From pleading to leading: Why employee advocacy should be structured   

By Samuel Boateng OSARFO

Employee advocacy involves employees promoting their company’s content, brand and values by digitally sharing them organically through structured programmes. In some cases, it extends to organisations using staff as participants or ‘actors’ in content production. Truly, employee advocacy represents one of the rare business strategies where marketing and people management intersect.

Statistically, employee-shared content reaches 561% further and generates 8x more engagement than content shared through brand channels alone. Leads from employee advocacy convert up to 7x more frequently, according to expert estimates. These figures highlight the powerful multiplier effect of a well-structured employee advocacy programme.

Despite these proven benefits, employee advocacy remains either unknown or unstructured in many organisations. In practice, it is often left to the discretion and goodwill of individual employees – with no system to track or measure impact. Although marketers frequently ask colleagues to share and engage with social media content, these requests are rarely followed through consistently or monitored.

This article explores why employee advocacy, a critical yet often overlooked marketing communications strategy, should matter to organisations aiming to cut through advertising clutter.

• People trust people more than brands

It is widely recognised that people trust individuals more than brands or organisations. Audiences are drawn to the authenticity and originality of personal voices over corporate ones. Many consumers believe that no matter how subtle or educational a brand’s marketing or content may be, the ultimate goal is to sell something. As a result, they develop psychological barriers selectively ignoring organisational content. Through employee storytelling and advocacy, organisations can reduce this mistrust, expand their reach and foster more meaningful engagement with their content.

• Digital platforms amplify employee voices

Ever wondered why a low-budget creator in a remote village often gains more followers and interactions on social media than a well-established multinational? By design, the algorithms powering digital platforms favour individual voices. These platforms are inherently more social than commercial, prioritising content with genuine social relevance over purely promotional material.

When employees consistently post or interact with company content, they signal to the algorithm that the organisation is human and social rather than purely commercial. This boosts visibility, drives more traffic and helps break through the noise.

• Talent attraction and retention now depend on authentic storytelling

Effective online storytelling featuring employees as authentic participants remains one of the most powerful ways organisations attract and retain talent. Through these efforts, many employees have become influencers or ‘celebrities’ in their own right, gaining recognition from participating in company content production.

This strengthens employee loyalty and reduces turnover rates, as their personal identities become closely tied to the organisations they represent. At their best, these initiatives make organisations highly attractive to prospective talent seeking meaningful opportunities.

• Organisations Seeking to Scale

Regardless of size, scale or scope, organisations continually seek ways to build top-of-mind visibility and expand their influence within their niches or industries. Globally, companies invest billions annually in advertising and marketing to deliver their content, stories and journeys to the audiences that matter most.

Metrics such as impressions, engagements, interactions, traffic and sales remain core KPIs for marketing communications teams. These metrics will not diminish in importance as organisations grow more focused on tracking and measuring marketing outcomes. The drive to scale visibility and impact provides compelling reasons to implement structured employee advocacy programmes.

Conclusion
Employee advocacy is one of the most potent strategies for increasing reach, engagement and conversions for any organisation. Despite its potential, it remains either unknown or unstructured in many cases. In my next article, I will explore the tools and strategies for driving, tracking, incentivising and measuring employee advocacy effectively. Stay tuned.

 

 About the writer

The writer is Communications Manager at HR Focus Africa.

The post From pleading to leading: Why employee advocacy should be structured    appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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