How to find content curators in the confines of your office building

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Recently we blogged about the importance of creating original content for your website.  However, what do you do when you have a marketing team of one, and a budget that won’t allow for you to hire an external content creator?

Look inwards to your employees!

Who better to show off your culture than those employees who live and breathe company culture?  Those employees not only understand your company, but they also understand your customers.

By coaching and creating brand ambassadors, you can open up a culture of content cultivation.

How do you identify these brand ambassadors?

Look for social media users first, writers second.  You can train people to write and what content to share, but if they are not already active social users, then they won’t be good brand advocates.  You want your employees to share things organically and not come across that they are selling or overly promoting your company.

Find enthusiastic employees.  If the employee isn’t excited to come to work everyday, they certainly won’t want to jump in and market the company. Excitement is contagious, so find those engaged employees and really tap into their love of the brand and of their jobs!

So where within your company can you find these enthusiastic, social media users?

  • Customer Service Reps
    These are generally the front lines of your company and they hold a wealth of knowledge.  They might understand the questions and concerns that often pop up most when dealing with your customers.  Create a fun FAQ blog and showcase that knowledge. Have them share behind the scene pictures or offer insight to company culture.
  • Sales/PR/Marketing
    Usually these employees are already more engaged with external customers due to the nature of their jobs and make excellent bloggers.  They tend to know what is coming down the pipeline in terms of products or services and understand the brand voice of the company.
  • The C-Suite
    What do the CEOs of Virgin, LinkedIn and Marriott all have in common? They all blog for their company. CEOs and other C-Suite executives are the captains of the ship, what better representatives to share in the the future of the company than those making the decisions?  Most of your C-Suite executives are already experts in their fields, getting them to share that knowledge with your customers will engage your audience and humanize your brand.

Changing the culture of your company to engage these content creators might take time, but it’s worth cultivating these employees to share in your brand voice and be engaged ambassadors for your company.  Social media users are much more savvy and are more trusting of information shared by the employees than if the information was strictly shared only by the brand’s social media account.