Up Your Social Media Strategy by Leveraging Your Team’s Voice!

Imagine your company’s latest insights and offerings being shared and personally recommended by your team members to their networks. Each employee, with their unique connections and individual influence, can dramatically amplify your brand’s presence and credibility online. Think of it as word-of-mouth marketing in the digital realm, where your staff’s endorsements can drive growth and bring your content to life.

But the question stands: How can you, as a business owner, ignite the spirit of advocacy within your team? How can you craft an Employee Advocacy Program that aligns with your staff’s interests and your business objectives? And importantly, how can this boost your marketing efforts and enrich your company culture and employee engagement?

In the following article, we’ll guide you through the process of creating an Employee Advocacy Program that resonates with your business ethos, empowers your employees, and turns them into brand champions. We’re not just talking about adding another channel to your marketing mix—we’re talking about maximising all opportunities to find and connect with your audience.

1. Define Your Goals

Start by establishing what you want to achieve with your employee advocacy program. Goals may include:

• Increase brand awareness
• Drive traffic to the agency’s blog and website
• Generate leads
• Position your agency as a thought leader
• Enhance employer branding and aid in recruitment

2. Create a Content Strategy

Develop a content strategy that supports your goals. This can include:

• Blog posts about industry trends, case studies, or success stories
• Infographics and visuals summarising market research
• Educational content like how-to guides or listicles
• Employee spotlights or a behind-the-scenes look into your business

Ensure that the content is shareable, valuable to your audience, and reflects positively on your brand.

3. Provide Training and Resources

Empower your employees by providing them with:

• Training on personal branding and social media best practices
• Guidelines on what kind of content is appropriate to share
• Tools that make sharing content easy, like social media management platforms

4. Develop a Content Sharing Platform

Implement a platform where employees can access and share marketing content easily. It could be a simple internal content library or a more sophisticated employee advocacy platform.

5. Encourage Content Creation

Encourage employees to create original content by:

• Writing guest posts for the agency blog
• Sharing their professional insights and experiences on social media
• Creating videos or podcasts that can be shared on various platforms

6. Monitor and Measure

Track the performance of your advocacy program using metrics like:

• Engagement (likes, shares, comments)
• Reach and impressions
• Traffic to the blog or website attributed to employee shares
• Lead generation metrics (if applicable)

7. Recognise and Reward

Create a recognition system to reward active employee advocates:
– Public acknowledgment in meetings or on social networks
– Incentives for top performers, such as gift cards or extra time off
– Career development opportunities linked to advocacy performance

8. Provide Feedback

Regularly provide feedback to your employees on the impact of their advocacy. Share success stories and how their efforts contribute to the company’s goals.

9. Maintain Compliance and Best Practices

Ensure that all advocacy activities comply with relevant regulations and company policies. Provide clear guidelines on what employees can and cannot share.

Implementation Steps:

1. Pilot Program

Start with a pilot program including a small, motivated group of employees to refine your approach.

2. Scale Up

Gradually expand the program, incorporating feedback and making improvements.

3. Integration

Integrate the advocacy program into your broader marketing strategy, ensuring it complements other initiatives.

4. Communication

Keep lines of communication open between the program managers and employee advocates for continuous improvement.

An effective Employee Advocacy Program relies on a culture of trust and communication. The more your employees feel connected to the agency’s success and brand, the more likely they will be genuine and enthusiastic advocates. Always aim to create a win-win situation where the agency and the employees benefit from the program.