When you are building a business, you look for your target market, audience, and potential customers. But there’s one group that people almost overlook every time. Their own management, their employees, and staff workforce. Ask yourself, why do you think a group of 40 to 50 people, or more or less than that, works for you? If you think it’s money, clearly, they have zero interest in your business model, product, or service. They just do their jobs to get paid; that’s it. In every office, there are such people who exist; that’s not a problem. The problem arises when the ratio or the percentage of such employees increases.
If you are a footwear manufacturer but your team wears a shoe, a sandal, or a sneaker that is of some other brand or company. It tells you a lot about your company and brand, if you decide to call it that. So your employees are already telling a story about your brand online, over coffee, in WhatsApp groups, and on LinkedIn posts. They paint the most realistic picture of your company or product. If they do not believe in your product, you are doing something terribly wrong.
When employees genuinely believe in the brand they work for, it shows. Your employees should feel proud and glow about the fact that they are associated with your brand, and that pride and glow reflects automatically in social circles, in gatherings, and at parties and discussions: they start promoting it, and they do it because they like the product and they love the brand, not because they’re incentivized. This is where the phenomenon of employee advocacy establishes itself, arguably the most cost-effective and authentic marketing channel most brands fail to utilize.
But again, let’s start with the basics.
What Is Employee Advocacy?
The book definition of employee advocacy is when employees voluntarily promote their company’s brand publicly and organically. They can do it in different ways; they can use the product or service of their brand in public or in general so that the people can notice it. Employer branding and ROI are both part of employee advocacy and are rooted to the brand strategy ROI. They can also do it by sharing updates on social media, representing the brand at events, referring others for jobs, or simply raving about their work life in casual conversations, social gatherings, meetings, and public events. The one strongest reason why this works is because people trust people far more than they trust corporate messaging.
Why Employees Outperform Ads
Let’s have a look at some statistics that shall answer this question.
According to the Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report, 84% of people trust recommendations from people they know, compared to only 15% who trust brand advertising.
Then there is another statistic that says that employee-shared content gets 2x the engagement of content shared by the brand itself.
And lastly, according to PostBeyond and Hootsuite, leads developed through employee social marketing convert 7x more frequently than other leads.
All these statistics tell the same story via different quantitative figures. When someone tells someone that they use a particular brand or product, the advice is valued because people think that it is coming from personal experience and not from a place of marketing or promotion. Hence, people value experience and so like to try it themselves compared to some ads they witness or come across in different channels.
Internal Culture Drives External Impact
The more employees align to the product internally, the better they are going to be at being vocal and promoting it on the outside. Employee advocacy is substantial proof and remember your brand promise means nothing without proof. Many employees work for the sake of earning money, but if you can induce pride, belief, and assurance in them that they are associated with a brand that is actually good, solves a problem, or adds value to the lives of people, that’s where things start to take shape.
Stop polishing logos, ads, and your website and start focusing on building an internal brand people want to stand behind. A weak internal culture leads to silence. In contrast, a strong brand leads to natural amplification. According to Gallup, only 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values to their everyday work. Trust me, you don’t want your brand to fall in this list.
Why Advocacy = Employer Branding and ROI
There are three crucial things that happen when an employee believes in the brand and starts advocating for it.
- They stick around; this is an internal benefit. Companies do not have to spend much on hiring and recruitment because most of the teams stay, and according to Gallup, highly engaged teams bring a decline of 59% in employee turnover.
- The second best thing that happens is that it attracts like-minded people and talent for work. As per Glassdoor, 86% of job seekers look for reviews & ratings before applying, and 84% say an employer’s reputation directly impacts their decision.
- Lastly, this improves marketing performance. Brands with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%.
Again, all these statistics paint a picture that informs us on the compounding effects and benefits of employee advocacy.
Practical Ways to Spark Employee Advocacy
Enough theoretical knowledge; let's talk implementation. Here are three practical techniques to induce and increase employee advocacy:
Introduce clarity in the brand from the inside out: A founder can use branding techniques and, foremost, an early brand strategy to work on mission, vision, values, purpose, and positioning. Employees start associating with such things. The companies can also conduct internal workshops too.
Not controlling but empowering: As per DSMN8, around 73% of employees say they would post more if their company made it easier to share content. So, instead of restricting them, offer guidelines for posting. Give them examples, and make them feel trusted with their jobs.
Invest and create shareable moments: as an entrepreneur, you have to seek and create moments that are worth celebrating, appreciating, and sharing. So that employees can talk about it with others.
Before we wrap
Employee advocacy is something that can diminish your overall marketing budget and branding expenses dramatically. But this will only happen if you know how to use it in the right way in the right direction. It stems from brand clarity, culture alignment, and trust. Know the process and enlighten your employees and workforce accordingly. If you want your employees to act as ambassadors, start by giving them something worth representing. Try employing internal alignment, and it will bring along employer branding with astonishing results.
That’s some food for thought. Explore the miracles of employee engagement and advocacy.
A strong internal brand turns staff into storytellers. And the impact? Increased brand reach, better recruitment, higher retention, and a direct uplift in employer branding and ROI.
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