Employee advocacy is an indispensable marketing technique in today’s ever competitive business environment. Of course, the way things are now marketed is very different from what it used to be. At the moment, you think digital or go home.
In fact, surveys and marketing experts say that employee talk has more traction with customers than previously thought. Simply put, a message from an employee tends to be more trusted by prospective customers than one from management, or even a dedicated sales team.
Employee advocacy programs basically feed on this opportunity by allowing employees to advocate or talk positively about their workplace on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media platforms.
Now even though the concept is strong, ensuring that your employee advocacy program lures in more traffic and leads isn’t always a walk in the park. One thing, however, is sure: quality over quantity wins every time in employee advocacy.
In this blog, we aim to tell you why.
1. Quality of Content
Most employee advocacy programs will have a whole lot of content uploaded on a daily basis. Mandating that your employees share a certain percent of said content to reach a goal isn’t going to do so. By mandating advocacy, you’re in essence creating puppet advocates.
Now if you gave your employees the chance to add their own views on brand content, instead of forcing their hand, you’d probably have a better chance at connecting with their personal networks.
When they go for quantity over quality, employees run the risk of flooding their followers with things that they don’t see value in. That is why it is paramount that they share only when they have something valuable to add. Both the readers and sharers need to find the content appealing. Personalized, high-quality content will certainly be read and shared much more. And the more they share, the further your message gets.
2. Quality of Employee Advocates
Another aspect of your employee advocacy program that needs keen focus on quality over quantity is the number of employees you choose to be a part of your pilot batch. A few social savvy employees can advocate can do more for your brand content than a whole lot of those who don’t know their way around a social media platform.
You want a group that knows how to leverage visual content (videos, memes, photos, infographics, and GIFs) to create a buzz around your products or brand.
The last thing you want is a group of employee advocates who cannot connect with your audience on a personal level.
3. Quality of Incentives
It’s no big secret that rewarding your employees can motivate them to participate in your advocacy program and in an honest way too.
An employee advocacy program that chooses quantity over quality will most likely pick monetary incentives. But if you want to kick it up a notch, you can try quality incentives like allowing employees to take an extra day off, or paying for a weeks’ worth of lunches.
That incentive itself will get your employees on social media, promoting your fantastic work culture.
