You may be a brand ambassador for your company, but are your employees? If not, it’s time to live by the famous cliché: two minds are better than one.

Social media sites are the epitome of a collaborative environment since they allow you to interact with other company employees, with customers, and with perspective customers―the possibilities are endless.

In order to get the results you want from your online marketing efforts, your company team should work together to communicate with the online community, acting as respectful brand ambassadors. In addition, have friends and family participate in company discussion on social media sites, illustrating to others that you already have a loyal following.

Here’s how the process begins:

Step One: Observe how other companies are utilizing their social media sites. Does it appear that there is more than one person representing that specific brand on social media sites? If so, that company has brand ambassadors. Social media sites allow brand ambassadors to integrate themselves into the online community and build an excellent reputation and reciprocal relationships—something your business works to achieve every day.

Step Two: Don’t underestimate the power of social media sites. Since anyone can use social media sites to say anything they choose, it’s extremely important to set company guidelines for using social media sites—especially since all comments are viral. These guidelines should focus on how each comment made by brand ambassadors must work to protect the brand image. If employees do not respect you or the company they work for, your company may be vulnerable to brand bashing. Even if you’re not influencing employees to actively participate on social media sites on behalf of your company, it’s still important to make sure they are not working against your brand image on their personal accounts.

According to WebProNews, a recent study from ProofPoint found that seventeen percent of businesses reprimanded an employee for abusing social media or blogging company guidelines and nine percent terminated an employee for violating these guidelines. Following your employees on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can possibly prevent future negative impacts on your company’s reputation.

Remind your employees that if they are using social media sites it’s their responsibility to represent your company in a respectable light. If they don’t have anything nice to say about it, they shouldn’t say anything at all.

Step Three: Show employees how to use social media sites to effectively represent the brand. Have them discuss upcoming events and industry news, participate in discussions relevant to your business, and be present on groups and forums that are beneficial to the growth of your company. Have employees ask questions to facilitate discussion and add valuable information to conversations they participate in.

Love this post? Feel free to share it with your friends on Digg or Stumbleupon.