Benefits of an Employee Advocacy Program

What is an employee advocacy program? 

Successful businesses are ones that continually innovate and make strategic investments. Employees are often overlooked as a marketing tool for companies, even though they are the ‘persona’ of an organisation; the voice that interacts with clients on a daily basis. 

Very broadly, an employee advocacy program can be defined as the steps taken by an organisation to make employees ambassadors of a brand. While the purpose of implementing an advocacy program varies between organisations, it is widely regarded as an extremely effective marketing tool. 

When developing a strategy to implement an employee advocacy program, organisations must identify a criteria that will validate the success of the campaign. This will also assist in creating the value drivers that underpin the program. Examples of the purpose of an employee advocacy program may be to:

• Boost metrics across social media platforms

• Help organisations attract talent 

• Endorse an organisation as a great place to work 

• Humanise the brand 

• Close the consumer-brand gap 

Why Implement an employee advocacy program? 

To determine why an organisation should implement an employee advocacy program, it is important to look into and understand the relevant statistics. Some compelling stats include:

• On average, employees collectively have social networks ten times larger than corporate brands do. Furthermore, employees generally share more authentic content than brands and are therefore more likely to have greater engagement

• Companies with successful employee advocacy programs are ~60% more likely to attract new talent, and 20% more likely to retain top talent 

• In Edelman’s 2014 Trust Barometer, 52% of respondents said they would trust company information from a regular employee

It is logical for brands to harness these statistics. It is difficult for companies to demonstrate authenticity, and employee advocacy programs provide an opportunity to overcome this issue.  

How to Implement:

A challenge that many companies face is an inability to prove the ROI of an employee advocacy program. Programs are frequently initiated without criteria for success, and companies are therefore unable to realise the value (if any) the campaign has had. Subsequently, these programs remain in a pilot phase as there is no demonstrable value. 

Creating success criteria is not a simple task, particularly for large organisations. Too broad and there is risk of failing to adequately reach overarching objectives, too narrow / specific and companies may not achieve any elements of success. It is important to consider how you will create measurable value for the business, and then remain accountable for proving this.

As a guide, there are 10 steps on how companies can build the framework for an employee advocacy program:

Identifying Advocates

1. Benchmarking against existing participation 

2. Assessing your culture VS the industry 

3. Identifying a champion 

Mobilise Your Community

1. Setting your goals 

2. Establishing program mechanics 

3. Painting the full picture of the program 

4. Training the relevant stakeholders

5. Managing the community 

Measure Your Success

1. Analyse the data 

2. Give the data meaning 

Sprinklr’s Employee Advocacy features:

The social and digital landscape has changed the way we look at employee advocacy programs. As partners with Sprinklr, we have been able to address elements such as rewards and gamification, which have recently come to fruition and become integral components of a successful employee advocacy program. 

Sprinklr has remained dynamic in its approach to the management of advocacy programs, consistently updating the software to manage the ever-evolving goals of organisations. 

Sprinklr has adopted a 4-pronged approach in elevating a brand’s presence through employee advocacy:

Capitalise

• Implement branded, employee-facing digital destination

• Manage access with existing employee credentials  

• Empower engagement for employees

Activate 

• Enable employees to easily share content on multiple channels 

• Leverage Sprinklr’s asset repository with approval workflows to ensure that only brand-approved content is available

• Plan and schedule content 

Build 

• Create and submit content to re-purpose within the advocacy community 

• Gamify the employee experience with awards, points and badges 

• Promote internal collaboration and conversation regarding content 

Measure 

• Access in-depth data and insights on top performing advocates 

• Understand top performing content by channel 

• Integrate metrics into other channels for full omni-channel reporting 

My experience with employee advocacy: 

These programs are only successful if the advocacy is an accurate representation of the organisation. In order to humanise a brand, companies must first ensure that they are cultivating and promoting a workplace that is conducive to happy and dedicated employees. 

In my opinion, where companies nurture and inspire their staff, employees naturally become advocates for the brand. The leadership team can then leverage this inherent goodwill to develop the criteria for a successful employee advocacy campaign. 

At KINSHIP digital, I am constantly inspired by my peers and clients to dedicate my time to adding value to the business. I happily advocate for the KINSHIP digital brand, from our overarching ethos to our daily tasks, every aspect is unique, challenging and rewarding.

To learn more about employee advocacy programs, contact us today!