Four Guidelines a brand can set up an army of employee advocates

Empowering staff can transform a firm’s online presence and ROI too, because customers often trust those they know over an organisation’s marketing messages.

This is where an employee advocacy programme can effectively be rolled out. Having such a scheme is not only a better way to spread the word and generate meaningful relationships with an audience, but it’s also a digital extension of word-of-mouth marketing.

It’s a chance for people to promote who they work for – and what better way than via the social media channels they know their target market engages with most.

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The 4 Guides a brand can set up an army of employee advocates are:

1°

Get management buy-in and set advocacy goals

Without directors supporting the programme, ideas can instantly fall flat. Not only should they believe in the concept, but ideally, be participating in it too. Brands are often seen as more honest and trustworthy if the C-suite is engaged on social media. When upper management openly supports and recognises the value of the initiative, it can help drive engagement throughout the ranks and make more people become active online.

2°

Recruit participants and offer incentives

Drive success by effectively communicating the plans with staff, underline their expectations of involvement, outline the framework, and highlight how it will integrate into their everyday work. Meanwhile, it’s vital to track the firm’s top sharers and provide managers with the information to showcase the positive contribution they are making to the programme.

3°

Encourage contributors and create crucial content

Sharing content for professional reasons is completely different to pushing something out regarding a personal subject. Therefore, keep new advocates engaged by commenting and liking posts and giving online shout-outs. Making the programme scalable should be an ongoing process – especially for those in big companies with hundreds of staff.

4°

Celebrate team efforts and promote collaboration

Taking the time to understand how sharing valuable social content can impact the company’s bottom line and help towards website traffic metrics, lead generation, brand awareness and more, should go some way to tackling this. An effective programme helps people feel valued and part of a well-oiled, supportive team that shares insightful content across a far-reaching audience. Getting the attention of the company’s target market is a challenge in today’s highly digital world – especially when brand content isn’t as trusted as it once was – so staff members should be viewed as the lifeblood of the organisation.