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Employee advocacy programs are one of the most effective strategies for enhancing organic reach and earning the trust of consumers on social media. However, getting your employees on board for a program like this can be tough without a proper incentivization strategy.
Furthermore, companies that want to implement employee advocacy programs need to consider social media employee privacy rights and develop a system for monitoring employee social media without micromanaging people’s accounts.
Today, we’ll look at the importance of all these things. Plus, we’ll provide some actionable tips for asking employees to post on social media in a way that aligns with your business identity and ethos.
Learn more by watching our webinar on Transforming Employees into Social Media Champions: Building a Strong Advocacy Program.
Why Is Employee Participation In Social Media Campaigns Important?
Employees and businesses can benefit from employee participation in social media campaigns.
A recent LinkedIn study found that companies that implement employee advocacy programs see a 58% increase in employee loyalty, an 11% increase in web traffic, a 24% increase in brand awareness, and a 26% increase in employee retention, as well as improved overall leads.
These programs work because they manage to improve employee satisfaction, increase company-related social media performance, and create more trust with the public—all in one campaign.
If you want to maximize your brand’s share of voice using social media, our webinar tells you more.
Why Should Employees Participate In Advocacy Programs?
When pitching an employee advocacy program to employees, the above question is one of the first they will ask. Why should they choose to participate in a program like this?
Well, there are several reasons, and making sure they understand the benefits is the first step towards successfully bringing them on board.
1. Career growth opportunities
Employees who participate in advocacy programs have the opportunity to become thought leaders in their industry. This encourages recognition from their peers and other industry professionals and improves the potential for career growth.
2. Positive workplace culture
Employee advocacy programs often include a clear breakdown of company values and goals. This can bring a team together, help to foster a cohesive environment, and contribute to a more connected and positive workplace.
3. Participation incentive programs
Many companies choose to incentivize participation in this kind of campaign by offering rewards in exchange for advocacy. These rewards could be financial incentives, gifts, discounts, or membership programs that employees find appealing and worth putting in a little effort for.
All in all, employees may be motivated to participate in advocacy campaigns when they realize that they present a range of opportunities for furthering their careers, enjoying a more cohesive workplace culture, or receiving additional remuneration or rewards.
Tips for Encouraging Employees To Share Company Content on Social Media
In addition to highlighting the many benefits of asking employees to post on social media, it is advantageous to know a few other methods of incentivization for encouraging employees to share company content. Here are five of them:
1. Create engaging and relevant content
The number one rule for incentivizing employees to participate in advocacy programs is to make the content interesting, relevant, high-quality, and appealing.
After all, these are people’s personal profiles that they will be uploading your content to. They simply aren’t going to be interested in advocating for their company if the content provided is poorly created, irrelevant, or simply boring! Make sure the content you create is visually and conceptually appealing as well as appropriate for a wide range of different people and employees to share.
2. Make it easy to share
Don’t overcomplicate the process. Give employees clear, simple, and easy access to a wide range of approved content to share on their profiles so that the effort required to participate is as low as possible.
The easier it is for employees to share your content, the more likely they are to want to participate voluntarily. Make sure you have a solid brand manager and content developer on your team so that all company content can be produced, stored, and accessed in a way that feels naturally appealing to employees.
3. Set clear guidelines and objectives
Addressing social media rights and providing some basic social media training is another effective way to incentivize employees to participate in campaigns and programs like these. After all, you don’t want just every random employee to upload company content at random – creating clear policies, guidelines, and objectives will add necessary structure to the system as a whole.
This approach also helps employers monitor social media outcomes to measure performance more accurately by using clear metrics and KPIs for success.
4. Ensure employees understand the rationale behind sharing
Educating your employees on the why behind your employee advocacy campaign is crucial for encouraging them to partake in it. Besides, there are so many powerful and mutually beneficial reasons for participating that failing to mention them will needlessly detract from its efficacy.
If it’s your company’s first time implementing a campaign like this, or you simply want to refresh the minds of employees, consider hosting a workshop, pitch, or group meeting to discuss what the program is all about and what benefits they stand to receive from taking part in it.
5. Incentivize sharing
Finally, some good old-fashioned reward incentivization is never a bad idea when it comes to motivating participation in any company program.
Career growth opportunities, bonuses, or even access to special services or gifts can all pique the interest of ambitious, high-performing employees to a point that motivates them to get involved. Consider what rewards your employees seek most and try to incorporate them into the program.
Want to know how to measure social sharing and employee advocacy inside your company? Watch our webinar now.
Increase Employee Advocacy With Clearview Social
Asking employees to post on social media can be challenging when you’re unsure of how to motivate or encourage participation. However, with the right employee advocacy strategies, you can incentivize involvement and highlight the many potential rewards and benefits.
When implemented correctly, employee advocacy programs are symbiotic, mutually beneficial campaigns that can bring success to both companies and individual employees.
Make it easy for your employees to share on social media with Clearview Social. Our employee advocacy software is designed to equip companies with all the tools, resources, and advice needed for implementing performance-oriented social media campaigns. Contact us to request a free demo today.