[Episode Fifty-Eight of ‘The Employee Advocacy and Influence Podcast] 🎧
Join Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley as they sit down with special guest Melissa Heidmiller, Procore’s Brand Marketing Manager. Melissa joins our hosts to discuss Procore’s employee advocacy program, diving deep into how they’ve scaled and refined it. Melissa shares her approach to tracking success, the challenges faced in gathering and interpreting data, and how she’s getting leadership buy-in with real, measurable outcomes.
Melissa also talks about how they engage employees by connecting the value of advocacy to their personal brand and career growth. Plus, she highlights how Procore’s annual conference, Groundbreak, became a catalyst for social media success and how their new employee advocacy platform is driving engagement.
From building employee advocacy to scaling across teams, this episode offers invaluable insights into employee engagement’s impact on brand visibility and business results.
Internal Buy-In Requires Tailored ROI Conversations
A key insight Melissa shares in this episode is that ROI is not one-size-fits-all. What one person considers ROI isn’t necessarily the same as what someone else considers ROI. Melissa quickly realized that not everyone defines success the same way. To get advocacy buy-in, she adapted the data and messaging by aligning advocacy outcomes with team-specific goals and measurable results.
Melissa explains this is also key to securing internal buy-in, especially across different departments or leadership tiers. It’s crucial to understand what each stakeholder values most. For some, that might mean improving recruitment pipelines, for others, it’s about boosting brand awareness or engagement metrics.
Enablement Is as Important as Technology
A standout theme in this podcast episode is that even the most sophisticated advocacy tools are only as effective as those using them. Melissa explained that Procore’s success didn’t come solely from launching a new program but from how they rolled it out. Enablement was front and center: thoughtful onboarding, recurring training, hands-on support, and one-on-one coaching were all essential components of their approach.
It was key for Melissa to prioritize confidence-building just as much as education. Employees were encouraged to participate at their own pace, with personalized guidance that made sharing feel approachable. This people-first strategy ensured the tool wasn’t seen as a top-down mandate but as a supportive resource that made advocacy easy, authentic, and enjoyable.
Advocacy That Supports Career Growth
Melissa also highlights a key motivator that’s often overlooked – how advocacy can directly support employees’ personal career goals. In the episode, she shares how Procore’s program focuses on helping individuals build their personal brands, expand their professional networks, and grow visibility as thought leaders in their industry. By tying advocacy to personal development, not just company metrics, participation became a mutually beneficial experience.
Rather than framing advocacy as a task, Melissa and her team positioned it as a way for employees to tell their stories, celebrate their expertise, and enhance their reputations. This approach boosted internal engagement and fostered a culture of pride and empowerment, key to building a sustainable, employee-led program.
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Selina Sher Gill
Selina has a Master's Degree in Marketing and Brand Management, and is DSMN8's Digital Marketing Executive. She's a pro at creating and editing video content, using these skills to create short-form social media videos and edit the Employee Advocacy and Influence podcast.
