[Episode Seventy-Seventy of ‘The Employee Advocacy and Influence Podcast] 🎧
Unlock the secrets to successful employee advocacy and social media strategy with Xandrina Allday, social media consultant and founder of Allday Marketing. In this episode, Xandrina shares essential insights on building effective employee-generated content programs, fostering trust in marketing, and scaling your social influence.
Join Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley as they dive deep with Xandrina Allday into the nuances of employee advocacy. Discover why a one-size-fits-all approach fails, how rethinking the term employee advocacy internally can boost participation, and practical strategies for empowering employees to share content confidently on platforms like LinkedIn. From managing programs with simple spreadsheets to understanding when to scale with dedicated tools, Xandrina reveals how to build authentic influence and measure the true impact of employee-generated content on your marketing and employer brand.
Key Takeaways:
- Employee advocacy strategies must be tailored; one size doesn’t fit all organizations, given varying resources and industries.
Consider rebranding employee advocacy internally to boost employee comfort and participation, focusing on personal branding or community. - Overcome employee fears of sharing on social media (especially video) by starting small, providing clear guidance, and emphasizing progress over perfection.
- Manual program management (spreadsheets, email) can be effective for starting out and proving ROI, but scaling often requires dedicated software.
- Measuring success for employee-generated content is a long-term game, akin to compound interest, focusing on awareness, leads, and talent acquisition.
Tailoring Employee Advocacy
Xandrina emphasized that employee advocacy programs are never a one-size-fits-all solution, as they vary based on a company’s resources, team size, and budget. She explained that these initiatives can range from simple team training by helping employees learn how to create and share content confidently, to fully developed programs with dedicated internal managers, analytics tracking, and continuous content cycles. Marketers and brand leaders should avoid comparing their progress to other organizations, recognizing that their unique internal setup requires a customized approach to maximize success and allocate resources effectively.
Language Shapes Employee Advocacy Buy-In
Xandrina shares her strategy for renaming employee advocacy, as it might not resonate with employees and could hinder program adoption, suggesting terms like “ambassadors,” “personal branding program,” or “team content” if they foster greater comfort and a stronger inclination to share. Elliot supported this by sharing DSMN8’s practice of encouraging clients to brand their platforms (e.g., “Nissan Insiders”) to create a sense of exclusive community. This linguistic finesse is vital for marketers and social media professionals to secure genuine employee buy-in, as relatable terminology can significantly increase participation and program success.
Overcoming Employee Social Sharing Fears
A major barrier to employee social sharing is the fear of being on camera or of simply putting content out there, as Xandrina noted she sees during her personal branding workshops. She advises starting small, like engaging in comments on LinkedIn to build confidence, then progressing to text-only posts, images, and eventually video. Xandrina stressed the importance of not striving for perfection, reminding listeners that “nobody’s thinking about you as much as you’re thinking about yourself.” For brand leaders and social media professionals, fostering this confidence also involves providing clear social media policies and tools that transform fear into empowered, consistent participation.
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Learn More About Employee Advocacy:
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.
