There’s a powerful transition underway in which companies are now seeking to leverage the same dynamics they’re using to reach customers to engage their employees. Gagen MacDonald and APCO Worldwide have done some great new research in this area and the info graphic above explains how to create an internal social media strategy that will connect and inspire your employees.

The key factor I would add to this great illustration is the ever-present need to ensure the emotional connection that will drive employee social media engagement is in place. No amount of technology, structure or systems will serve a company and its employees if they’re not emotionally motivated to do so. And, more than ever, that emotional connection stems from the companies purpose.

Often the mission statement of a company is an idle relic of corporate reporting that has no significance in the life of its leadership or employees. But those companies that generate true passion and loyalty among employees and customers, all know why they are working there or what the company stands for.

Brands such as Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola and Patagonia have consistently demonstrated this ability and anyone who has had the good fortune to walk their office corridors can feel the company purpose in the air, the furniture and the very “being” of the organization. It’s that qualitative difference that make the quantitative success possible.

So as we benefit from the tools, tactics and structures outlined above, let’s always factor in the human or emotional component that drives the connective tissue of social media between employees and with customers. It’s this sense of purpose that not only distinguishes a brand from its competitors, but also makes that company more meaningful to their employees and customers lives inspiring them to talk about the brand using their own social media channels.

Do you think the purpose of a company is important to its employees? Do you believe it’s equally important to how they use social media internally?

For more research and a downloadable pdf of the Gagen MacDonald/APCO findings, click here.