3. Your employees will advocate for your brand because of the workplace experience theyre already getting. A formal employee brand advocacy program can help you significantly increase your reach. Outsourcing support and strategy development for an employee advocacy program is one of the easiest ways to implement this effective campaign. Consumers dont just want to hear from other consumers that your brand is one to trust. Rather, build your social media policy like a runway. Regardless of size or sector, an employee advocacy program will benefit your company in many ways. Positive reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations from peers, friends, and family generate much higher levels of trust than marketing messages from a faceless company or brand. In fact, Edelmans 2022 Trust Barometer study found 81% of people expect CEOs to be visible when discussing their companies. What is LinkedIn and Why Should You Join? A successful employee advocacy program ensures active participation of the employees in the organization and in ambassadorship programs. Employees need to feel as though they have a purpose and place within the greater organization. So, implement an effective employee advocacy program is a great way to build a culture of engagement and sharing within your organization. Various types of content can be shared to support employee advocacy. Communications will remind employees about the program, can keep them informed of changes and updates, and provides reminders on how to be efficient and effective when participating. Venkatesh is an experienced advocacy marketer, institutions branding enthusiast, and avid blogger on emerging technologies in HR and Marketing domain. With an employee advocacy program, you can ensure that your core messaging and branding are maintained by providing employees with specific content to post. What are the benefits of employee advocacy? Protect the members of the organizations interests, Employee advocacy can be improved through:1. Provide incentives. You need to position your employees as thought leaders, experts, and credible voices. Brag about their passion for your core values and mission? For people, authenticity and relatability matters. It improves brand reach and awareness. That helps leaders better understand their workforce, make informed decisions, and provide better experiences from hire to retire. Instead of using your business channel to promote your brand and services, this strategy involves employees. Does employee advocacy in your organization require a new role? You should also have a change management strategy in place. If youre ready to discover the power of employee advocacy in action, request a demo today. Social media employee advocacy is when employees post and share company content on their personal social media pages or accounts. from their own accounts, your brand can reach a much wider audience of people it might never have attracted before. Recent studies enumerate the fact that the Rise of an Employee Marketer is evident in todays digital world. People trust information shared by individuals much more than messages shared directly by a brand. Top 10 employee advocacy benefits - Firstup Employee advocacy for salespeople can help increase the number of sales-qualified leads, attract and develop new business, shorten sales cycles, and bring in new revenue streams. Offer training. For example, you can show the sales team how employee advocacy can help them close more leads. Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) is going up, audiences are pickier with the content they consume, and competitors are crowding up the space. Each time someone joins the company, theyll see the employee advocacy program as a natural part of their work. Dr. Venkatesh Raman is an expert on Employee Advocacy. This is a great way to make them interested in your brands activities. Do employees feel like they can advance in their careers at your company? With the right strategy, you can empower employee voices and help them shine in front of their peers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, brand promotion through an employee is 2X likelier to be trusted by audiences than from a CEO. Unleash the power of employee advocacy program to build an army of employee brand advocates who increase your brands social reach irrespective of how impressive your brands social media presence. Learn how Big Lot's HR team transformed employee training with Firstup, Employees can have an incredible impact on reinforcing the companys values, Jeremy Ball, VP of Internal Comms, Philanthropy and Events at Big Lots. Thats a great foundation to work from. An effective employee advocacy program provides employees with: This might seem like a lot to put together and coordinate. It allows employees to: Share positive experiences and an inside look related to their work life Promote organizational promotions and messaging Recommend company services and products as experts within the business When we discuss employee advocacy in this post, we are primarily referring to online social media employee advocacy. What is employee advocacy and how to improve it - LinkedIn The more they take part, the more the program grows. Go ahead and unlock employees brand potential to boost your social brand reach in real-time. Applicants who do not apply using the dhsjobs link provided will NOT be considered. hbspt.cta.load(4986491, 'ecc198b4-1451-4707-9eb6-4a6943cba2f4', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Employee advocacy is the promotion of a brand through its employees. According to a recent survey by Hinge Research Institute and Social Media Today, organizations with employee advocacy programs have seen increased brand visibility, improved brand recognition and better brand loyalty. Check out the full article to learn more about employee advocacy. As with any company program, its