Influencer Marketing Starts at Home

The merits of Influencer Marketing have been much vaunted. So excessively that many in digital circles see it as the primary form of marketing. But despite all of this eulogising, there’s a trick that’s being missed.

The most effective influencers may already be right on your doorstep. Your employees.

Here’s a list of five key benefits that experts in influencer marketing have set out.

First, building customer loyalty and retention through communities. But, in terms of the actual customer experience, it's invariably employees who make this happen. And when it’s a good experience, customers return. This is a key element within the service profit chain model which visualises how happy employees generate happy customers and financial rewards.

Second, boosting reputation through word of mouth. If employees feel proud of what they do and what they bring to customer’s lives, they will talk about that outside of work. So they should be encouraged to do this. We describe it as giving your employees boasting rights when they are having conversations with family, friends, or acquaintances.

Thirdly, improving customer service through constant feedback. Front-line customer-facing employees should be seen as the eyes and ears of the organisation. So they should be given the means to provide honest feedback – both good and bad.

Fourthly, education and knowledge sharing. Across a company and its products or services, employees are a mine of information. So they should be given the means and the time to share this knowledge beyond their immediate circle.

Finally, boosting brand awareness, especially through content. Again employees often have brilliant stories to tell. The best stories are often ones where something good has come out of something bad. For instance when a customer complains about something and it is dealt with so successfully that the complaint becomes a compliment.

Of course, none of these five ways that employees can become influencers will just happen automatically. Employees need to be made clear about what they can do and, most importantly feel inspired and motivated to do it. Once they ‘get it’, they should also be allowed some flexibility on ways that they can act as influencers, as some will take to it more naturally than others.

An obvious question here is whether employees should be financially incentivised to become influencers in the same way that external influencers are rewarded. The answer to this should be no. Customers will quickly spot that they are being manipulated by someone on commission or its equivalent. And employees, when they are already well rewarded, should accept that this must be part of their role and that recognition is enough.

All too often marketers look at external ways to build a brand’s reputation. But by looking at internal resources and thinking about how employees can enhance the brand, they will find that there’s a new and very effective way to build an influencer community.