Most businesses are aware of the term ‘company culture’ but they find it a real challenge showcasing it to their advantage on their website and social media channels. Can your business afford to miss out on engaging and promoting your company to over a billion people using various social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and other social platforms? After all promoting your company culture can be a huge asset to your business especially when it comes to hiring top-notch candidates and also in attracting new clients.
Though many businesses have been slow to adapt and utilize the power of social media because they did not see any benefit to business, there has been a vast shift of perception in the last few years. Big brands, like Google, Coca Cola, Apple and more, have led the way in using company culture as a social media marketing tool and small business owners have followed suit in giving their social media strategy another look.
Implementing Social Culture as a Social Media Marketing Tool
The cost of a bad hire can be as huge as much as $50,000 or more and studies have shown that a candidate’s cultural fit can determine his or her staying power. To minimize turnover companies need to consider a candidate’s cultural fit before extending an employment offer. Moreover cultural fit is a major concern for job seekers as well so it is vital to effectively display and communicate your company culture, values and personality through your site and social media. Seeing how your business runs and sharing views of your current employees can provide prospective candidates a good idea of what it would be like to work at your organization and help them decide whether or not they would like to work for your company.
Show Off Your Company and Tell Your Story
You can easily draw the attention of customers and prospects better by showing off and telling your company story in a compelling and relatable manner. Your company definitely has a story to share whether you are a brand new startup or a company with a long history. Do not be hesitant to share it with people, and talk about your struggles as much as your successes. Use photos and videos on your site and social media platforms to describe “who you are” and to highlight your core values. Consumers and potential candidates often chose companies that share their personal ethical views. Make sure you showcase your values and charitable actions especially if you have a robust corporate social responsibility programs in place.
Use Online Video to Show Off Your Company Culture
It is an increasingly visual world today so it makes sense to use video on your social networks to show off your company culture. Simply reading about your company will not have the same effect as watching a video, where you can see the faces of the storytellers and the surroundings. Videos to promote company culture are more inclusive and inviting. Social media networks like YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and Periscope have made sharing videos easy and very cost-effective too. Videos on blogging platforms like Tumblr or social media networks like Facebook can help make your company more visible and memorable to new talent. For the ‘see to believe’ audience, you can film your workplace culture like a reality show and share it through social networks to attract the best talent. Many videos use voice-overs or testimonials from employees and CEOs to provide a better idea about the company values.
Share the Lifestyle of Your Company
What makes your workplace the best? If your workspace is fresh and innovative and you get to do interesting things or go to interesting places as part of your workday then take pictures and videos of that lifestyle and share it. Look at this video from Google which does a great job of targeting interns by promoting a fun way to begin a career that makes a difference. Behind every successful business there are happy employees. No wonder onboarding images are very popular on LinkedIn, such as photos of desks waiting for the new recruit, goodie boxes for starters, etc. These images generate a lot of likes, shares and comments and it is a good way of showing off how much you value your employees. Give it a go next time someone new joins! If your company engages in cool activities outside of work, like community charity events or big sport outings then do make sure you promote it on social media sites.
Encourage Employees to Engage to Leverage Their Extended Networks
Companies should empower employees to post information about the company’s culture and get news about the progress of your organization in front of your customers. Profile teams and include pictures of your employees in various departments around the office to let people see the real people behind the scenes. Allow employees to share their personal experiences of working for the organization and let their personalities shine to build a trustworthy connection. For example, this video introduces us to different personalities in the customer service team of TOMS and it effectively promotes their company culture of giving back to society. They don’t just design shoes but with every sale, TOMS provides shoes to impoverished children, and a part of their profits goes toward restoring eyesight for people in developing countries. Highlight the success of employees or share updates from company events such as Meetups and Happy Hours on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to give candidates a look into what makes your organization unique.
Every organization has something cool and unique to offer to prospective candidates, whether it is the people, new technology to work on, office environment or the perks it provides. It is up to the marketing team to bundle these traits and let the world know in an engaging way how cool your company really is.
