Brands: How to use social to drive digital transformation

1. Establish employee advocacy

"Start by establishing a social employee advocacy program. Employee advocacy on social creates greater value in brand health and employee engagement and also improves efficiency in areas ranging from sales to recruitment. The integration of a social media strategy across all aspects of an organization supports digital transformation. It all starts with participation from the executives and then extends throughout the organization. At Hootsuite, customers that use Amplify have said adding employee advocacy into their overall social strategy has helped them digitally transform," said Henk Campher, VP of Corporate Marketing & Head of Social Impact, Hootsuite.

2. Establish social listening

"Inform your strategy with social listening. Active listening to conversations and sentiment for each key stakeholder (customers, employees, partners, investors, and the community) gives brands real-time insights into shifting trends, consumer sentiment, competitive intelligence, and potential risks to brand reputation. These insights are key to helping a brand better understand its competition and most importantly, what customers want from your brand," said Campher.

3. Establish meaningful conversations

"Engage in meaningful conversations on social. By actively connecting with customers on social, brands can more effectively understand customer desires and opinions and use this insight to inform key decisions. The two-way dialogue between a brand and its customers can also serve as a way to build brand credibility, which is important when undergoing a transformation internally," said Campher.

Tags: digital transformation, Hootsuite, social marketing, social marketing tips, social marketing trends