{"id":40997,"date":"2016-06-23T12:40:31","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T19:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/?p=40997"},"modified":"2019-08-08T09:28:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:28:41","slug":"amplify-seo-employee-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/amplify-seo-employee-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Set Your Traffic on Fire: Latest Ways to Amplify SEO, Including Employee Advocacy \u2013 #SMX"},"content":{"rendered":"
How can search and social marketing teams work together to make both their efforts more effective? You can use social media as a distribution network for content, but realize that today, organic social traffic is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n In the session \u201cSEO & Social: Let\u2019s Dance!\u201d at SMX Advanced, speakers Jason White, Maggic Malek and Travis Wright will share the latest ways marketers can leverage the social world to help advance SEO, build brand awareness, and engage with prospects. From employee advocacy to remarketing ads, there are many options in the overlap between search and social.<\/p>\n Jason White (@sonray<\/a>), VP SEO & SMM for DragonSearch, starts to talk about distribution networks. Social media is a fascinating distribution network. As an industry, a lot has been written about the declining reach of organic. If you’re a small brand building an audience, it can be a really frustrating, slow process to see that your social media posts don\u2019t get seen by many people naturally.<\/p>\n #SMX<\/a> exclusive –>@DragonSearch<\/a>‘s @sonray<\/a> on employee advocacy! Love it. #SEO<\/a> @smx<\/a> #socialmedia<\/a> #smm<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/s8cblaeYOe<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kristi Kellogg (@KristiKellogg) June 22, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Employee brand advocacy<\/a> (which White thinks is a silly name) describes the process in which brands get bigger reach through their employees\u2019 social profiles. When the concept first was introduced to Jason, he found it creepy \u2014 but he can’t deny that it works. It works because it has greater reach than that of the brand in some cases. The influence that employees can gain for a brand can’t be ignored.<\/p>\n There are two main aspects to establishing an employee advocacy program. First, there’s the networks they’re on. Then there’s the mechanical aspect \u2014 what are you looking to deliver through their networks?<\/p>\n Optimize as much as you possibly can and find the wins. White says not to look just at social, but get these employee advocates to be blog authors. Their names matter. Build them up. A lot of people only look at employee amplification and leave it at that, but if you’re looking full funnel you see email, chat, forums, and other places where you can leverage that employee’s voice.<\/p>\n Available Tools for Employee Advocacy<\/strong><\/p>\n Cultural Considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n Some companies are collaborative, some are creative, some are competitive \u2014 and some are controlling. In a controlling environment, your employee advocacy strategy might be a little bit different. But it can still work.<\/p>\n Employees are brands in and of themselves. They should have the freedom to share and not share as they think fits their image\/reputation. Not all messages should be shared by all participants, and that’s okay.<\/p>\n [Editor\u2019s note: Companies also need to be sure that employees disclose their relationship when endorsing products\/services. See the FTC\u2019s endorsement guidelines<\/a> for details.]<\/p>\n Month 1: Get comfortable. Form a weak baseline.<\/p>\n Month 2: Require tweaks to the process and get deeper insights to form a stronger baseline.<\/p>\n Month 3: Hit your stride.<\/p>\n People feed off competition. The prize doesn’t have to be crazy. People feed off competition. The reward could be a gift card or a half day off or anything. If the program is dying, a reward can get things going again.<\/p>\n Maggie Malek (@MagsMac<\/a>), head of social media at The MMI Agency, says there’s a new consumer landscape \u2014 search and social can no longer be separate. Things have changed in the past four years:<\/p>\n Identify moments that matter. “I believe that everything is better if you lead with the head and follow with the heart,”<\/em> says Malek. The head is search and the heart is social. Both have to be constantly talking to each other and exchanging data.<\/p>\n You must understand yourself as a brand and know exactly who you are conversing with. Define your spirit and stand for that spirit in every aspect of search and social.<\/p>\n What are people searching for in the privacy of their own Google search box?<\/p>\n What questions are they asking?<\/p>\n What trends are you seeing?<\/p>\n But Google isn’t the only place people are searching:<\/p>\n Some metrics measure awareness: Reach\/impressions, engagement, mentions, clicks\/CTR, site traffic, brand awareness and sentiment.<\/p>\n Other metrics measure conversions, or reaching goals you\u2019ve set, such as: leads, checkouts, conversion rate, average order value, cart abandonment rate, customer retention rate and customer LTV (lifetime value).<\/p>\n Success looks different for every brand. What metrics will you be looking at?<\/p>\n Hero:<\/strong> Large-scale tent-pole events or \u201cgo big\u201d moments designed to raise broad awareness.<\/p>\n Hub:<\/strong> Regularly scheduled “push” content designed for your prime prospect.<\/p>\n Hygiene:<\/strong> Always-on “pull” content designed for your core target.<\/p>\n Malek has a publication checklist you can check out here: mmiagency.com\/smxadvanced<\/a> (PDF)<\/p>\nEstablishing an Employee Advocacy Program: Jason White<\/h2>\n
Employee Advocacy<\/h3>\n
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Establish Goals (the first step of any program)<\/h3>\n
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Important to Keep in Mind<\/h3>\n
Timeline<\/h3>\n
Gamify<\/h3>\n
Conversions that Change Hearts and Minds: Maggie Malek<\/h2>\n
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Lead with the Head<\/h3>\n
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Let the Heart Provide Context<\/h3>\n
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Metrics for Awareness vs. Conversion<\/h3>\n
Pick Your Channels<\/h3>\n
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Three Types of Content<\/h3>\n
Plan for Unbridled Success<\/h3>\n
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Takeaways<\/h3>\n
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Enhance Your Marketing Strategy: Travis Wright<\/h2>\n