The role of employee advocacy on social media
Harnessing the power of personal networks.
In 2024 you can’t have a social media strategy without employee advocacy, and our Digital Organic Expert, Fran Watson, is going to tell you why.
On average, a post by your employee can receive 8x more engagement than content shared on the company page! Plus it’s 25x more likely to be shared.
But that doesn’t mean your company page is a waste of time. Think of it this way, your company page is the core and your employee’s professional pages are extensions of this. Creating a successful sales journey, increasing your brand awareness or reaching your business goals can benefit from employee advocacy.
Employee advocacy is when employees act as brand ambassadors, promoting their company’s products, services, or values on their personal social media channels. This involves sharing company content, participating in online discussions, and generally speaking positively about the company. Essentially, it’s harnessing the power of employees’ personal networks to amplify a company’s message.
How employee advocacy can help the customer journey
So how does this actually help with your customer’s journey? We know a B2B customer journey is often much longer than B2C, with studies suggesting at least 6-8 touchpoints are needed before action to purchase is taken. But their journey could be a lot longer than this, or shorter, there is no right or wrong answer here. However, a strong employee advocacy program can only help push them in the right direction.
There’s no need to fear your employees being active on social media for work, in fact it will enhance your brand’s visibility. An employees post can reach up to 30% more than a company page post, meaning you’ll reach a much bigger audience.
But it’s not just about reaching a bigger audience, they’re more likely to trust your brand too! When employees share company content or positive experiences, it reinforces your brand’s reputation and builds trust with your audience. Social media is all about authenticity, and your employees can foster genuine interaction between your brand and customers. As humans we relate most to other humans, not to a faceless brand page, so ensuring you allow your employees to let their personality shine through is important.
This will allow for much better engagement and interactions from your audience, as the higher the engagement the more the algorithm pushes out a post.
When your team start posting on social media it can help you understand your target audience much better too. It provides a direct channel for you to speak to your audience and see what they are interested in currently, allowing your team to have conversations and gain a deeper understanding of their concerns, behaviours and expectations.
Encouraging participation of your team
By now we understand how effective an employee advocacy program can be for social media, but the biggest hurdle is getting your employees to start posting. It’s not just you who will be hesitant! Your team might be confused as to what they can and can’t post, when to post or just not have the confidence to put themselves out there.
It can be quite daunting, and they may be afraid of posting the wrong thing or being trolled. So here are a few ways in which you can help them:
1. Do not force them!
Let’s start with the most important thing, do not force your employees to be active on social media for work. This will only backfire! Instead present them with all the benefits and potential opportunities of building their personal brand online. You’ll usually find some resistance at the beginning but hopefully you’ll have one or two employees that are interested. Start here, and when others see it working there’s a much bigger chance others will want to join.
2. Have a social media clause in place
This will keep you and your employees safe. A social media clause in a contract is crucial for defining expectations, protecting intellectual property, preventing misrepresentation, managing confidential information, enforcing company policies, and addressing liability issues related to social media. Ensuring everyone is on the same page.
3. Give them training
To get your employees feeling confident about social platforms and how to use them in the right way, invest in some training. Employees can help to create and maintain a positive reputation for your company, so training will help them understand how to effectively handle customer enquiries and complaints online. Plus training can help them target specific audiences and generate leads.
4. Provide content ideas
Although you want to allow your team’s personalities to shine through, consistency is key for your brand. Providing content themes, ideas and guidelines for them to use will help amplify your message coherently from your brand’s page to your employees.
5. Give them time
Their first post isn’t going to be perfect! And it will still take time to understand different platforms and how they can harness these to be successful. Remember to be patient and willing to help when they need support.
Embracing employee advocacy
Remember, a strong employee advocacy program can significantly impact your customer’s journey, especially in the B2B space. By increasing your brand’s visibility, building trust, and encouraging engagement, you can accelerate the sales process and achieve your business goals.