Social media has brought big changes to the way companies market products and services to their customers. But did you realize that social media has also impacted employee engagement? We focused on this very topic in a panel I moderated during Social Media Week Chicago on September 23 (check out our Storify for pictures and tweets from the event).

1. Social Media and Employee Engagement: A Social Media Week Panel Recap
Social media has brought big changes to the way companies market products and
services to their customers. But did you realize that social media has also impacted
employee engagement? We focused on this very topic in a panel I moderated during
Social Media Week Chicago on September 23 (check out our Storify for pictures and
tweets from the event).
Want to be a smart company?
Today, smart companies are using social media to attract, retain and more fully
engage top talent. Panelists from Ifbyphone, Coyote Logistics, Trunk Club and
QueSocial shared how their organizations have embraced social media as a key
engagement tool:
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Cindy Pogrund, EVP Customer Experience for Ifbyphone, talked about their
Movember campaign. Ifbyphone engaged their employees by implementing a
fun, social-based campaign that also raised money for men’s health. From a
mustache-growing contest (where pictures were posted on the company’s
Facebook page every Friday and employees would guess who was who) to a
campaign-specific Twitter hashtag (#ifbystache), their goal was to increase the
number of employees who mentioned or shared the Ifbyphone name online.
•
Jodi Navta, VP of Marketing for Coyote Logistics, talked about using social
media as a candidate attraction strategy. Coyote encourages employees to be
active in supporting community and charitable organizations and promotes
those activities via their company social media profiles.
•
Joe Jarvis, Head Writer for Trunk Club, shared the strategy behind developing
the Trunk Club blog as a way to promote their corporate culture. By featuring

2. employees in “day in the life” posts, Trunk Club can better communicate its
culture to potential employees. Plus, featured employees are likely to share
posts across their personal networks. For stylists, these blog posts are a great
tool for sharing information about their knowledge and expertise to help
educate potential clients, becoming a sales tool as well.
•
Mike Dwyer, Managing Director for QueSocial, talked about what motivates
employees and used the following acronym – SAPS, which stand for Status,
Access, Power and Stuff. The acronym illustrates his point that money is not a
key motivator for most employees, yet it’s a common misconception among
employers.
Early in the panel we discussed developing a company’s social voice. All the panelists
agreed that it’s important to identify a unique voice and use it consistently, even if
the tone may change slightly depending on the platform you’re using (for example,
Twitter is a bit more casual).
We also discussed how to encourage employees to share company information as a way
to further extend brand reach online. To this end, gamification continues to grow in
popularity as companies look to make content sharing fun and rewarding for
employees.
Before wrapping up the session, I asked the panelists to share one key takeaway or
insight they had gained by preparing for this session. The panel did not disappoint,
providing some great sound bites:
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“We have personas for the target buyers we are trying to reach so why don’t
we have them for the ideal candidates we are trying to find?” – Cindy Pogrund,
Ifbyphone
“Share, share, share!” – Jodi Navta, Coyote Logistics
“A good social media policy includes going beyond ‘thanks’ when responding.” –
Joe Jarvis, Trunk Club
“Celebrate success in real-time with your followers. That’s a great way to
foster engagement.” – Mike Dwyer, QueSocial

3. Engaging your employees via social media can pay off in more ways than one. From
higher retention and lower turnover to increased brand awareness and improved
customer service, your employees can – and should – be your biggest and most vocal
brand ambassadors.
Want to learn more about creating a plan for engaging your employees? Contact us to
get the ball rolling!