The good news is that you already have .
Communication on LinkedIn is a real challenge for businesses. This network is the largest in the world with more than 1 billion users in more than 200 countries and territories ( LinkedIn ).
Furthermore, social networks like LinkedIn are no longer simple tools for passive consumption of information: in fact, 75% of corporate purchasing managers indicate that they use social networks in their purchasing decision process according to an IDC survey cited by LinkedIn .
So, how to boost your communication strategy on LinkedIn?
The answer is simple: use your employees’ network.
According to LinkedIn , if just 3% of employees share their company's posts, they are responsible for a 30% increase in interactions (such as likes, comments, and shares).
The reason is simple: the total number of connections of a company's employees is on average 10 times greater than the number of subscribers to the company page.
Furthermore, LinkedIn users are much more likely to click on an article posted by one of their professional connections than on an article posted by a company's institutional account (LinkedIn also estimates that the CTR or click-through rate of a publication made by an employee is twice that of a publication made by a company).
So how can businesses take advantage of this and build their ambassador network?
Step 1: Define your goals
Do you want to reach a specific target? Increase your brand awareness and recognition as an expert in your field? Attract new talent?
The answers to these questions will determine the choice of your ambassadors and your content strategy.
Step 2: Structure your brand ambassador program
No need to ask all your employees to start posting on LinkedIn all the time.
Selecting your brand ambassadors
It is up to you to select some of the employees:
most in line with your communication objectives
the most visible and best able to convey the voice of your company on LinkedIn.
Ideally, these employees will already be active on networks with several hundred connections.
Key managers should be part of this group of ambassadors, not only to represent a variety of seniorities in your program, but also to explicitly communicate their support for the initiative.
Updating LinkedIn profiles
If the LinkedIn profile of the selected employees is not yet up to date, it will be essential to support them in the updating process (professional photo, training and career path, current role in the company and areas of expertise) .
Definition of a communication plan
It will then be necessary to define with these brand ambassadors a communication plan detailing the topics on which to post, the publication schedule and the expected contribution from employees.
Indeed, employees may have more or less involvement in the preparation of the articles depending on your strategy: from complete writing of the article by the employee in blog post mode with review by your marketing and communication teams to writing of the article by the marketing and communication teams (or external service providers) for sharing by the employee.
When it comes to content, be sure to strike a balance between content relating to your business and content more general to your industry or the business world.
Step 3: Explain the benefits of the program to employees
You understand the benefits of the program for your business. Your communication strategy is well thought out and well structured…
But you will achieve nothing if your ambassadors do not understand the interest of this program for them.
It is essential to explain to them the benefits of increased activity on LinkedIn: employees who regularly share quality content improve their visibility and position themselves as experts in their respective fields. This makes their profile more attractive and allows them to expand their professional network.
Through this ambassador program, employees also contribute to the development of the company, to increasing its notoriety and its attractiveness for quality recruits.
Finally, as an employer, you must regularly remind and highlight the positive impact of this program.