Q: “We’ve recently decided to launch an employee advocacy program. How can we boost employee engagement within company social channels? How can we get employees more involved in general?”
Employees get involved in things they understand, believe in or trust. Many brands are disappointed with how many employees want to be a part of an advocacy program. But it’s easy to understand why if you look at things from the employee’s point of view, and not what the brand can get out of it.
People use social media to share things they find fun or interesting, or that make them proud of their life. It helps shape their online personality. Brands, on the other hand, want to control how they’re perceived. This is where companies need to relax and think about what they want to accomplish with an employee advocacy program – exposure, trust and credibility.
Here’s a simple, three-step process to get started:
Ask employees to represent the brand
Oddly enough one reason companies struggle with engagement is because they’ve never consistently and clearly asked people to join in. To make great progress fast, look for employees who are active and have a strong social media following. They’re already smart about what to do online and how to build an audience. And you’ll be tapping a large audience that already exists.
Teach employees how to represent the brand
Many want to be a part of the conversation, but they need a recipe to follow. They’re nervous about doing something wrong and getting dinged. In their mind, it’s better to do nothing at all rather than do something about which they’re unsure and risk the consequences. Train them not only on the ins and outs of social media, but also what’s appropriate to share.
Make it easy to represent the brand
While employees might understand the rules and be excited about sharing content, the wheels can fall off the bus if they don’t know what to share. Or are self-conscious about how they share it. There are great platforms that let you publish pre-approved content that employees can turn around and share on social channels of their choice, or update it to fit their personality, first.
Your employees are your first litmus test of what content really matters. It’s important to look at the content they find interesting enough to share. But you also have to look at what resonates with their followers, and what they’ll reshare. When you do it right, it’s a continual learning process.
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