Social media and online engagement were snowballing in the early 2010s – and then it stepped up a notch around 2017/18.
Then, in March 2020 – over 200 countries and territories were affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to research, lockdowns “resulted in most people taking to the internet and internet-based services to communicate, interact, and continue with their job responsibilities from home. Internet services [experienced surges] in usage from 40% to 100%, compared to pre-lockdown levels. Video-conferencing services like Zoom [saw] a ten times increase in usage…”
Going online to boost your business is not as easy as it was. And… it was never that easy to begin with! Digital marketing, now more than ever, needs to be about the people. Engaging with community takes preference over sharing content for clicks. We need to know what makes our audience tick, not just what makes them click.
As a one-man-show (as many dealerships rely on one person to manage their social media marketing), it’s no longer as effective. Your strategy needs to employ as many of your team as possible.
At the end of the day, people don’t connect with pages; they connect with people. Having a company page is a great start, but having your staff like, share, comment and engage on those platforms helps you take your strategy to the next level.
This is how you make brand ambassadors of your whole team, not just the ‘one who likes to be on Facebook all the time.’
In traditional marketing terms, it’s about making your campaigns instantly recognisable and accessible to your audience (which starts with your team). When your employees talk about your brand online (and they do), do you know how and where?
Greater employer brand consistency supports greater brand awareness—often the most prominent ongoing talent challenge organisations face. Talking about your social media strategy in team meetings encourages your managers to engage their teams on the social platforms where your company page has a presence. And, you need to make it easy (and relevant) for your team to share content.
Often it’s not for lack of content that businesses struggle online; it’s for lack of relevance in their content. Keeping your team engaged as brand ambassadors helps you stay relevant and top of mind with your customers.