Employee Engagement Helps Brand Ambassadorship
Surprisingly, most people don't associate employee engagement as part of a marketing tactic. According to an article from Advertising Age a couple of months ago, incorporating the internal workforce as part of brand marketing strategy is a growing trend. The recession decreased most of the population's trust in Corporate America and tapping into employees to spread your brand message is becoming a crucial part 
of marketing.
How are companies doing it? By empowering their employee base.
One way companies tap into employees as brand ambassadors is through making them social media evangelists. Southwest Airlines is one of the best examples of this. Their blog, Nuts About Southwest, is employee run with over thirty different contributors. In addition to the company blog, Southwest taps into their intranet to gain feedback from their employees in regards to topics like "most frequent customer complaints" to "what do they love most about Southwest." They also field out advertisements on that intranet to gauge feedback from their employee base.
In addition to social media ambassadors, all employees are ultimately real-life ambassadors. They represent your company on the front lines and outside the office when talking to friends. How they talk about your company and brand in regards to treatment and engagement will eventually reflect on your company. Utilizing clear communication with your employees on your overall strategy, taking in feedback and even using some recognition and rewards in that process can have a positive effect on your brand.
How are you all engaging employees for marketing purposes?