In theory, by creating and distributing high-quality content, you will attract potential customers, gain leads and win over customers. In practice, it’s not always this simple. You may create amazing, finger-stopping content, but is it reflecting on your CTR, reach and ultimately, engagement? It’s tough out there.
A strategy that has been around for as long as companies have existed is now becoming increasingly more popular thanks to social media.
What is employee advocacy?
Employee advocacy is quite simply defined as ‘the promotion of your company by the people who work for it.’
Your employees are the people that know and love your company, and at the same time, they have their own online world of networks and connections. It just makes sense to have the people that know your company the best, to share information and content of the business.
An employee advocate can be anyone who:
- Recommends the services/products of the business e.g. recommendations to friends or family/ word of mouth advertising.
- Generates exposure e.g. sharing a LinkedIn article or a facebook post created by the company.
- Represents the company internally and externally e.g. attending networking events.
- Is a credible spokesperson, e.g replying to comments on a post.
On average, employee networks have 10x more connections than a company has followers, and let’s not even begin with the new contacts. It is wise to make content that is also easy for your employees to share, as they then naturally extend the content’s reach and engagement, while connecting to an audience authentically.
It is a massive opportunity to expand your reach and potentially, the company’s growth. Plus, you may be missing out on potential customers, leads and conversions. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, when your colleagues share a post, it’s seen as 3x more authentic than when the company page posts the same content. This makes it more likely that people from your colleagues’ online network will engage with your content, as it is coming from someone they know. An analysis performed by LinkedIn backs this up too, as they have found that the CTR on content is 2x higher when shared by an employee vs. shared by the company itself.
Employee advocacy is by no means a new method of marketing – however, with the ever growing popularity of social media, this form of advertising has been revolutionized, creating even more possibilities.
Did you know:
While only 3% of employees share content about their company, that 3% can drive as much as a 30% increase in engagement.
