a good place to start. Those who serve in a leadership capacity are another. Who internally has a unique voice or expertise that would be valuable to your audience?
Establish guide rails but give lots of freedom — Some organizations will have to pay more attention to this than others, particularly highly regulated industries. That said, establish some general guidelines, but the more you’re able to give leeway to your team the better. Help them with content, sure, but let them put their own touch on what’s produced. It’s potentially helpful for the selected ambassadors to sit down and brainstorm ideas. Half the battle of content creation is knowing what to post and when. Helping them establish rhythms for when to post and what to post may help remove barriers to content creation.
Review, adjust, and expand — After you’ve given your team some time to shine, review what’s taken place. Coach the team where needed, adjust objectives, and determine how others can be engaged in content creation for your organization.
Teams, especially ESOPs, are sitting on mounds of content pieces to highlight. Employee ambassador programs are a largely untapped opportunity that’s almost completely free. ESOPs are a best-kept secret in the business world and have excellent stories to tell, so grab your brightest employee-owners and start telling your story.