important to establish its mission and vision. You can build a massive content pipeline when you integrate EGC into your employee advocacy program. Watch on A good employee advocacy strategy will enable your employees to: Amplify company messages and promotions, which increases brand awareness Positively share about their experiences and work life, offering an "inside look" Act as an expert and recommend the company's products and services to friends and family Types of employee advocacy Today, employee advocacy is fast becoming the go-to strategy for amplifying brand reach and generating bigger audiences on social. Thats why employee advocacy and brand advocacy as a whole is an amazing marketing asset, especially in todays environment where trust is valuable currency. Various types of content can be shared to support employee advocacy. Employee KPIs for employers To evaluate employee productivity, organizations rely on various KPIs that provide insights into individual and team performance. It is a win-win situation for both employees and organization to build their personal brand and companys brand online. In this post, well take a closer look at what employee advocacy is. When it takes off, you can save a lot of money on your marketing spend when trying to reach more audiences. Greater Trust, Authenticity and a Humanized Brand Discover best practices, tips and the latest news. increase your social engagement of your content, your employees have a great marketing potential to amplify your branded content, Hinge Research Institute and Social Media Today. For example, you can provide content that your employees can speak to through their own comments and analysis. Set up what you want to measure as a proxy for ongoing relationship status. Remember, your employee advocates arent just a delivery vehicle or posting bots on social media. This can be done in many ways. Reach Target Audience. Customers are more comfortable engaging with someone whom they see as an expert with a product or service. Theyre sources for insights, role models, and more, so their words count. You dont want to miss out on any of them. hbspt.cta.load(4986491, '66d9983b-c935-4b52-910e-f6836d0ce92d', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Employee advocacy gives your employees the benefit of growing their networks. Many platforms also provide a wealth of resources, training, and guides to help you make the most of your program and the platform. A formal employee advocacy program involves encouraging . Check out this video by Oktopost on YouTube about which metrics and KPIs you can use to measure your employee advocacy program: This may sound overwhelming if marketing is not your area of expertise. Finally, dedicate time and resources to making sure your employee advocacy program stays ahead. Companies with active employee advocacy programs leverage their employees' social networks to promote messages, cut advertising costs, and drive sales and recruitment. This employee advocacy guide will explain to you what it is and how you can use it to your advantage to help you recruit the best candidates and boost sales. Check out the full article for how employee advocacy works and why it is such a successful marketing method. Still, only 33% of organizations have a defined program, with only about 1 in 10 organizations having a defined, comprehensive social media advocacy program. Social Media Today. You dont even need all your employees to be advocating for you According to Katie Levinson, writing for LinkedIn, when only 3% of employees share company-relevant content they can drive a 32% increase in engagement and get twice the number of CTRs compared to company shares of the same content. You can facilitate this in a variety of ways. Outsourcing support and strategy development for an employee advocacy program is one of the easiest ways to implement this effective campaign. In other words, a big piece of employee advocacy is to empower the employee voice. | Privacy. Theyre also seeing them in the context of an authentic campaign selling how great your company is, from an employees perspective. Clearview Social is a platform designed specifically to provide expert guidance for employee advocacy campaigns. This goes hand in hand with the incentives mentioned above but often a simple leader board, even without any incentive or reward, will be enough to keep employees engaged and actively participating. Build trust and connections3. For more information on how to activate executives for employee advocacy, check out our complete guide. Social media advocacy is the most common means of implementing helpful programs within organizations today. People trust people, especially people they know. This marketing strategy is based on the well-researched idea that people trust the testimonials of other people far more than they do large brands. An employee advocacy program that extends beyond customer-facing teams will further augment the sales teams efforts by creating a larger presence on social media, building the brands reputation and making the brand more recognizable and familiar to prospective customers. Offer incentives or deals to them4. The advantages of employee advocacy for businesses are clear: increased brand visibility, attracting top talent, spending less on social media advertising and a whole lot more. Rather, theyre active participants who should have a voice in your program. Are your employees happy in their departments and with their direct managers? An organization benefits employee advocacy through increased reach and engagement. To get employee buy-in, focus on answering the question, Whats in it for me?. Employee advocacy helps you get your companys blogs, ebooks, white papers, webinars and other thought leadership content in front of more people. shows that organizations with high employee engagement have a 202% performance advantage over those with unengaged employees. In addition, high caliber talent isnt always looking for a new position and they may not see your job postings at all. Check out the full article for more detail on the benefits of employee advocacy. The proliferation of digital and social technologies empower todays modern workforce to spread company updates online. Lets talk about key performance indicators (or KPIs) to measure employee productivity along with strategies for improving productivity. One of the less obvious but very important employee advocacy benefits is how participating in the program improves employee-company engagement. Employee advocacy programs empower employees to share company content, and their own, to engage customers and prospects in a way that builds employees . 