Five Steps to Safe Employee Advocacy on Social Media

Employee advocacy programs may be challenging to implement. But the challenge may be rewarding—if leaders embolden employee advocacy, it could lead to the company or brand standing out on social media. The power in your employee’s brand advocacy is in your joint force.  There is strength in numbers.

Why should companies tap into their pool of employees and promote advocacy?

Employee advocacy generates more leads, grows your traffic, and builds your community with additional followers and fans. As the program grows, it will increase your brand’s social engagement, evolve brand awareness and widen the social footprint.

Whether your workforce is on social media or not, they are already living and breathing your product. Tap into your labor force and groom them to amplify your company message. Your employees are your boots on the ground. You can turn employees into brand ambassadors without too much training.

How do you get employees excited about taking part in your initiative?

If you have a product to promote, run a contest within the company and give away prizes. Give away excess inventory to incentivize your employees and boost morale. Track your hashtag through social media and ask your employees to be creative with their postings at a company outing. With so many online video platforms, it’s a great place to let your employees showcase their creativity—featuring your company.  

Should an employee’s social media be required to reflect the company’s brand page?

No, but you can naturally leverage your employees’ personal views and enthusiasm about the product. Make sure to implement proper policy so employees understand how to conduct themselves on social media and post accordingly. Empower your employees—don’t restrict them from showcasing their personalities on social media. Let them be credible through their own merit. 

How do you empower and encourage your employees to campaign for you on social media?

Provide proper training and encourage employees to collaborate and create within teams. Expand your organization in the social media communities to amplify the brand’s message thru storytelling. 

Should employee promotion be assigned to only one department?

The company will benefit when advocacy is a company-wide strategy, rather than a few select voices. Grow your army of employees in a social media program to share their experiences of the company’s culture. Implement a company-wide strategy to expand your audience, and don’t restrict who is involved with brand communication.

Do make sure to build your own in-house social media influencers. “If your employees aren’t talking, you might as well be invisible,” says LinkedIn’s Executive Editor, Daniel Roth.

And this last one isn’t a “step”, it’s an imperative. Do not forget that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is watching. Make sure to read their guide to company endorsements here, and make sure your employees are clear on what should and shouldn’t be done.

When an employee endorses his employer’s products on social media, their relationship should be disclosed. FTC guidance is clear that “listing your employer on your profile page isn’t enough.”  Companies should periodically remind employees not to post positive reviews online without disclosing their relationship.  If a company learns an employee has made a post in conflict with that policy, they should ask the employee to disclose the relationship or remove the review.

 

Loading Facebook Comments ...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *