Larger, well-known B2B brands post on social media and receive tons of engagement, albeit with huge marketing efforts and paid advertising. But what about smaller brands or ones that are just starting to take advantage of social as a viable marketing platform? These small businesses will want to consider employee advocacy to help boost social media presence.
Where to Start
The basis of an employee advocacy program is highly relevant, industry-aligned, engaging content creation. Good content begs to be shared and reshared. Make the advocate proud to be associated with what they’re going to distribute.
Before recruiting employees to start the program, make sure there are clear guidelines and structure. Consider what kind of training is necessary, and build a location where all associated content is easily accessible. Besides guidelines for employees, there needs to be metrics in place to define success that coordinate with the company’s content marketing goals.
Who to Start With
Leverage employees who are already highly engaged and interested in social media: they’ll be the most likely enjoy it. Encourage them to share what’s particularly interesting to them and not just everything published by the company—which could lead to employee disengagement.
Once there is a core group of employee advocates who are dedicated to increasing engagement and the program is going well, expand to other employees who might be interested, while keeping the program optional. As the program becomes widely adopted, the core group of advocates can then become coaches and leaders.
When There are Special Cases
Employee advocacy isn’t just limited to sharing company-created content, so be sure to be open to hearing employees’ creative ideas for implementation. As Daniel Roth says in this article, even writing about non-company related topcs can boost impressions and engagement of the company. And never underestimate the power of genuine customer relationships: We recently received an email from our friends at Marine Layer to stop by because there was something in stock they thought we would enjoy . . . and we did!
Developing an employee advocacy program will help employees be more connected and invested in the company, while also heloing them build authority and personal brand, and it will help the company build word-of-mouth in the digital space.
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