6. Highly regarded individuals reflect well on their teams, and their organizations as a whole and this is something people take into consideration when looking to make the switch to a new company. In simple terms, employee advocacy is the promotion of a company by the individuals who work for it. Of course, you dont want to make your policy so restrictive that it deflates interest in social. Larger Brand Presence and Social Media Reach They also stated that socially engaged employees were: However, employee engagement is more than difficult to quantify soft benefits, like positive sentiment and inter-departmental interaction. Who are the industry experts that can connect with your communities directly? You need to spend some time gauging each department to understand who has the most to gain from employee advocacy. Research by. Employees have on average 10X more followers than a brands official social media accounts. Common KPIs for an employee advocacy program include: Active employee participation rate, Increase in fans or followers, Non-employee engagement rate, including comments and shares. Employees who deal directly with customers are immediate representatives of your brand. In this guide, were covering what employee marketing is, why employee marketing is important an Enroll in our free 5-lesson email course today!Free for limited time only. . When that link is clear, youll see the managers integrate employee advocacy as part of their teams standard work. 2. Check out our report on employee advocates to learn more. We have a detailed A-Z guide on how to roll out your employee advocacy program here. Implementing an employee advocacy program means that your audience network grows exponentially bigger, allowing for more online traffic and conversions. How Can an Organization Launch an Employee Advocacy Program? Its also one of the easiest and quickest way to reach a diverse and large audience with a relatively low ROI. Get them to contribute their insights, expertise, and even their own acts of advocacy (learn more about. Aside from a boost in morale and a more connected and interactive workforce, a report by Altimeter Group found that employee advocacy forms an important part of investing in relationship economics. Think about giving rewards (like gift cards) for seasoned employee advocates and your top performers. One of the biggest blockers to employee advocacy is fear. To build a strong brand online, you need to tap your employees, the future marketing engine of your company. Employee advocacy programs are a valid option that benefits both the employees and the company when it comes to engagement and increasing brand reach and awareness. The key is to understand that each department also has its own KPIs. What is the Purpose of Employee Advocacy? Some common KPIs include: Key Result Areas (KRAs) KRAs outline the primary responsibilities and goals for each employee. Here are the three benefits of advocating the Organisations position:1. Customer Employee Advocacy Benchmark Report shows that posts with personalized content generate 64% more engagement than posts that arent personalized. According to LinkedIn, on average employees have social networks that are 10 times larger than their companys network. That said, employee engagement involves more than just you. Think of ways to continually grow your employee advocacy program. What is Employee Advocacy? Fundamental Employee Advocacy Best Practices One, you want employees to understand what is and is not appropriate to post, as well as how to personalize posts. The point is to ensure you create as much employee buy-in as possible in the program as that will help fuel engagement, growth, and success. Strategic and Controlled, with Measurable Results It allows employees to: Share positive experiences and an inside look related to their work life, Promote organizational promotions and messaging, Recommend company services and products as experts within the business. However, it has a strategic business potential but a lack of familiarity is a key challenge in adopting it in many organization. 3. Competitive benefit packages that address employees' well-being, health, and financial security act as powerful incentives. At the end of the day, measuring results is the best way to see the value of employee advocacy. But few are as accessible or effective as an employee advocacy campaign. Building on the last point, start with the teams that have the most to gain out of being active on social media. Build reports of your programs performance. Top 10 Benefits of Employee Advocacy for Businesses That said, there is a lot involved in making the most of an employee advocacy program But The benefits are huge and absolutely worth it! Employee Advocacy: How To Turn Employees Into Brand Advocates - Unily So, center them in the content you create and in the strategies you build when it comes to sharing and commenting. Employees tend to have 10 times the network reach of brands. It can enhance their skillset. If your brand is struggling to increase their digital presence, an employee advocacy program could help rectify. hbspt.forms.create({ As part of a social media advocacy program, images of company merch and swag can be shared, as well as images of employees using or wearing branded items. