Social media’s impact on the world can’t be denied. It was created about 20 years ago, when the first recognizable social media site Six Degrees was launched, but social media now practically dictates the lives of many of us. We get our news from it, stay connected with our friends through it, meet new people on it, entertain ourselves with it and use it to make the best choices, from where to eat and watch a movie, to where to go on vacation or shop.
Many businesses, however, still don’t use social media’s tremendous influence to their advantage. Many still refuse to market their brand to even more customers. And many have rules prohibiting employees from engaging with their social community while at work. Some will likely change their minds soon as large, widely known companies like Adobe increasingly implement social business enablement policies. Adobe’s Head of Social Business Enablement Lauren Friedman shared some valuable information with me during Episode 2 of The Digital Slice Podcast.
A Passionate Social Media Maven
“Employee advocacy and social enablement in general is certainly big in the industry as people are shifting their thinking toward how they use social media and who they want to hear from.” Lauren said.
Lauren’s open support for more and better use of social media in business shows how dedicated she is to her craft. She ensures that social media is used effectively throughout one of the world’s most well-known computer software companies. Its employees undergo the Global Social Media Training Program she developed to learn how to use social media to build their personal brands while promoting its brand.
A Closer Look At How Productive Social Media Use Benefits Businesses
Using Lauren’s training program was a major step for Adobe toward integrating social media into its operations in order to market its brand even better. It was also a wise move as the focus of marketing has moved from marketers to the audience's marketers hope to influence. “I don’t think that trust is going back to the big companies or back to traditional advertising anytime soon.” Lauren said.
How marketing campaigns turn out isn’t controlled by marketers anymore. Audiences can affect the outcomes using social media. In the case of Adobe, its employees can showcase their expertise online while engaging with their customers. Doing so is sure to gain their prospect's and customer's trust. No one knows the ins and outs of Adobe as well as Adobe employees.
Since most customers now trust the recommendations of their peers and a brand's employees more, you’ll have a winning marketing strategy if you train your employees to be your very own brand ambassadors. You might save some marketing dollars too!
Check out my interview with Lauren Friedman to learn how to leverage social media to boost your marketing efforts—and more. And, be sure to contact us, if you want some help designing your very own social business enablement program.
