Employees to amplify marketing results

a perennial concern for company leaders, disruption has been the buzz word in businesses. To survive and grow, many organizations are transforming their businesses to cope with the changes in the global business environment.

From real estate to retail, technology plays a major role in these disruptions. As the consumers’ lives turn digital, the way companies reach and engage with them changes, too. Smartphones, search engines, and social media do not only create unprecedented marketing opportunities, these technologies also transform how marketers work.

“Through digital channels, you have the ability to get content and messaging in front of the audience and provide the necessary insights that will build brand awareness,” said Grant Thornton International associate director Matt Cooksley during the 6th P&A Grant Thornton Growth Series at Makati Diamond Residences.

Aside from third-party (influencers, celebrities) endorsements through digital media, there is another way to reach consumers that is sitting just right under every company’s nose: Employee Advocacy.

promotion by sharing their support for a brand, product, or services on their social network, Employee Advocacy’s goal is to inform, educate, and engage the workforce and allow them become brand ambassadors.

The use of tools is not really much of an issue in deploying this type of marketing strategy, said Grant Thornton International Associate Director Matt Cooksley

(There is) huge potential to reach far greater audience and amplify your message through the people,” Cooksley said in an interview with The Manila Times.

Cooksley noted that employees are trusted as a source of information 10 times more than organizations. “It is an authentic message. It means less coming from the corporate account than when it does from an individual.” Risks and challenges Cooksley pointed employees posting too much content to be an issue. “If your employees are posting the same piece of content multiple times, it becomes bombardment and you lose the power of your messaging,” the digital marketer said.

to be considered. “This is where some risks comes as well for people

- mote your content, it depends on where else they are posting around that,” Cooksley added. “But where we have seen it, (if the company) deployed it in a controlled manner with some guidelines around it,

- form with it,” he continued.

Cooksley also presented the advantages of marketing automation and how the buying process has dramatically changed in the recent years. In the second half of his talk, Cooksley shared emerging trends