Why do employee advocacy programs need a dedicated manager to succeed over time? In this episode of The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast, hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome Brittney Gilbert, Employee Advocacy Strategy & Program Lead at Global Payments.
In this episode, listeners will learn how a dedicated manager can transform an advocacy initiative from an overstretched add-on into a primary marketing driver. Brittney shares how Global Payments grew their user base from zero to 400+ advocates in five months, used gamified invite mechanics to trigger internal FOMO, coached subject matter experts toward original thought leadership, and used Earned Media Value (EMV) to prove hard ROI to executives.
As organic corporate reach falls on social media, dedicated human leadership is the secret to scaling trust. This episode offers a clear playbook for social leads aiming to build sustainable, executive-backed advocacy programs.
3 Key Takeaways
Appoint a Dedicated Program Lead to Sustain Advocacy Momentum
When employee advocacy is tacked onto an already overstretched social media manager’s workload, it often falls to the wayside after the initial launch enthusiasm fades. Brittney emphasizes that having a dedicated strategy lead allows organizations to focus on ongoing enablement, direct troubleshooting, content curation, and strategic scaling.
Dedicated leads act as the human face of the program, helping advocates craft stronger captions and collecting qualitative lead wins. Investing in dedicated program management ensures long-term user retention and measurable business impact.
Drive Higher Engagement Through Post Personalization
Pre-written corporate post copy serves as a helpful starting prompt, but identical copy-paste sharing erodes authenticity on social feeds. Brittney points out that human beings are wired for storytelling; when employees add even a single line of personal reflection or context, engagement jumps up to six times higher compared to static corporate posts.
Program leads should continuously encourage advocates to tweak provided captions, change phrasing, or add personal work anecdotes to maximize algorithm reach and drive real conversations.
Engineer Internal FOMO to Drive Organic User Adoption
Launching an advocacy program to an entire enterprise all at once often leads to rapid participation drop-off. Brittney recommends launching with a small, intentional pilot group composed of sales reps, marketers, and senior leaders who are already active on social media.
Demonstrating early wins within a closed group creates an atmosphere of exclusivity and FOMO across the wider company. When Global Payments rewarded pilot users with leaderboard points for inviting colleagues, word-of-mouth demand helped quadruple active participation in just five months.
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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.
