Ever wonder how G2 employees manage to completely dominate your LinkedIn feed with high-value content?
In this episode, Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley sit down with Jenny Gardynski, Senior Director of Content and Communications at G2. With over 13 years of PR agency experience representing fast-growing B2B tech giants, Jenny knows exactly how to build authentic brand awareness from the inside out.
Key Takeaways:
- The power of personalization: Even a 5% tweak to standard copy can massively accelerate post engagement because the LinkedIn algorithm rewards visible, authentic expertise.
- Onboarding integration: Embedding custom branded LinkedIn banners and profile best practices straight into new hire onboarding creates immediate advocacy alignment.
- Strategic gamification: Running sporadic, quarterly employee contests with a distinct “Most Improved” category prevents burnout and encourages passive social users to cross the fence.
- Eliminating AI-isms: Effective scaling with GenAI tools requires setting up custom guardrails to strip out overused phrases, excessive em dashes, and unnatural structures.
Lead by Example from the C-Suite
Building a highly active corporate social culture requires enthusiastic participation from top leadership. Jenny Gardynski at G2 highlighted that having a CEO, founder, and executive team who are explicitly pro-social-first serves as a massive internal catalyst. When employees see their executive leaders actively posting on LinkedIn, it removes internal hesitation and signals that building a personal brand is highly encouraged. This top-down validation creates an open culture of acceptance, laying the groundwork for a successful employee advocacy ecosystem.
Embed Brand Advocacy Deep Into Onboarding
Waiting until an employee settles into their role to introduce advocacy is a missed opportunity. G2 integrates social media alignment directly into their new hire onboarding materials. New hires are immediately introduced to internal thought leadership resources and provided with stylized, custom corporate LinkedIn banners and profile assets. This systemic integration ensures that every new employee possesses the baseline tools to represent the brand professionally from day one. For brand leaders, setting this expectation early ensures social media empowerment scales naturally alongside company growth.
Personalization Drastically Outperforms Generic Scripted Copy
When executing advocacy initiatives, relying purely on copy-pasted corporate messaging will inevitably restrict your organic reach. The LinkedIn algorithm is highly sophisticated and explicitly prioritizes genuine individual expertise, meaning identical posts are heavily downgraded. Hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley referenced data showing that even a minor 5% text modification can surge post engagement by over 50%. Marketers must encourage employees to take provided content templates merely as a jumping-off point, blending the core message with their personal voice and professional role.
Ready to start your own employee advocacy program?
Whether you’re exploring employee advocacy or considering DSMN8 as your platform, we can help you get started with confidence.
Learn More About Employee Advocacy:
Lewis Gray
Senior Marketing Manager at DSMN8. Lewis runs DSMN8's own employee advocacy program, putting the platform into practice from the inside, hosts The Employee Advocacy Podcast, and launched the Employee Advocacy Certification Course. His background in sales informs his approach to demand generation and B2B content strategy.
