What if you can get all of your employees on board with you in promoting your business?
Pretty neat right?
B2B marketing on LinkedIn will get easier because your employees are all onboard as ambassadors of your brand.
The possibilities then become limitless!
To fully maximize the benefits of employee advocacy, we need to understand what it is in the first place.
What is Employee Advocacy?
It is not as complicated as you might think.
Simply put, employee advocacy is when employees of any business promote the company they work in.
It is no secret that employees say good things about their employers a lot of times on social media.
Whether they had a great time at work today or appreciated the way they were complimented for a great output, gifted with a paid vacation leave or a salary increase, these realities in the workplace almost always end up on social media.
While employees can post anytime, employee advocacy is more promising as it is a known marketing tactic. It is a strategic and sustainable program designed to inspire employees to promote their company.
Mostly, employees share the value of a brand in a way that reflects the authentic characteristics of a business.
Being strategic means starting something with clear goals and metrics in mind to measure how fast the former is met. Being sustainable, on the other hand, means coming up with something that will last for many years. Being organic means exercising how to genuinely promote a product or company.
The Three Ways Employee Advocacy Can Advance Your Organization
Sales
B2B scenarios in this day and age necessitate a strong presence on social media. It is social media that teach consumers what to buy. The experience and testimony of an employee highlight the authentic nature of any product or service.
Imagine a set of salespeople actively taking part in an employee advocacy program and imagine what they can do for your business.
Their social media posts are valuable sources of information for consumers who are looking for reliable sources of important details. They actively share posts on social media and are willing to engage with potential clients.
Reports show that salespeople who regularly share quality content are 45% highly likely to exceed their given quotas.
Recruitment
Statistics show that companies with a successful employee advocacy program have the potential to attract talent by 58%. Furthermore, they are 20% more likely to retain these quality talents. Interestingly, some data would that a lot of successful hires can be attributed to a solid employee advocacy program.
When employees promote their companies on LinkedIn, it is the perfect social media platform to attract highly skilled professionals. Known as the biggest social media platform for professionals in the world today, it is a melting pot of high-caliber talents.
The program is also perfect for professionals who are scouting for new opportunities or more information about a specific company.
Marketing
There is no doubt that a solid employee advocacy program can be more effective than regular promotional efforts being done by digital marketers. It is well-known that a single employee can have several social media accounts in a variety of platforms. Multiply it by the number of employees and you get an army of eager people speaking boldly about your company.
Its potential to reach a bigger audience is massive. This means maximum exposure for a brand or company.
What does a solid employee advocacy program on LinkedIn look like?
- Employees who are part of the program should agree to actively promote carefully curated content about the company or business.
- They should commit to staying active for at least three months.
- They will actively connect with other people on LinkedIn.
- Employees will post a least 3-5 pieces of content a week.
- They will actively engage with people who post comments on the content.
7 Ways to Optimize an Employee Advocacy Program
Now that you have a grasp of what an employee advocacy program brings to the table, it is best to learn how to make the most of it.
There are several ways you can choose from, but we’d like to give you the basics.
1. Capacitate your employees and teach them what to post.
An employee advocacy program will only work if people are willing and excited to do it.
They will be willing if they are confident that they know what to do. To ensure that they do, employees need to be empowered and trained to possess the right skills before they jump right into it.
Employees need to be trained in several key areas: how to maximize the use of tools, hoot do social media copywriting, what not to post, and what to post.
The more knowledgeable they are, the more they will be confident to participate and deliver.
2. Assure employees that they are getting something out of their hard work.
Incentives are a great motivator!
Be generous with monetary prizes to inspire employees to give it their best shot.
Apart from giving employees additional benefits, surveys show that employees are also motivated topmost if they are happy about their job at the company. Being proud of the content being shared is also an important factor in motivating employees.
3. Come up with creative content.
LinkedIn is a fun space to be in. There are all kinds of content on the platform. But to attract specific types of people, you and your team need to learn how to come up with superior content that will arouse the curiosity of users.
The adage that “content is king” continues up to this day especially became social media has become the most powerful digital space.
By now, you should have realized that your business has the potential to take a huge leap if you leverage the power of social media.
But first, think hard about the kind of content you want to put out there. It ought to reflect the core nature of your company, its values, and what it stands for.
4. Create a clear timeline or schedule.
Employees need to know when would be the best time to share or promote your content. You would want them to be synchronized. Creating a schedule will give them a sense of direction.
5. Strategize
You need to have a solid and well-planned strategy to help you achieve your objectives. What do you want to achieve by asking your employees to advocate for your company?
Very few people realize it, but it is helpful if your employees have a clear idea of where you want to take them so that they, too, can take ownership of the initiative.
Employees love being part of something big. They want to contribute. Let them do so by showing them how important they are.
6. Generate feedback.
Feedback is integral in determining whether or not you are doing it right.
Sometimes, business owners become overconfident, neglecting a very basic and important element when communicating a message to people – feedback!
Be the kind of business owner who is not afraid to learn what people think about him and his business. Be open to correction and do not compare yourself to others. If your company is still not doing it, then it simply means you are way ahead in the game.
Take advantage of the opportunity to learn something new through the help of comments and insights.
7. Do It Yourself
As a business owner, you have to do what your employees are doing as well. You have to exemplify what it means to be within the program. As they see how hard you work, they will follow suit.
Before you get intimidated by this LinkedIn feature, consider the many benefits it can bring to your business someday. You, however, need to study how you can make the most of the platform.
“Nothing worth having comes easy,” says a famous quote. So when things start to get bad, remind yourself about that one thing that is worth having.
Takeaways
Turning everyone into ambassadors for your company is not just about increasing sales.
It’s about creating a culture of teamwork toward a shared vision.
At the end of the day, it’s not just about making a profit, but working together to create value for other people.
