Why Marketers Should Add Employee CREATED Content to Their Marketing Mix ~via @PhotofyApp CEO @Katadhin
If you Google ‘Employee Created Content' the search engine will change your search to ‘Employee Generated Content’ as the idea of employee “created” content hasn’t entered the collective mindset of its algorithms. Yet. Employee Created Content (ECC) is a largely untapped source of marketing for companies of all sizes. Original content is the lifeblood of digital marketing today and employees have a unique and authentic voice that is also a perfect complement to ongoing digital media efforts.
ECC provides anchor content that can be shared, engaged with and integrated into relationship building at the local and channel level, building search results far more sticky than SEO alone.
Google returns what content it finds, and basically concludes that employee content is “generated,” mostly by re-sharing existing “company” created content. This is a tried and true model, and has value, but it’s basically overused today and relies on the “’we the brand’ control all brand collateral” mindset. Google looks at the same piece of content shared as the “same content” and doesn’t give it the same weight as original content. Both syndication and original content will outperform either form alone. By empowering employees with simple, easy to use brand assets and templates, they can create beautiful, consistent, and original content for their own channels that augments brand communications, and vastly outperforms in terms of engagement. Our enterprise partners at Photofy see a 6-13% engagement rate on average for content created by their employees using our platform. Compare this to an average brand engagement rate of 1/2% or less, and there is good reason to consider adding this new form of media into the fold.
Employee Created Content also helps solve the challenge of local content for retailers. Locally created content serves to help shoppers along the path to purchase, as search across platforms aggregates content for their journey. ‘(Blank) near me’ search becomes a primary winner for searches running the gamut from grocery and food delivery, to auto-service, to fitness locations, and salons and spas. The scale of ECC is simply overwhelming and impossible to replicate with traditional content creation methods. Additionally, an ECC platform can unify the efforts of internal and agency creative with influencers, partners, employees, and even customers, combining all stakeholders into a robust content creation and sharing community. A Network gives you Reach, but a Community gives you Power… Networks Connect, Communities Care.
At Photofy our goal is simple, we aim to be the most friction-free tool for Employee Created Content (ECC). Our easy to use, mobile-only platform, enables anyone to create great looking branded content from corporate approved assets. Our platform is uncomplicated and designed for non-creatives… it’s like a box of digital branding Legos your collaborative teams can use to create authentic, on-brand content for digital channels. Marketing teams use our portal to manage available assets and track all users creations and shares in real time, giving a comprehensive view of what channels employees are sharing to and which assets are the most popular. This data adds to an overall brand analytics stack, and gives marketers better insights on where to allocate media investments.
Naturally, some marketers have trepidation about Employee Created Content, but the benefits far outweigh the concerns. First, employees can already easily use branded assets from the web (AND THEY DO), why not give them assets YOU WANT them to use. Next, there is often little to no visibility into what employees are creating. Using an ECC platform helps marketers guide content creation, and create vast libraries of shared content for syndication use going forward. Finally, employees are the primary touchpoint for most customers; you trust them to physically interact with shoppers but not via digital channels? If that’s the case, you need to take a closer look.
Implementing an ECC effort can be easily accomplished in a shot period of time, and can also be used to solve some pressing corporate efforts like recruiting and employee engagement. Our team at Photofy will be happy to help you develop a test platform to explore the possibilities of Employee Created Content. Give me a ring at my mobile number 919.810.5159 and we can get started (and yes… I actually answer my phone, keep my voice-mailbox up-to-date, and return calls).
Easy to create beautiful Branded Content in under 30 seconds... Photofy enables and empowers the creation and sharing of properly branded photographic content at scale.
