How to be effective with employee advocacy in 2024 and beyond
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 4:34 am
Employee Advocacy 2.0: Growth Storytelling Team
One of the most fun projects I worked on as a marketing strategist (still relatively junior at the time) was the Employee Advocacy Program . We got our start in the technology consulting business I was working in at the time.
Not only was it tremendously fun, but also tremendously successful in all the beautiful ways that Employee Advocacy can be: far beyond growth and reach, to enhancing brand equity, employer branding, and employee engagement with marketing, as well as their connection to the company.
Over the years, I’ve studied how smart people in our industry do it and have refined my method on several projects. Here’s how you, as a marketer or business leader, can truly succeed with Employee Advocacy in 2024 and beyond.
And how to increase your potential growth by 10 with the help of AI.
But, and this may come as a surprise, it doesn’t start with technology. Nor does it start by begging people to share your posts, threatening them, or telling them they can win a cup of coffee if they do. It starts by understanding people, their relationships with brands, and how people and brands naturally grow.
With this article, I present to you some of my 10+ years of experience, borrowed knowledge, best practices, and a 10-step program to finally have incredible success in employee advocacy. Let’s go.
Committees
Purpose-Driven Marketing: Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
The benefits of employee advocacy
Employee Advocacy 2.0: Growth Storytelling Team
How to tell stories of team growth
How to Create an Effective Employee Advocacy Program: cambodia business email list Lay the Foundation in 5 Steps
Making a difference with Employee Advocacy 2.0: Growth Storytelling Team in 10 steps
How to tell stories of team growth
Do you want to prepare for the future of branding, storytelling and content marketing?
Frequently Asked Questions
Would you prefer more personalized help?
Purpose-Driven Marketing: Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
Purpose-Driven Marketing Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
Here's a statement that might confuse you a little:
“Making your brand purpose-driven is essentially the same as making your marketing based on employee advocacy. And vice versa.”
This, by the way, is also the starting point of every marketer, tech, B2B or SaaS specialist’s wet dream, and every social media manager – employee and, dare we say it, even customer ambassador.
Now, why exactly is making your brand purpose-driven the same as making your marketing based on employee advocacy? Because being a purpose-driven brand is all about alignment: from the company’s purpose to the employees’ “why”; and from the employees’ and the company’s mission to the customer’s goals.
Your brand is nothing, it means nothing without the people connected to it. The same applies to your purpose .
Everything you do as a company or organization has to be aligned with what you say your Purpose is. And this alignment starts with aligning your people and their drives and actions with your company’s mission, and vice versa.
In case it’s not 100% clear by now: this also means that employee advocacy and/or brand ambassadorship starts from the inside out; with purpose-driven brand creation starting from HR and Leadership and extending far beyond traditional marketing and brand functions.
Employee Advocacy programs and Brand Ambassador content are simply the (external) expressions of a Purpose-driven and aligned organization.
Now, why is it good to be purpose-driven again?
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
Purpose-driven brands achieve up to 300% higher revenue growth and are able to connect it to increased employee satisfaction. Purpose has been shown to not only improve brand value and help increase revenue, but it also makes humans more productive, healthier, and creative, among many other benefits. What’s not to like?
The benefits of employee advocacy
And what makes Employee Advocacy so coveted? Marketing efforts focused on employee advocacy can generate a much bigger impact in terms of reviews, engagement, and leads. Check out these stats:
Much more reach and revenue growth
Company brand messages reach 561% more when shared by employees versus branded channels. Makes sense too, right? People trust and want to hear from people, not brands. 31% of high-growth companies have a formalized employee advocacy program (source: Hinge Marketing ). Leads from social selling have a 7x higher win rate in sales pipelines , compared to other sources.
One of the most fun projects I worked on as a marketing strategist (still relatively junior at the time) was the Employee Advocacy Program . We got our start in the technology consulting business I was working in at the time.
Not only was it tremendously fun, but also tremendously successful in all the beautiful ways that Employee Advocacy can be: far beyond growth and reach, to enhancing brand equity, employer branding, and employee engagement with marketing, as well as their connection to the company.
Over the years, I’ve studied how smart people in our industry do it and have refined my method on several projects. Here’s how you, as a marketer or business leader, can truly succeed with Employee Advocacy in 2024 and beyond.
And how to increase your potential growth by 10 with the help of AI.
But, and this may come as a surprise, it doesn’t start with technology. Nor does it start by begging people to share your posts, threatening them, or telling them they can win a cup of coffee if they do. It starts by understanding people, their relationships with brands, and how people and brands naturally grow.
With this article, I present to you some of my 10+ years of experience, borrowed knowledge, best practices, and a 10-step program to finally have incredible success in employee advocacy. Let’s go.
Committees
Purpose-Driven Marketing: Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
The benefits of employee advocacy
Employee Advocacy 2.0: Growth Storytelling Team
How to tell stories of team growth
How to Create an Effective Employee Advocacy Program: cambodia business email list Lay the Foundation in 5 Steps
Making a difference with Employee Advocacy 2.0: Growth Storytelling Team in 10 steps
How to tell stories of team growth
Do you want to prepare for the future of branding, storytelling and content marketing?
Frequently Asked Questions
Would you prefer more personalized help?
Purpose-Driven Marketing: Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
Purpose-Driven Marketing Employee Advocacy and Brand Ambassadors
Here's a statement that might confuse you a little:
“Making your brand purpose-driven is essentially the same as making your marketing based on employee advocacy. And vice versa.”
This, by the way, is also the starting point of every marketer, tech, B2B or SaaS specialist’s wet dream, and every social media manager – employee and, dare we say it, even customer ambassador.
Now, why exactly is making your brand purpose-driven the same as making your marketing based on employee advocacy? Because being a purpose-driven brand is all about alignment: from the company’s purpose to the employees’ “why”; and from the employees’ and the company’s mission to the customer’s goals.
Your brand is nothing, it means nothing without the people connected to it. The same applies to your purpose .
Everything you do as a company or organization has to be aligned with what you say your Purpose is. And this alignment starts with aligning your people and their drives and actions with your company’s mission, and vice versa.
In case it’s not 100% clear by now: this also means that employee advocacy and/or brand ambassadorship starts from the inside out; with purpose-driven brand creation starting from HR and Leadership and extending far beyond traditional marketing and brand functions.
Employee Advocacy programs and Brand Ambassador content are simply the (external) expressions of a Purpose-driven and aligned organization.
Now, why is it good to be purpose-driven again?
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
The value of purpose-aligned brands and employee advocacy
Purpose-driven brands achieve up to 300% higher revenue growth and are able to connect it to increased employee satisfaction. Purpose has been shown to not only improve brand value and help increase revenue, but it also makes humans more productive, healthier, and creative, among many other benefits. What’s not to like?
The benefits of employee advocacy
And what makes Employee Advocacy so coveted? Marketing efforts focused on employee advocacy can generate a much bigger impact in terms of reviews, engagement, and leads. Check out these stats:
Much more reach and revenue growth
Company brand messages reach 561% more when shared by employees versus branded channels. Makes sense too, right? People trust and want to hear from people, not brands. 31% of high-growth companies have a formalized employee advocacy program (source: Hinge Marketing ). Leads from social selling have a 7x higher win rate in sales pipelines , compared to other sources.