What is an Employee Advocacy Program? 4 Ways to Build Social Buy-In With Your Team

Smart managers and CEOs don’t shy away from social media. They know it’s important to engage with employees where they spend their time: online. It not only helps build overall company morale, but it also feeds the pipeline of future employees who can get a sense of your company culture.  But liking or sharing a post isn’t enough anymore. Here are four ways to build real social buy-in from your employees - no matter their title. 

Meet Employees Where They Are 

LinkedIn is the natural first place where you make a connection with the people you work with. From the moment a person is applying for a job they are likely following your business page, connecting with key people in HR, etc. But LinkedIn is not the only place where they spend their time online. Facebook, Instagram, and even X (formerly known as Twitter), have become acceptable channels where businesses connect not only with clients, but with future employees as well. Consider auditing the demographics of your employees. Their age and the gender they identify as can give you some general (and likely, correct) assumptions about where they spend their time. Make sure you are visible there. Even if you are not connecting directly with employees (nobody says you have to!), it’s important to comment on and share content on these platforms. 

Set Effective Goals 

I recently met with a marketing manager who received a directive from her CEO of increasing their company’s LinkedIn following by 5,000 followers/month. My first question: Why? Most leaders know they should invest in social media, but it’s important to understand what they expect to “get out of it.” It’s not that their goal is silly (although it might be) but there could be a better solution to their goal. Marrying the task with the goal in social media is one of the biggest question marks most marketing teams face today. If I do X, will I get Y? While LinkedIn might help you reach 5,000 more followers/month, then what? There are virtually endless options for other platforms and other campaigns you can utilize if you know your ultimate goal. Getting down to the base reason for a marketing goal can result in more effective outcomes for everyone. 

Train the Team 

Consider creating a “how to” guide for employees who attend community events with simple, to the point directions that will inspire them to use social media effectively (versus frustrate them enough to not even try). Furthermore, make this a part of the onboarding process for new employees so it’s part of the company culture early on. 

Many large organizations and nonprofits have important guidelines around not wearing company apparel at political or religious events as well as not being seen in a company uniform while drinking or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Meanwhile, encourage them to respond positively on company posts, and share exciting updates with friends and followers using company hashtags and handles. 

Practice Gratitude

One of the biggest complaints I hear from marketing directors is that they tell their teams they need more content for social media (photos, videos), but they don’t receive them. Or, they receive content that is unusable. Practice showing gratitude for the employees that are clearly wanting to help and are eager to do so. Since camera phones can do much of the work for you, a quick how-to guide or short video can go a long way in supporting your employees to get the most out of the powerful tool they already have in their hand. After all, it’s much harder to train someone to care, but you can train anyone to take a better photo.

By establishing expectations early - no matter the person’s job title - and seeing that support and engagement from the top down, you can increase your social media clout effectively and efficiently. Employee advocacy may be a long play, but it is by far one of the best business and marketing strategies you can begin implementing today.