Despite the increased interest surrounding company culture, many businesses neglect the opportunity at hand when it comes to leveraging theirs. Company culture; this golden opportunity is the gateway to your next social media campaign and serves as a key differentiation tool when it comes to outpacing the competition.

With the increasing interest centered around company-culture nowadays, it’s becoming one of the key decision makers driving appeal to millennial talent. Additionally, when it comes to the start-up driven economy that can build businesses from a completely digital platform, it’s become a point of differentiation setting many apart from their competition.

So, give your company a thorough audit to see if they’re utilizing any of these 5 social media strategies to crush the competition.

  1. Make your Brand Notable

Stray away from the strictly logo and client-focused pictures on social media. Instead, charm your audience with pictures of employees, company events or the office. Additionally, feel free to highlight the unique aspects of your company. For example, if your company has office animals, get those furry friends in the limelight!

Adding some personality to your brand makes it relatable and generates more than just likes and comments. Showcasing the business overall will create an image in the mind of your audience, creating rapport and making your business stand out.

  1. Put Employees on a Pedestal

Utilize your employees’ accomplishments in and outside the office. Showcase not only employees’ achievements in the office (think exceeding individual quotas, receiving awards, etc), but also the medal from the marathon they completed last weekend. Displaying more than just the work-related accomplishments promotes a sense of pride and satisfaction and presents your team as a well-rounded one, and your employees become relatable to potential clients.

To make your company really stand out, get creative with employee recognition. Plaques and medals are great but what about awards that are client-related? For example, if your company happens to have WWE as a client, why not hold a monthly internal competition and award the WWE champion belts to the “Champion of the Month”? The more out-of-the-box you are, the more your brand creates an identity that stands out in the saturated social media world.

  1. Utilize Employee-Generated-Content (EGC)

You may already be familiar with User-Generated-Content (UGC) but what about content spurring from the employees within the organization? Encouraging employees to write content for the company’s blog, submit their own pictures from previous company events, or take photos during company-related lunches will show a thriving company culture. Focusing on the company culture by highlighting the value of your people and your brand is key when utilizing EGC.

Displaying multiple aspects of company culture can serve as a resource to help your potential clients, employees or vendors know what to expect when they come in for that first meeting. Consequently, an important role of social media has become is to serve as your first impression, and integrating the EGC will create a remarkable impression to all who cross your social media path!

  1. Adopt an In-House Advocacy Program

Although EGC is extremely useful, it’s not plausible for all companies. Luckily there’s an alternative; an In-House Advocacy Program is a great way to promote social interactions within the office and encourages employees to get involved!

This could be as simple as employees taking photos at a company event or in the office and posting them on their own social media accounts. Of course, no company can force their employees to post on their personal accounts, but you can certainly encourage them to incorporate their work events and work culture on their pages. If your culture is what you want it to be, they’ll probably want to post the photos on their personal pages anyway!

There are limitless possibilities when it comes to the implementation and execution of an In-House Advocacy Program. Just remember to set your focus beyond the increased social media engagement goals, but on the main objective of the program; embracing all employees’ personalities and intertwining them within company culture to unite the entire company.

  1. Don’t be Afraid to Show Behind-the-Scenes

On Fridays, do you cater lunch for all of your employees? Does your staff attend sports outings together or do work in the community? Do some of your fellow employees go to the gym together on their lunch breaks? Showcasing what those in your company are doing creates a deeper understanding of the company culture; one going beyond the products and services it provides.  This will generate a buzz around your company on social media and anyone from clients to prospects will appreciate the authenticity.

Final Thoughts

Your company culture will continue to evolve just like social media does. Giving center stage to your unique company culture can captivate your audience, clients and prospects, trumping the competition and promoting your authenticity within your industry.