Engaging Advocates: 5 Tips to Earn Brand Advocate Online Support

Think managing online reviews isn’t worth your brand’s time? Think again.

      88% of consumers have read reviews to determine the quality of a local business. Prospects who are unfamiliar with your brand are likely to reach out to the digital space to find what your customers say about you.

      72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. Do you have advocates who are praising your brand on social media and encouraging prospects to trust you? Check out these 5 tips to help you earn and engage with your advocates!
  

1.     Focus on managing customer expectations. According to the Gartner Group, 80% offuture profits will come from only 20% of your existing customers. These are relationships are at your fingertips and deserve to be fostered. What do you expect from brands you love? How do those brands interact with you and show their appreciation for your business? Every point of contact you and your team have with your customers should begin with those questions in mind. Exceed their expectations and give them an experience they will talk about online. 

2.     Be proactive. If there is a mistake made, be aware and don’t wait for your customer to complain. Offer your customer something that not only makes up for the mistake but also the inconvenience. This level of attention and service is what prompts customers to speak out for your brand. 

3.     Establish a customer rewards program. According to Forbes, a rewards program for your top brand advocates creates “and environment of exclusivity” and is appealing because your advocates want to be first in line to get a peek behind the curtain. Customers love to share reviews on rewards they've earned. 

4.     Offer helpful (and shareable) original content. Walk your customers’ journey with them and anticipate their questions and needs. Include links to infographics, videos or other types of compelling content that focuses on answering those questions and making their journey more convenient and easy to understand. Customers will share this content online and talk about how it helped them. 

5.     Turn employees into brand advocates. Recent research shows that employees have “10X more followers than corporate social accounts” and that a “12% increase in brand advocacy generally generates a 2X increase in revenue growth.” Harness the power of your employees’ voice and social sharing clout to give your brand an authentic voice and to achieve higher ROI.

What would you add to this list? Tell us below or tweet us!

@RME360

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

4 Tips for Leaders to Maintain and Improve Office Morale

Leaders recognize the need to consistently monitor and maintain office morale. While they may not have their dream budgets to manage dips in morale, they find ways and develop initiatives to keep their teams happy, passionate about their work and secure in their place within the company. 

Studies show that employees who are happy at work are more productive, but leaders care about more than productivity. Your team is comprised of individuals who have unique strengths, concerns, interests and goals; leaders recognize and appreciate these things and want to empower their teams to feel and be their best both in and out of the office. Consider this notion as it relates to morale: 

Doesn't your team deserve to contribute to an environment that invests in them as individuals and as productive employees? Of course! So here are 4 practical tips on improving and/or maintaining the morale in your office: 

1. Bring in a food truck. 

A leisurely lunch isn't always an option. Deadlines, emails to answer and the thought of braving traffic to get lunch strip the leisure right out of what is often the only break your team may take each day (which is a concern in itself; see #2). Eliminate those concerns by finding local food trucks to set up shop in your parking lot once a week. Look for food trucks that offer a variety of foods to accommodate your team members' different diets. Providing this inclusive gesture will make their lunch yummy and convenient and allow the opportunity to enjoy time away from their workload. 

2. Encourage walking and physical activity. 

Sitting is the new smoking, according to recent research. Show your team you care about their health and well-being by encouraging them to take breaks to move around during the day. We all deserve moments each day to push away from our work, and we all most certainly deserve opportunities to be proactive about our health. 

3. Develop partnerships with local service providers. 

Think about what amenities you would enjoy while sitting at your desk. Looking out the window and watching your vehicle be detailed? Having someone come in to pick up or drop off dry cleaning? Enjoying a chair massage? Contact businesses that offer such amenities to show your team you care about creating a environment that is considerate of their needs. 

4. Offer a generous PTO policy. 

Vacations, appointments, unexpected emergencies or illnesses and mental health days. These are issues everyone on your team must manage, and you can help them with a flexible and generous PTO policy. This allows for several wins: 

     A) encouraging your team to schedule PTO time can help the rest of the team to plan work accordingly; 

     B) asking your team to own their time off puts them in the driver's seat of their schedule; and 

     C) providing your team with ample time off eliminates concerns of "wasting" time off when they, their family members or their pets are sick. 

What ideas on boosting morale have worked in your office? 

Tweet us: @rme360

#pepupyourmorale

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Employee Appreciation Day is March 6th: Let's Show Some Love

Friday, March 6th is the 20th anniversary of Employee Appreciation Day. (Insert applause box here. What? You don't have an applause box? Get one here.) 

