Looking for brand ambassadors? Turn to your employees.

AdAge recently published an interesting article on how to turn your own employees into great brand ambassadors for your company. They speak on many points, with an overwhelming conclusion that “consumers increasingly base their feelings about a company on what they know about its people, rather than what an ad agency’s creative team can portray.“

Business as we know it is becoming more and more transparent. Companies are (whether by choice or not) giving consumers a look inside their operations.  People can, and will, find whatever they can about you on the internet. You need to make sure these people are reading credible and official information about your company and employees.

AdAge sums it up, “There’s a new and largely untapped resource within corporate walls that can help companies build brand equity, and it’s your employees — specifically those employees with individual personal brands.”

The article goes on to emphasize the importance for individuals to have established personal brands on the internet.

As companies begin to understand the interdependent relationship between employees and profits, a new model for hiring and sourcing talent emerges. Social media will pave the way for applicants to build strong relationships with recruiters well before a face-to-face interview. Now, instead of taking traditional applications, jobs will find recruits after they have built powerful personal brands online or through other forms of recognition. Hiring employees who have established personal brands will help companies immediately inherit value and relevance in a crowded market and may lead to quicker results in meeting growth objectives.

Our own conclusion? Get yourself online! Even if you’re not the type of person who surfs the web to network, establish your personal brand out there! At the very least you need to have a presence, ensure people find the right information about you, put it out there yourself!