Advocacy marketing has done the rounds, and truth be told, few others have shown more promise than employee advocacy. The sheer genius of mobilizing your workforce to build an army of brand advocates can’t be disputed.
But is it really as simple as it sounds?
What are the chances your employees actually want to promote your brand?
Studies show that only a handful of employees actually pay heed to something that doesn’t concern them or their work. So we reckon the key mustn’t be in trying to convince them otherwise; it’s in changing the rules to favor your end game.
By figuring out what gets your employees to tick, you’re halfway there. Here, we share a few things about employee advocacy platforms that we learnt the hard way –
1. Getting used to something new isn’t the best
Even though employee advocacy platforms help manage the whole program to a tee, it definitely doesn’t earn you brownie points from employees who have to deal with several tools already.
Choose an employee advocacy platform that allows customization
It’s simple. Humans are pattern-seeking primates hunting for habits. Most of us will opt for something that seems familiar. A small change in the color scheme or the layout of your employee advocacy platform will work wonders when onboarding the next batch of employee advocates.
2. Nobody wants to share snooze-worthy content
There’s a reason why cats rule the internet. They’re pretty much a blank canvas for every human emotion and that makes them relatable… to everyone. Now we’re not suggesting that you stuff your next newsletter with cats, but mundane content isn’t going to win you a popularity contest either.
Your employee advocacy platform should have content that your employees look forward to sharing
A video from your Friday fun activity or throwback pictures of tenured employees not only increase the shareability of content from your employee advocacy platform, but it’s also something that your employees will look forward to.
Balance these with your marketing, branding and internal communication posts and – voilà – you’ve got yourself a following.
3. You wouldn’t stay without motivation. Why should they?
Getting them a platform that’s easy to use is great to get them onboard; creative content is fantastic to get them started, but what’s going to keep them coming back for more?
Use an employee advocacy platform that adds a little healthy competition:
Sustaining your employee advocacy platform is often the most challenging task of all. Gamification and incentivization on your employee advocacy platform brings in a competitive edge and the need to be recognized.
Internal competitions that list the ‘top contributor’ or ‘advocate of the month’ can motivate several members who would have otherwise lost interest.
In a seamless way, SocioAdvocacy has managed to incorporate all of the best practices and functionalities that your employees look forward to in an employee advocacy platform. You can even integrate it with online apps and services. Don’t believe me? Request a demo and see for yourself.
