What is employee advocacy?
Employee advocacy occurs when employees voluntarily and publicly promote or praise their place of employment. For example, employees may share a funny video published by your company or share pictures on social media of a company-hosted event.
Unlike formal marketing campaigns, any member of the organization can become an advocate. Employee advocacy is a great way for your target audience and potential job candidates to better understand your company’s values and raise brand awareness to a wide audience.
Benefits of employee advocacy
Some of the main benefits of advocacy for employees may include:
- Greater brand awareness: Employees who share and tag your company in positive and appreciative posts share this feedback with your followers and their own. This can help your company reach a wider audience and establish better brand awareness.
- Increased revenue: Customers generally search for businesses they trust and can build a strong relationship with. Seeing an authentic appraisal can lead to increased sales from consumers connected to employees’ personal networks.
- Attracting competitive candidates: Many candidates apply for companies that care about their needs and share similar values . Positive posts and referrals from current employees can help your company stand out to job seekers.
- Better retention rates: When employees advocate for your company, it generally signals they enjoy their workplace and want to tell others about it. Promoting a positive company culture and work environment can cultivate employee loyalty, potentially improving employee retention.
Types of employee advocacy
Employee advocacy can take several forms, each of which may connect your organization with new audiences. Common types of employee advocacy practice include the following.
1. Social media posts
Sharing on social media is typically one of the best employee advocacy tactics. Most consumers and job seekers use social media, making online activity a useful way to broaden your company’s audience. Social media’s creative nature also offers many ways for employees to share their appreciation for your company.
For example, when your company does something special for employees, you might encourage employees to share their reactions on social media. Employees may also create blogs, company announcements and other shareable content.
2. Videos and testimonials
Let employees share their experiences with your company through videos or employee testimonials. Consider asking them why they enjoy working with your company or invite them to complete an optional questionnaire about their time at the company.
You might share this appreciation post or video on your website or social media channels. This can help candidates and audience members better understand what it’s like to work at your company and the positive company culture you promote.
3. Events and conferences
Industry events, including seminars, trade shows, conferences and product launches, typically provide opportunities for employee advocates to promote your company face-to-face.
Tips to establish and maintain a successful employee advocacy program
An employee advocacy program can support the feedback satisfied employees often provide organically. Consider these tips for developing a successful program.
1. Work toward a goal
Determine what you’d like to accomplish withan advocacy program. Make your goals clear and reasonably achievable before developing a strategy.
Examples of possible goals include:
- Reaching a specific follower count on social media
- Increasing employee retention rates
- Bringing in more traffic through social media
2. Communicate this new program to employees
Consider scheduling a meeting with your employees to discuss this new program and its goals. You might explain the importance of sharing content on social media or in other public formats. Try to encourage them to share their experiences with others.
3. Assign someone to be in charge of the program
To keep the program running smoothly, consider assembling a leadership team to manage the program from start to finish and answer employee questions.
Additional responsibilities may include:
- Writing engaging content employees are encouraged to share
- Sharing updates about the program with employees
- Taking suggestions from employees
- Encouraging employees to continue sharing and advocating for the program
- Finding ways to improve and enhance the program
FAQs about employee advocacy
Do employers have to reward employees for being advocates?
Whether you reward employees for their advocacy work is up to you. Recognizing team members for their participation can strengthen the program and encourage them to continue contributing valuable work.
Thanking your team for their advocacy can make them feel proud of their achievements. You can display gratitude through social media posts, newsletter features or an “Employee Advocate of the Month” program.
How can I keep employees motivated to advocate for the company?
Keeping employees motivated typically helps maintain a successful advocacy program. Offering incentives can inspire and excite your team.
Here are several incentive ideas to offer employee advocates:
- Company swag, such as mugs, laptop sleeves or sit-stand desks
- Gift cards to local businesses
- A catered lunch for the team with the highest advocacy
How can I measure the success of an employee advocate program?
How you gauge the success of your employee advocacy program may depend on your goals. For example, if you aim to attract more professionals to apply for open roles at your company, the number of applications received may be a good measure of success.
Similarly, an increase in click-throughs to your company website can indicate an improvement in brand awareness. During goal-setting, consider determining an appropriate success measurement to monitor as your advocacy program progresses.