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube are examples of social accounts where employees might share company content. You must equip your employees with the tools they need to get each of your target social media platforms right (i.e., understand the algorithm, best practices, etc). Seeing. When businesses rely on their employees to advocate for the company, it can reduce the amount of money invested in advertising and marketing companies. It will also give the company valuable insight into their corporate culture and highlight ways to improve it, which not only boosts productivity and positivity for existing employees but also attracts top talent when recruiting new hires. Do your employees feel informed about your companys direction? Thought leadership is what happens when key brand ambassadors publicly endorse the company they work for. According to HubSpot, people are 71% more likely to make a purchase based on a social media referral. You may be concerned about placing your brands reputation in the hands of people who are not professional marketers. Research shared by Otherwise, somebody else could quickly fill your spot. In the previous section, I named three general effects of employee advocacy. Results are visible and measurable. The benefits of employee advocacy include improved company image, better social media presence, and more leads. However, it also benefits the employees themselves. They want growth opportunities and. What are the benefits of employee advocacy? An employee advocacy study found that employees become advocates when: It might feel like taking a step back, but its a necessary one. Precisely, your employees have a great marketing potential to amplify your branded content. Leverage your customers. An employee advocacy program can provide that. If you want to reach a point where employees are positively talking about your organization, you need to explore issues like: When you work on these aspects, you can start improving employee engagement in your company. The report states that socially engaged employees are more optimistic, inspired, connected, and tenured. For example, some companies segment their employee advocacy programs based on region, business division, and other categories. Try steering your employee advocacy program to focus on the employee. Even B2B buyers use social media to guide their purchasing decisions when theyre looking for a trusted solution to their problem. It costs very little compared to paid advertising and achieves much more, much quicker. 7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Them, 15 Tips How to Edit Instagram Photos Like a Pro Influencer, 13 Best AI Twitter Generators for Tweeting. Basically, audiences trust recommendations from family, friends, and peers i.e., people. Table of contents for your products or services, you can help consumers associate more authenticity with the brand overall. For example, create awards for those who cross early milestones. We've compiled a Top 10 list of the good things that happen when brands give their employees the information and ability to be advocates on their personal social media networks. Theres quite a bit at play, so we recommend checking out the full guide here. It is important because employees are the backbones of your brand. Still, only 33% of organizations have a defined program, with only about 1 in 10 organizations having a defined, comprehensive social media advocacy program. Enable your sales teams to engage customers. Mobilize channel partners to drive demand. Are your employees satisfied with your companys leadership? Therefore, when you provide content for your employees to post, also encourage them to authentically personalize the posts. The tools that power the PostBeyond platform. Put the employee at the center in as many areas as possible. Continually communicate and encourage involvement. Employee Advocacy vs Employee Social Sharing: Whats the Difference. This is something that not only increases productivity but also contributes to a generally more energetic and fulfilling environment. A robust and healthy company culture is vital to a successful, sustainable business. Read on to learn more about You want to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine what is or isnt working for your advocacy program. Online So, galvanize them to engage the . Your employees carry authenticity and relatability with your audiences. You can do this by providing guides or playbooks detailing best practices, tips and examples for best practices on social. Employee advocacy is a social media marketing strategy that places employees voices and experiences center stage. It keeps employees informed. The report found that, when compared to units with low employee engagement, units with highly engaged employees have: As you can see, the hard benefits of improving your employee engagement will have a huge impact on your business, at every level. In fact. The Benefits of Hiring a Wage & Hour Attorney for Workers Advocacy By Space Coast Daily // May 24, 2023 As an employee, you deserve fair compensation for your time and effort. So, EGC carries authenticity with audiences, which is what you want to have in spades when driving a content marketing strategy. When an employee, for example, highlights how they loved your new hire onboarding experience, their audiences will resonate with your employees perspectives. Company recognition was the most effective way to incentivize an employee advocacy program according to a study by, Encourage post-personalization. What is employee advocacy and does it really work? In fact, your employees voice in these contexts carry more weight compared to messages that come from your official brand accounts.