The people who work in the company become great ambassadors. That is why including an Employee Advocacy strategy will contribute to the positioning of the employer brand.
Social networks have changed the rules of the game
Since the ’80s, companies began to implement specific actions to make their employees live the culture and values of the brand, which was transferred to customer service.
Among these actions were the use of uniforms, the distribution of merchandising or branded office products, and a specific tone and language.
The emergence of social networks changed all the rules of the game. Although there are organizations that still maintain some of these proposals, customers tend to use social networks before purchasing to get to know the brand and its products.
Currently, there are 4.48 billion social media users worldwide, which equals almost 57% of the total population. And in the last year, the global total of unique users grew by 520 million over the past year, representing an annual growth of more than 13%. (Source: Hootsuite’s Digital 2021 Report)
Social networks have become the primary source of information.
The first ambassadors
The voices of satisfied customers are a great testimonial that feeds a solid brand image.
But the first and greatest ambassadors are clearly the people who are part of the company, especially those who are part of the digital era. They are a key element to generate credibility, reputation, and recognition in public opinion.
Employee Advocacy becomes a strategy that every company should incorporate to sustain its reputation. It is a solution that contributes to increasing the reach, influence, and collaboration in strengthening a brand’s relationships with its customers, prospects, and current and future collaborators.
Its objective is for employees to promote the brand on their social networks, based on their own experience, background, knowledge, achievements, and those of their teams, with their own voice. In other words, each person is true to themselves and their personal style and way of communicating.
According to the latest Edelman Trust Baromeeter report:
- Employees increased by 15% over last year the possibility of recommending their company's products or services, reaching 79%.
- And 76% would recommend others their organization to work for, 17 points more than in 2020.
On the other hand, this strategy positively influences Employee Branding, i.e., the employee’s professional brand, positioning their own leadership.
How to plan an Employee Advocacy strategy?
Social Media Guide
Providing guidance that includes a social media policy will provide leaders and their teams with direction and best practices. It will also produce concrete ideas and mitigate risk.
Contagion Effect
Involve those who are already on this path so that they can pass it on to their colleagues. Sharing achievements as a team is a win-win action, building your own employee branding and commitment.
Training
Surely, within a company, there will be differences between those accustomed to using social networks and those who are not. Providing training on how to use the different platforms and how to write social media posts for companies should be part of the plan.
How does your company benefit from an Employee Advocacy strategy?
1. Increases brand confidence.
Leaders and their teams become your company’s advocates. Through their voice, they share values, vision, and mission on social networks.
It is no longer the brand itself talking about achievements, benefits, and goodness of products and services, but the employees themselves. This social media behavior provides greater credibility, legitimizes the brand, and increases trust.
2. Improves culture and commitment towards the company.
There are concrete benefits for the employee who has an impact on improving the culture and increasing loyalty to the company:
- Strengthen their professional network.
- Position themselves as experts.
- Gain professional recognition.
- Improve their personal brand.
Improving the culture directly impacts the employer brand.
3. Boosts brand reach.
The organic reach of the brand is multiplied by social networks. Your brand reaches all of your collaborator’s contacts and followers as soon as they share related content. This content becomes more attractive to users than the content shared directly by the brand.
4. Expands the engagement of corporate publications.
By increasing the value content of publications, not only with sales content but also by providing knowledge from brand ambassadors, engagement will be increased.
From Oxean, we accompany you in the design and implementation so that the Employee Advocacy strategy is the right one for your company and obtains the expected results.
Do you have questions?
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