Last updated: 23rd January 2024.
Employee advocacy programs are steadily on the rise, especially in the B2B sector.
But is it just another social media marketing trend? 🤔
We believe it’s here to stay.
We’ve been banging on about employee advocacy as a marketing, sales, and employer branding strategy for years now.
The results our clients have achieved are incredible, all through the power of employee influence.
With more and more marketers choosing employee advocacy, today we’re sharing the stats to reveal why.
Employee Advocacy Statistics You Need To Know
Employee advocacy is an initiative that positively impacts a variety of business objectives, from cost-efficient marketing and social selling, to recruiting top talent and engaging employees.
Let’s dive into the data to find out why your employees should be active on social media in 2024, creating and sharing content👇
Social Media Statistics
Employee advocacy as a concept isn’t new. It comes from traditional word-of-mouth marketing! These days, it largely takes place on social media, so we’ll start with some social media statistics.
How many people actually use social media?
Research by Statistica revealed that the number of social media users reached 5.3 billion worldwide in 2023. They estimate this number to reach over 6 billion by 2027.
That’s a lot of people.
In fact, 60.6% of the world’s population uses social media according to Data Reportal.
And the average time people spend daily on social media is 2 hours, 24 minutes in 2024.
So, social media is where more than half of the world hang out on a daily basis.
And they spend a lot of time scrolling.
But how effective is it for marketing?
Well, according to Hubspot’s 2024 State of Marketing Report, social media is the highest ROI marketing channel.
And Nielsen’s 2023 Global Annual Marketing Report revealed that 50% of marketing teams plan to increase their paid social media budgets in 2024.
Are people interested in brand content?
Absolutely!
78% of internet users look for information about brands on social media. [GWI]
76% of consumers ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ read online reviews when browsing for local businesses. [BrightLocal]
It’s clear that businesses’ online reputations, from social media channels to UGC content like reviews, significantly impacts consumer spending.
Employee Advocacy Statistics for 2024
Technology researchers at Gartner predicted that by the end of 2023, ‘90% of B2B social media marketing strategies will incorporate scaled employee advocacy programs’.
Yep, you read that correctly – 90%.
Which social media platform works best for employee advocacy?
Well, 82% of B2B marketers report finding the greatest success on LinkedIn.
Plus, over 46% of all social media traffic to company websites comes from LinkedIn!
The opportunity for employee advocacy and B2B marketing on LinkedIn is growing rapidly. As of January 2024, they have more than a billion members in over 200 countries!
What kind of content will be popular in 2024?
If recent years are anything to go by, short-form video is king!
With the huge success of TikTok in recent years, other social media networks have followed suit.
51% of social media users say they’ve watched a short video (under 10 minutes) in the last week. [GWI]
A report by Wyzowl revealed that 91% of businesses used video as part of their marketing strategy in 2023.
And 68% of those who weren’t already leveraging video plan to do so in 2024.
OK, that all sounds great…
But how do employees feel about sharing company content on social media?
According to Hinge Research Institute, 86% of employees participating in an employee advocacy program said it positively impacted their careers 🙌
As 68% of companies already work with social media influencers, and marketing budgets are getting cut in many organizations due to economic uncertainty…
It’s time to think about empowering your employees to become in-house influencers and content creators!
Social Selling Statistics
How does employee advocacy help sales?
Building a personal brand on social media and sharing thought leadership content is the best way to boost social selling.
Did you know that salespeople who use social media to sell are 51% more likely to hit their sales quotas over their peers who don’t? [LinkedIn]
How to reach decision-makers?
Well, Edelman reports that 54% of decision-makers and 48% of C-Suite executives say they spend over an hour per day consuming thought leadership content 🤯
Oh, and that’s not all.
Employee advocacy programs help shorten the sales cycle.
According to Hinge Marketing, around 64% of employees in formal programs credit employee advocacy with attracting and developing new business.
Plus 45% attribute new revenue streams to their employee advocacy program.
Did you know that 83% of a typical B2B purchase decision happens before the customer actually engages with a brand or its salespeople? This is why the content your employees share on social media is so crucial!
Decision-Makers seek Thought Leadership on LinkedIn
Edelman reported that 61% of decision-makers say that thought leadership content is more effective at demonstrating potential value of products/services than traditional product marketing.
And there are 65 million decision-makers and 10 million corporate executives currently using LinkedIn. 4 out of 5 LinkedIn users drive business decisions, so your content has the potential for creating huge impact for your organization.
Recruitment Statistics
So we’ve given you the stats about social media, employee advocacy and social selling.
It’s time to talk about recruitment.
Following the great resignation, recruitment has become more difficult over the past few years.
How can employee advocacy improve recruitment?
LinkedIn say that companies with a ‘high number of employees sharing high-quality content and thought leadership’ are 58% more likely to attract talent.
According to Glassdoor, 79% of job applicants use social media in their job search, and 61 million people are using LinkedIn for job hunting each week.
And these numbers are only likely to grow as social media usage increases globally.
Employee-generated content demonstrates your company values, humanizes your brand, and makes potential recruits more likely to apply to work for you.
To Conclude
As you can see from all the employee advocacy statistics we’ve shared above…
Employee advocacy programs have become more mainstream over recent years, and are continuing to grow in 2024.
Social media has become an integral part of modern life, and its users are rapidly increasing every single day. From looking for a new product or service, to finding a new job: people will search for your brand on social media.
For B2B marketing, employer branding, and social selling in 2024… LinkedIn is the place to be. Empowering employees to build personal brands, and your executives to create thought leadership content will make your company stand out.
A breakdown of the key employee advocacy results and benefits:
- Getting more eyes on your content, and crucially, reaching the right people.
- Drastically reducing social media advertising spend.
- Showcasing your company culture to attract top talent.
- Establishing your social sellers as thought leaders.
- Enabling employees to develop new digital skills, and increasing employee engagement.
Ready to start an employee advocacy program that employees will actually want to participate in?
Emily Neal
SEO and Content Specialist at DSMN8. Emily has 10 years experience blogging, and is a pro at Pinterest Marketing, reaching 1 million monthly views. She’s all about empowering employees to grow their personal brands and become influencers.
