Have you ever considered the impact your company culture could have on your branding? Turns out a positive internal culture creates better external outcomes.
Think about some of the most successful businesses; the ones who are putting out the most innovative products and content. Do their employees seem miserable? Are they confined to dark, dreary offices for long hours every week? Are these companies forcing their employees to wear overly formal attire or writing them up every single time someone comes in five minutes late?
Of course not.
Because unhappy employees create drab, sad content. They don’t want to tell anyone about the place they work because it makes them so miserable. They don’t suggest new, innovative ideas because they are afraid they will be shot down or simply ignored. They’re burnt out and clearly only show up to collect a paycheck.
But if you look at some of the best companies, there is not a cubicle in sight. If there are cubicles, they are balanced out by colorful and comfortable lounge spaces and employees are allowed to humanize the space with decorations.
These are the companies that put out top-tier, branded content.
Why?
Happy employees are easy to convince to promote your brand.
There are some simple steps you can take to turn your employees into your biggest brand ambassadors. I cover them in this article, which we’ve recently updated. Today’s post covers how to cultivate a culture that supports employee happiness and wellness. This translates to content that is authentic and genuine.
THE VALUE OF TELLING TRUE STORIES
It’s all well and good to just go gallivanting around the internet, spreading a well-made video that makes your company look good. But why settle on “good” when you could be going for a word like “incredible.”
Camera tricks won’t make the cut in creating content that is both authentic and appealing. There needs to be a solid base behind the video for it to be as tantalizing as possible.
There are a couple of different types of buyer persona who are going to be taking in your story, and it’s in your best interest to be honest with them. Suppose someone comes to your headquarters and sees that the beautiful, sunlit lounge you featured in your last video doesn’t exist? Or even that the casual atmosphere you brag about isn’t as relaxed as you made it seem?
Company culture is the meat behind videos and other content that show off your company. Otherwise, your video can be like a bag of expensive chips. It looks full until you open the bag, and you realize that its more air than substance. Fancy packaging might look good, but anyone who digs a little deeper will be able to tell if there’s something behind it.
There are numerous ways to determine what it’s really like at a company, be it the employer-rating website Glassdoor, or the way a company’s employees act on their public social media accounts.
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE AND WHY DO THEY CARE?
As mentioned above, a few different audiences you are catering to when you make content related to company culture. Three distinct groups will be interested in learning more about your company culture, and each group has a different set of motivations.
Prospective Employees
These are the people that care the most if your company looked super cool to work at, and then, a few weeks in, they realize that everything isn’t as amazing as it seemed. They then start to be a little more vocal with their dissatisfaction or a little less vocal with their satisfaction.
Your self-promotional content is likely what attracted a person to your company in the first place. If you talk yourself up too much, you are likely to get someone’s hopes up. If you downplay the excellent aspects of your culture too much, you won’t attract the talent you are looking for.
Prospective Customers
In the B2C realm, customers these days are more likely to love your brand when it has a cause attached to it. For example, I bought a pair of pants from a company online that bragged about how a portion of each purchase went to save a stray animal in the country the product came from.
I would argue that a company that excels in treating its employees well is similar to having a cause. A decision-maker is looking at your organization, and your company culture might be the missing piece they need to decide between your product and service and another. It’s not as impactful as it is in B2C, but someone looking at your company could make the decision, “I would like to work with these guys,” or, “I would like my brand name next to theirs,” after looking into your company culture.
Everyone Else
There is a group in your audience that might watch, read, or listen to all of your content without having any interest in buying from or working for your company. These might be people looking to mimic the type of culture you have at your organization or are simply admirers of your content. They are still an important group. While they may not buy from you directly, you never know who they know, and they can be a decent source of referrals.
A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES
There have been a couple of companies that seem to have both great culture and great content related to it. These companies are the ones that you should admire and strive to emulate because they are doing a nice job.
Hubspot
Hubspot has everything. Its website is stuffed with content, which makes sense due to the inbound marketing focus of the company. There were a couple of significant things that jumped out to me culture-wise while poking around the website. The first is the “Our Story” page, which features gorgeous videos about the company set between easy-to-digest bits of text. One of the links there brings you to the “Culture Code” Slideshare, which breaks down why employees at the company seem so happy. And it’s backed up with countless good reviews on Glassdoor.
King Content
This is another company that focuses on ensuring visitors to the website get a feel for how the company is run. What attracted my attention here was the series called “Life as a King Content Intern.” Not only do you get to know a little about each of the interns who participated in the series and how their first weeks went, but then the series follows up with the same interns later. The interns describe how welcome they feel and how much experience they gain. This is a fantastic way to attract not only top interns but top talent in general. After reading the series, it doesn’t seem like a bad place to work. And since the focus of the company is creating quality content, this series and the rest of the content do a brilliant job of attracting potential clients.
Do you deserve to be on this list? Why? What makes your company culture stand out? Do you produce awesome content about it? Share with us in the comments section!