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Bob Nelson, the creator of this holiday, says that appreciation from your managers "should be a daily thing. Not every person every day, but every day a manager should do something for somebody to show appreciation." I think we can all agree that recognition means a lot, especially from those who conduct our annual performance reviews and sign our checks. As we wait for the love/flowers/gift cards/etc to roll in tomorrow, here are some ways you can show your fellow employees that you appreciate them: (managers aren't the only ones who can dole out the compliments) 

1. Send your colleague a video. I don't know anyone who can deny the cuteness of kitties. And I definitely don't know anyone who wouldn't appreciate a video full of kitty cuteness to brighten her day and to say thank you for her hard work. I'm sure there are other videos you can send, but go with the kitties in this one; it's a sure bet. 

2. Use the iAppreciate app. This app created by O.C. Tanner Co., a leader in human resources consulting, provides with you tools to write notes, send e-cards or create award certificates for your fellow hard-working employees. You can even create a milestone event to celebrate a colleague's contributions, successes or years of service and invite others to attend. 

3. Say thank you. When was the last time a fellow employee thanked you for your help or your contributions? Felt good, huh? Pass on that fuzzy feeling to a well-deserving colleague. Maybe someone stayed late to work on a project. Maybe he brought the team donuts last week. Maybe she handled a tough meeting with poise you couldn't dream of having. Saying thank you sure can a long way. 

4. Be the one who brings the donuts. Seriously. This is never a bad idea. Be sure to include treats for colleagues with different diets (vegan, gluten-free, etc) as well. 

5. Request a meeting with your colleagues and management team about shows of appreciation. Nelson advises management to ask employees what they believe are the best ways to show appreciation and then to "shut up and listen." By brokering that meeting, you can show your fellow employees you care about team morale and show your management team that you take initiative. 

6. Collaborate with your human resources department on celebration ideas. Have a great idea for a last minute way to celebrate? Have something you'd like to see implemented for next year? Reach out to human resources and offer your ideas. Be a voice for your fellow employees and they'll appreciate your efforts. 

What ideas would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments or on our social media! 

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

5 Tips to Make 2015 Your Best Work Year Yet

Here we are in 2015.

      A new year, a fresh perspective and renewed hope for all things improved, right? You’ve no doubt seen a lot of “new year, new me” posts across social media with lists of resolutions to go with them. It might be tempting to compare those resolutions to last month’s sugar plums dancing in our heads, but there’s no need for things you want to improve to be mere visions in your head, specifically in the workplace.

     Here are 5 ideas to help you kick-off your 2015 in the workplace with more than just a fresh perspective and renewed hope:

 1.     Connect across generations. Workplaces in 2015 are diverse in many aspects, including age. Different generations bring different lessons and perspectives to the workplace table, all of which are valuable and deserve to be heard. While it may be easy to stick close to the lessons and perspectives of your generation, reach out to your colleagues of other generations to bridge any gaps. You’ll need each other as your office moves forward this year.

2.     Learn how to say no. Warning: this may not be easy. We want to accommodate others. We want to offer our help. We want to be polite. We want to please our managers. But learning to say no can help you focus on your own goals and be more productive. You might offer the solicitor a reference to someone else who can help along with your honest explanation as to why you won’t be able to offer your assistance; someone else in your office may be looking for the exact opportunity to help that you need to turn down.

3.     Know when and how to relax and recharge. Again, this may not be easy. In the world of multi-tasking, meetings, conference calls and working lunches, taking a break may seem impossible. Make it possible. Get up from your desk, walk around, make use of your office’s exercise equipment (or napping pods if you’re that lucky), chat with an office friend about anything other than the office, go outside and feed the squirrels or enjoy a visualization activity. These activities are not taking away from your work; they are improving your mental capacity and helping you be more productive.

4.     Have stand-up meetings. You’ve undoubtedly heard of stand-up desks. Super cool idea, right? Well, take that idea and run with it to establish stand-up meetings in your office. This may not work for every type of meeting that your office needs, but it will certainly cut down on time away from major projects as well as your personal goals at work. The idea has the stamp of approval from former Gates Foundation executive Sylvia Mathews Burwell; she’s quoted as saying, “If we all have to sit down, it’s taking too long.”

5.     Be passionate. Do you have a vision for your work? For your goals? For your team? Your passion for that vision should be present in everything you do. Sure, we all have rough days, but when we care about what we do and the manner in which we do it, we transform our visions into realities. If you’re an employee, transform your vision by going beyond what’s expected with every project you accept. If you’re a manager, transform your vision by collaborating with your employees and by showing them how their contributions fit into your larger focus. 

      By: Susan Gail Taylor, Marketing Coordinator and Copywriter at RME360