The big question:
Who benefits from employee advocacy?
The advantages of employee advocacy for businesses are clear: increased brand visibility, attracting top talent, spending less on social media advertising… and a whole lot more.
The benefits of employee advocacy for the employees themselves may not be as obvious at first, but there are real perks your colleagues will see from participating in an employee advocacy program.
So, if you’re not quite sure why your employees would want to share company content, or you’re struggling to motivate your team to get involved, you’re in the right place.
I’ll outline the key reasons an employee would want to share content on social media, revealing why it has a positive impact on their career journey and benefits their day-to-day working life.
Employee Advocacy: What’s In It For The Employees?
So you’ve started an employee advocacy program.
Congrats! 👏
But your employees aren’t convinced about joining.
They need to know what’s in it for them.
The last thing they want is to do is become a free marketing channel for company content.
I’ll cover down the benefits below, but first you’ll need to ensure they know what employee advocacy is. No one will want to participate if they’re confused about what you’re asking of them.
Share this 2-minute explainer video with them!
Now, let’s break down how advocacy benefits employees:
Reach Your Career Goals with Personal Branding and Thought Leadership
How does personal branding affect your career goals?
Well…
Establishing yourself as an industry expert by sharing your knowledge brings incredible opportunities.
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn enables you to build relationships and network with the right people – experts in your industry.
As your social media reach expands, so do your career opportunities 📈
I’m talking about things like:
- Getting asked to be a guest on podcasts
- Being invited to industry events
- Getting featured in the media
You can become a thought leader, or an employee influencer! 🏆
Your personal brand gives you an online space to share your story, your work achievements, and reach your personal career goals.
It’s time to get your name out there and celebrate your wins! 👏
Content Creation Skills
There’s no denying that digital skills are increasingly in demand.
And not just in marketing departments.
Data from the World Economic Forum shows that job postings for digital roles in the US increased by 24% between 2018 and 2021.
Learning how to create content, build an audience on social media, and use programs like Canva to create graphics is something you can add to your resume.
It demonstrates a willingness to learn and keep up with the latest technology.
Besides, it gives you a way to be more creative in your job! 🙌
Creating content on LinkedIn gives potential employers the opportunity to get a better idea of who you are, more than just sending in a job application.
It also showcases how motivated you are to see your company succeed. Those are the types of people organizations want to have in their team.
On average, only 7% of employees currently share content on LinkedIn. This is a huge opportunity for you.
Your content might just be the reason you stand out from other candidates in your next interview! 💪
Incentives & Gamification
If your company uses employee advocacy software like DSMN8, it’ll come with built-in gamification features.
One of DSMN8’s most popular features is leaderboards, which make it easy for everyone to see where they rank among colleagues.
There’s nothing like a friendly workplace competition! 🏆
Many companies offer motivational incentives too, such as rewards or charity donations.
Participating in an employee advocacy program can lead to recognition within your company, as employers can see the results you’ve achieved from your efforts.
Empowerment
It’s certainly an empowering feeling to be trusted to represent your company online as an advocate.
You have a voice, you’re not just a cog in a machine 📣
Your role as an employee advocate goes beyond your day-to-day job, enabling you to further both business and personal goals.
Plus, if your senior leadership team is active on LinkedIn (and they should be if your organization is running an advocacy program), you’ll gain increased visibility with them. Your colleagues will see your content, and so will the C-Suite!
As Bradley emphasizes in the podcast episode above, starting an employee advocacy program can be a real career launch pad.
Company Culture
Employee advocates have a better understanding of company goals and values.
Often, we’re so focused on our own role that we don’t have much insight into what the sales team are trying to achieve, or what the marketing team are currently promoting.
Participating in an employee advocacy program enables you to keep up with internal communications, company news, and get a much deeper understanding of the business as a whole.
This leads to higher employee engagement! 🔥
Those participating in an advocacy program have increased connectivity with their colleagues, especially in international remote teams, who may not interact with each other on a regular basis.
Morale and teamwork goes through the roof when employees support each other on social media.
Above you can see an example of my colleague Pablo conducting a brand channel takeover on LinkedIn. We love to see it! 👏
Showcasing your company culture on social media attracts the right talent – those you want to be your future colleagues.
Make Your Job Easier
If you work in sales, marketing, recruitment or HR… employee advocacy will make your job easier from day 1.
Sales is all about building relationships…
Marketers want their content to be seen by the right people…
HR want to demonstrate company culture and values…
Recruiters want to find top talent to fill open positions…
But what if you don’t work in these departments? 🤨
Well, not only does employee advocacy help you reach your career goals, but you’ll be helping out your colleagues who do work in sales, marketing, recruitment or HR.
What do we want from our jobs?
Great relationships with colleagues, support, job security.
How do we get this?
By enabling the business to succeed!
Supporting company goals through employee advocacy makes this happen.
Oh, and your marketing colleagues will love you. Just saying 🥰
Become Your Organization's Employee Advocacy Expert
Become your organization’s employee advocacy expert with our free 11-module video course, and earn the Employee Advocacy Certification.
Hosted by CEO Bradley Keenan, learn everything from the benefits of employee advocacy for different departments, to how to manage a program yourself.
Here’s a quick breakdown covering what you’ll learn:
Save the infographic for later
We’ve made an infographic covering the benefits of employee advocacy for employees.
Download the pdf and share it with your colleagues!
Ready to start an employee advocacy program that employees will actually want to participate in?
Book a demo of DSMN8, the all-in-one employee advocacy platform.
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.
