Employee advocacy has been the buzzword in HR and Communication departments for the last few years. But what is employee advocacy? Generally speaking, it is the promotion of an organisation by its valued employees. Positive exposure by employees can be made through social media streams and offline channels, such as friend and family referrals. Employees who feel connected to their company’s vision and values make good candidates to advocate. They should have a clear understanding of the corporate mission and their position within the company. Individually, they may not have the same reach as an influencer, but collectively their voice is respected and can have a major impact on business.
Examples of Successful Employee Advocacy
Scaling the positive voice of an employee exploded in the digital era as social media platforms made opinion sharing so much easier. Successful employee advocacy programs are now being seen across many sectors including travel, telecommunications, finance, retail, utilities, and automotive industries. Employees are being encouraged to spread the good word on their social networks to gain a much larger reach. Ideally, employee advocacy should empower staff with the freedom to express themselves individually. Because they view the company they work for positively and feel connected to it, they become the company's best brand ambassadors. This drives both employee and customer satisfaction and should also encourage new talent.
The first employee advocacy example is Mastercard, who successfully recruited staff as ‘Brand Ambassadors’ and the second is Starbucks, who created dedicated social media sites for their staff, known as ‘Partners’.
Mastercard's Brand Ambassador programme encouraged employees to share brand-minded views on their social networks. It attracted 400 members of staff who agreed to share on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
At Starbucks, the coffee giant cleverly refer to their staff as 'partners'. This brought a sense of belonging and responsibility. Starbucks’ supplied its staff with posting guidelines and created dedicated 'partner' accounts. The ‘Starbucks Partners’ Facebook account currently has over 385,000 followers.
Key Employee Advocacy Benefits
Mobilising your staff to share on social media can result in exponential growth and reach for the company.
Employee advocacy benefits include:
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Keeping your brand front of mind – Employees are said to make double the impact of brand marketing with twice the click-through rate of their own companies. Brands can stay relevant and increase awareness, ultimately driving footfall. New tech platforms for employee advocacy offer smart content marketing, offering an authentic message to bring employees and customers closer together.
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Increase sales – by expanding the promotional reach of your brand to new and more diverse audience sales increases will follow.
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Brands to trust – Customers feel far more connected to a brand that is loved by its employees. Building more meaningful relationships bridges any disconnect between online and offline. People tend to trust like-minded people and will act on personal recommendations.
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Attract Top Talent – Employees are on the frontline of how your brand is perceived. They can make your company sound attractive to potential employees, saving you hiring costs and attracting top talent.
Employee Advocacy Measurables
Employee advocacy stats must be recorded to be able to measure how successful any given program is. The key to adopting any successful employee advocacy tech is clear and accessible data which can be used to further promote the company.
To measure employee advocacy performance and, ultimately, return on investment these must include easy to read, shareable reports. A clear dashboard which illustrates impressions, engagements, and clicks is required. It should document top-performing content and advocates to enable companies to praise employees and encourage the right kind of content. Authentic employee advocacy is trusted and can exponentially grow your target audience.