Start an employee advocacy program successfully

Content marketing is one of the most important marketing spearheads within many companies. Realizing a relevant range is the most important starting point. To create that relevant reach, companies are increasingly investing in an employee advocacy program (distributing content through your colleagues).

Content marketing is one of the most important marketing spearheads within many companies. Realizing a relevant range is the most important starting point. To create that relevant reach, companies are increasingly investing in an employee advocacy program (distributing content through your colleagues). And last but not least; the best ambassadors are your colleagues and they have a very relevant network. The following figures show that employee advocacy works; Content shared by colleagues results in eight x more engagement. Leads convert seven x better. The candidates who apply via colleagues appear to be better applicants and stay longer once they have been hired.

The strength of an employee advocacy program lies in the combination of content and the motivation of colleagues to want to share this content. We have a number of tips on how you can achieve this;

1. Empower your colleagues Make sure your colleagues have the confidence to share content; - help them optimize their social media profile - let them know that they can share content - help and support your colleagues in creating the content or deliver the content - make sharing easy and fun - make sure there is a coach to whom they can go 

2. Be accessible For many colleagues, creating and sharing content is new and scary; - make sure you are approachable for questions - be open to content suggestions from colleagues

3. Deliver customized work Not every colleague is the same. Not every function is the same. Make sure that you provide that content that optimally matches the position and network of your colleagues "; - think in (internal) target groups; thought leaders, commercial networkers, service experts - adjust your content and writing style per target group

4. Start sharing Do not wait until you have worked everything out, but start in a controlled manner. Experiment during the pilot period and use the results for your business case.

Start with a limited number of colleagues

Select a limited number of colleagues (at least 5) that you know are open to new ones initiatives and are already active on social media. Ask these colleagues if they want to participate a pilot. You can choose to involve people from different departments. Than are you already working on capacity and after the pilot do you have someone who can help the rest of the department and stimulate. You can also choose to select a department that leads the way, for example marketing or communication. Then after the pilot you can see the success and progress of a department show. This can serve as an example for the rest of the organization. It is handy to have a kick-off here to organize. In it you explain the do's and don'ts of social media. How long is a message, what is the call to action and why should someone read / watch the message? In doing so, you naturally also introduce your colleagues to Soworker, so that they know how easy it is to share content and that this not only takes time but also yields something. This way you can save SoWo’s that you can exchange for fun incentives.

Make sure you have content

Make sure you have content to share immediately after the kickoff. Perhaps there is already one content calendar available in the organization, but also consider sharing vacancies or news updates. This way you ensure that colleagues can get started with Soworker immediately. You can already several messages in Soworker "schedules" so that colleagues quickly get used to it sharing the content. It would be nice to aim for a message at least once a week to share during the pilot. A three-month period is also a good period for that a pilot. - Share results To ensure that colleagues remain enthusiastic, it is important to share results. Through the dashboard in Soworker you always have insight into the number of messages that have been shared. By the Sharing the results with colleagues will increase involvement. You could also make lists of employees who are most successful (nice for sales-driven organizations) or share cases of successful messages. - Roll out After the first experiences have been gained, you can expand the program and several colleagues to invite. It is also important for these colleagues to know what the goal is and what the first one is experiences. Perhaps the first ambassadors can play a role in this. 5.

Measure, analyze and improve

After you have rolled out the program it is important to continue to measure and analyze; - what percentage of colleagues participate in the program? - how much more commitment is there as a result of the program? - which content is shared the most? - which content leads to the most clicks, leads and responses? 6. Continues to motivate It is important to keep colleagues motivated to share content; - show them the effect on website visits, leads, applicants - make sharing fun, for example by exchanging with the incentives they can earn through the SoWo’s.