People are the key to the success of any business. Many smart employers are using the power of their staff to support their hiring by creating what’s known as an employee advocacy strategy.
Businesses can empower their people to play a key role in raising awareness of their brand online. If you already have multiple social media accounts for your business, then most content-sharing platforms can help you curate content and make it easy for individuals to share it on social media. Posts can be sent to your employees’ email inboxes, where an individual can choose whether they want to share the post directly to their channel or if they’d like to add some of their own commentaries. You can make the most of your employee’s social networks by encouraging them to:
* Share brand blog posts or articles
* Share photos from your company or team events
* Share what they enjoy about being an employee of the company
* Share photos of themselves using the products you sell (ideal for retail)
* Share their expertise – which can boost their personal brand as well as brand awareness
Here are five reasons to develop an employee advocacy strategy
1. You can attract new customers
By sharing your content beyond your company-led channels, your brand is amplified across your employees’ networks, boosting brand awareness and reaching a new audience of potential customers. Employees can adapt what they share to best suit their own audience; they can share the content that is most relevant for them or that they feel they have good knowledge about.
2. You can attract new employees
When you give your employees ownership over sharing the unique aspects of your company culture, whether team away days, good lunch spots near the office or social events, you help paint a picture of your overall employer brand. As a result, your employer brand will have an authentic and tangible online presence even if you don’t have a careers page on your website. It also means you’re more likely to receive applications from those who are not just a good fit for a role but a good fit for your company culture.
3. You can highlight your thought leadership
If thought leadership is important to you, securing a solid reach for your content insights can strengthen your position as a thought leader in your market. Additionally, content shared by individuals confirms it as helpful or informative. It shows that people are not just reading the content but actively engaging with it.
4. You can give your brand personality
Diversifying your brand’s voice throws attention on the collaborative efforts that shape your business. As a result, your brand is more approachable. It also gives employees the opportunity to make their voices heard by sharing company updates or project completion posts, with the added benefit of highlighting their personal and professional contributions to your business’s success.
5. You can retain more staff
It’s not just about what you share externally, but how initiatives, successes and learnings are discussed internally. Open communication channels are essential to a strong employee advocacy strategy and help feed employee engagement. Boosting employee engagement can contribute positively to retention. After all, people who feel listened to and valued are more likely to stay with the business longer.
Final thoughts on creating an employee advocacy strategy
Your employees’ social channels are their own personal platforms, so there is no single way to develop and implement a successful employee advocacy strategy. While you can provide company guidelines so people understand how they can best present the brand; they ultimately have ownership over how they use their LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram profiles. At the same time, being too strict over how they can promote your brand online risks your employees simply ignoring your requests and refusing to engage.
In the end, it is essential to remember that it is ultimately an employee’s decision when it comes to how much brand-related content they want to share on their personal social media channels.
