A common piece of branding advice is to turn employees into advocates. Staff are an integral part of the brand experience and an increasing number of companies are realising the power their employees hold as spokespeople, ambassadors, or detractors. Some are investing more into their staff, ensuring they are fully engaged with the brand and have the tools to provide excellent customer service. It’s well known that if staff are proud of where they work, they’ll be happy to talk about it in a positive light, however, some companies are even taking this a step further by turning their employees into influencers.

For brands, social media has brought new forms of marketing. Content, conversations, and, influencers help them connect with specific audiences online. Social media has also meant employees can share their praise or (despite warnings from multiple job hunting sites) complaints about their employers with many others. Creating influencers out of staff is one way to make sure any online mentions from employees are positive ones. It’s also an interesting way of bringing influencer marketing in-house.

Fashion retail staff usually wear the brand they work for, so encouraging them to become influencers by sharing their outfits online makes sense. Japanese brands have been doing this for a while, hiring fashionable shop staff and sharing their outfit snaps on the brand’s website or social media channels, giving customers styling tips and inspiration.

Off the retail floor, brands are also transforming head office staff into influences. Department store chain Macy’s assembled the Macy’s Style Crew last year. These employees share videos and photos of their favourite clothing and other products on the Macy’s site and on social media. ASOS has its ‘Insiders’ – a stylish group made up of employees and outside influencers who have special ASOS-handle Instagram accounts where they share outfit photos. There’s also an ASOS Insiders’ web page where visitors can shop selections curated by each Insider.