By now, employee advocacy needs little introduction.
Though it’s been popular among marketers for some time now.
The trend has exploded over the past few years.
Why? 🤔
When the pandemic came along…
And networking shifted to 100% digital.
Brands the world over had to adapt.
Most companies realized the role their employees could play:
The advantages of their employees having a social media presence…
AND the benefits of them having a strong personal brand.
So, naturally, companies began to leverage this.
Employee advocacy had been popular.
Now, it’s ESSENTIAL 👏
In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2023…
90% of B2B marketing strategies will include scaled brand advocacy programs.
That said.
Let’s summarize.
What is Employee Advocacy?
Employee advocacy is the promotion of a company and/or its products/services by the people who work for the company.
Let’s keep it simple.
If I (Lewis) share the latest DSMN8 blog post to LinkedIn…
I’m advocating for DSMN8.
Unlike traditional influencer marketing…
I’m not being paid extra to do it.
I’m simply an employee promoting the content from my employer on social media 👍
Similarly, if Bob from Apple posts about his amazing first day at the company.
Bob is advocating for Apple.
Bob is promoting Apple as an organization, and as a great place to work.
Whether intentional or not…
This is employee advocacy 💪
Why is it effective?
Simply put…
Now, more than ever
People want to hear from people.
Not brands 🙅♂️
People are much more likely to follow a company’s employees than the company itself.
When a message comes from someone you know, it feels authentic.
In fact, 76% of people say they’d trust a message from someone they know over any form of branded content.
Content shared by employees is not only considered more authentic….
(after all, they’ve not been paid to do it)
But it’s more likely to generate engagement, too 👌
On average, employee posts receive 8x more engagement than the exact same content shared by brands.
Plus, in terms of reach…
Brand messages were found to reach 561% further when shared by employees.
A piece of content from an employee could travel the world while the company post was still putting its shoes on!
What is an Employee Advocate?
An employee advocate is someone who promotes their company or the products/services their company offers.
It’s essentially word-of-mouth marketing.
Brand advocates can be anyone in the company!
(generally speaking though, they need to be on social media)
From marketing and recruiters, to engineers and finance.
Anyone can be an employee advocate.
Everyone has their own network…
Their own audience.
Which, typically, is full of people like them:
Similar job role.
Similar field.
Similar interests!
The point I’m trying to make is; just because employee advocacy typically falls under marketing, it doesn’t mean that it’s exclusively FOR marketing.
Employee advocates from all departments are just as likely to generate engagement and start conversations with THEIR audiences as the marketing/comms teams are 💪
Plus, as a marketer myself…
The more people you get involved with your program, the better your results!
Why You Should Be an Employee Advocate
This is something often lost in translation when discussing employee advocacy.
Everything you hear is marketing-related.
E.g. more engagement, better company visibility on social, higher content reach…
But what’s in it for YOU? 🤔
In a nutshell…
It’s really, REALLY good for your personal brand.
“The resume is dead” is something you’ll hear a lot these days.
And that’s all because of personal branding 👌
Having a strong personal brand makes you a very desirable candidate to employers.
Especially if your a personal brand comes with a hefty social media following…
(that generates a good amount of engagement!)
Our CEO, Bradley, sums it up well in the podcast episode below 👇
But it’s not all about your career prospects.
Having a personal brand, and being active on social media while advocating for your company and its products/services will help with your current role too!
If you’re in sales, you’re generating leads from social 🔥
Why?
You regularly share company and industry content, and now your network knows you as the go-to person for [insert your speciality]. You could become a thought leader!
If you’re in marketing, you’re elevating brand awareness.
You’re generating engagement on your content.
You’re starting conversations.
If you’re in HR, you’re demonstrating your company culture.
You’re showcasing your employer brand.
And you’re helping to attract top talent 🤩
No matter your job role, you have something to offer your audience.
Getting started with personal branding starts with building a social media presence.
And then establishing your niche (your area of expertise!)
What better way to do that than by sharing the latest and greatest content from your company?
Here’s our cheat sheet to building your personal brand 👇
If you’re not using DSMN8…
Well, what are you waiting for?! 😉
Prefer to speak with us first?
No problem.
Schedule a call with one of the team.
More goodness for you to enjoy:
Lewis Gray
Senior Marketing Manager and Employee Advocacy Program Manager at DSMN8. Lewis specialises in content strategy, growing brand visibility and generating inbound leads. His background in Sales lends itself well to demand generation in the B2B niche.
