Where do you place employee influencers amongst all the others? Influencers can be divided into many groups according to their niches, audience types, locations, or following count. And these are pretty common groups that most people in the influencer marketing sector know about. But what about employees that are creating content for the brand they are working for? Where would you place them as they are not really influencers, but they are also not your regular employees? They’re employee influencers.
How Dunkin’ Donuts Uses Employee Influencers
The famous coffee and donut chain Dunkin’ has an amazing case of employee influencers. After working with many influencers including the famous TikToker Charli D’Amelio, Dunkin is now encouraging their employees to create content while they are working and the employees are sharing these videos on their personal TikTok accounts. But does it work in the favor of the brand?
In a nutshell, yes, the brand benefits from these videos. The brand is gaining exposure from the employees who they already pay regularly, so they are actually getting the exposure for free. Encouraging employees to create content for themselves might also result in employees making better drinks, and actually selling more things on the menu rather than a regular black coffee as these videos are quite satisfying to watch.
Food content is one of the most consumed content on TikTok. There are several creators who got famous for just making satisfying or ASMR food / drink videos, so Dunkin’ taking a dive into this trend is actually a smart step into being more visible on social media.
The beauty brands OFRA Cosmetics and Glossier also encourage employees to create content for social media, but these brands share them on the brands’ channels rather than those of employees.
@mollygruberNEW PRODUCT #dunkin #dunkindonuts #dunkindrinks #dunkinemployee #dunkindonut #employee #barista #dunkinemployees #fyp #foryoupage #foryou #dunkins♬ original sound – Molly Gruber
Are Employee Influencers Controversial?
But can this get a backlash somehow? Yes, it can. Because no matter how much good content is out there about a coffee chain’s menu, there will also be some videos that might hurt the reputation of the brand, such as throwing the day-old food items into the trash videos at the food chains because the employees are not allowed to donate them to the shelter as the food might cause health problems after some time. This situation already created a huge negative reaction towards some famous fast food chains, so in this scenario Dunkin’ must also be monitoring what is posted on their employees’ social media channels as well.
What do you think of employee influencers? Are they the next big creative strategy, or a risk to the brand? Let us know down below or hit us up on our socials!
