Employee Advocacy: Scaling Social Media for 2019
Can employee advocacy finally make social media scalable for marketers in 2019?
Customers are spending more time on social media platforms and marketers must establish a presence. But producing tailored content across an average of 7.6 social accounts per internet user is a persistent challenge for marketers. Surprisingly, social media can be both the problem and the solution.
Google’s company culture is shouted about on every social media platform. The company has earned a reputation worldwide for its culture and now receives ten times more applications than Harvard. The employees made this happen, proudly championing its values online via personal accounts.
The phenomenon is known as employee advocacy and it is an effective tool for brands looking to spread positive brand sentiment across many social platforms.
How to Encourage Employee Advocacy
The most effective companies have cultures that inspire employees. In an interview with GDS, Google’s Former CHRO Liane Hornsey offered some insight into what makes the tech giant such a popular destination for global talent:
“I never look at their holiday, I never look at their sick… I do look at their output, that’s all I care about.”
The Importance of Organizational Culture
Few companies have the resources of Google. Yet this approach is taking root at a number of innovative organizations. Creativity, flexibility and positivity are all qualities that the internet giant has become known for, but they also regularly appear as top factors in lists of the best places to work.
Organizations are unlikely to receive bad press for meeting standard expectations. But providing the bare minimum is hardly inspirational. A lack of innovation doesn’t encourage the authentic employee advocacy that others enjoy.
Products Worth Talking About
The diversity of company size on best-places-to-work lists shows that building a great product is more important than making the coolest one around. When employees understand the product and feel excited by their work, enthusiastic social posting and brand evangelism is natural.
Regular recognition, educational development and strong internal communications help develop this understanding and build a sense of community. EA’s remarkable EveryoneSocial campaign is a perfect example of this, where a balanced mix of incentives and healthy competition turned the company into a silo-busting social media powerhouse. The results, some 6,600 employee-led engagements per month, speak for themselves.
Authentic Positive Brand Sentiment
Social media content heavily influences public perception. That does not need to be a bad thing. Companies are gaining a competitive advantage by creating positive environments where these messages are inevitable.
In the future, the prevalence of strong employee advocacy programs could develop workers into enthusiastic agents for positive brand sentiment. But to get there, business leaders have to decipher what drives employees and invest in their mutual growth.
Check out GDS Group Careers on Instagram to see how our employees are advocating for our brand.
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