It may be a truism, but businesses are successful because of their people. Many savvy organisations leverage the power of their staff to support their recruitment by developing an employee advocacy strategy.
An employee advocacy strategy allows your people to play an integral part in raising awareness of your brand online. You can make the most of employees’ social networks by encouraging them to:
* Share brand blog posts or articles
* Share photos from your company or team events
* Share what they enjoy about being an employee of the company
* Share photos of themselves using the products you sell — ideal for retail
* Share their expertise — which can boost their personal brand as well as brand awareness
Most content-sharing platforms help you curate content and make it easy for individuals to share it on social media. Posts can be sent to your employees’ email inboxes, where an individual can choose whether they want to share the post directly to their channel or if they’d like to add some of their own commentaries.
Here are some reasons you should consider developing an employee advocacy strategy
Attracts new business
By sharing your content beyond your company-led channels, your brand is amplified across your employees’ networks, boosting brand awareness and, therefore, the potential to attract new business.
Employees can adapt what they share to best suit their own audience; they can share the content that is most relevant for them or that they feel they have good knowledge about.
Attracts new hires
When you give employees ownership over sharing the unique aspects of your company culture, whether that is team away days, good lunch spots near the office or social events, you help paint a picture of your overall employer brand.
As a result of your employer brand having a more authentic and tangible online presence outside of your own Careers web pages, you’re more likely to receive applications from those who are not just a good fit for a role but a good fit for your company culture.
Highlights your brand as a thought leader
Content shared by individuals validates it as helpful or informative, as it shows that people are not just reading the content but actively engaging with sharing it. Securing a strong reach for your content insights helps to consolidate your position as a thought leader in your market.
It gives your brand a personality
Diversifying your brand’s voice highlights the collaborative effort that shapes your business and, as a result, can make your brand more approachable. It also gives employees more opportunity to make their voices heard when sharing company updates or project completion posts, highlighting their personal and professional contributions to these business developments.
Retention
Open communication channels are essential to a strong employee advocacy strategy. It’s not purely about what you share externally, but how initiatives, successes and learnings are discussed internally, which will further feed employee engagement. Employee engagement can also boost retention; people who feel listened to and valued are more likely to stay with the business longer.
Final thoughts on creating an employee advocacy strategy
There is no single way to develop and implement a successful employee advocacy strategy. Your employees’ social channels are their own personal platforms.
You can provide company guidelines so people understand how they can best present the brand; they ultimately have ownership over how they use their LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram profiles.
Bear in mind that being too strict over how they can promote the brand online risks your employees simply becoming an echo of the brand voice that already exists on the company channels. That lack of authenticity can inhibit the development of your employer brand.
In the end, it is essential to remember that it is ultimately an employee’s decision when it comes to how much brand-related content they want to share on their personal social media channels.