What is employee advocacy? Insights from a global employer brand leader

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It’s a well-known fact in marketing that a brand’s employees make the best influencers, especially on social media channels. Employee advocacy helps businesses achieve results that standard messaging can’t achieve alone.

Here at Bespoke Careers, we know first-hand the power of employee advocacy – it’s one of the most effective ways to amplify your company’s employer brand.

In the first episode of The Bespoke Careers Employer Branding Playbook we spoke with Alex Her, co-founder of the EB Space and all-around employer brand expert, about the art of employee advocacy. Read highlights from our chat below, filled with tips to help elevate your employer branding strategy.

What is employee advoacy?

LinkedIn is a platform we're all familiar with. Yet when it comes to catching the attention of potential new team members, simply posting jobs on LinkedIn is unlikely to be enough. The ideal candidates, who are not actively searching for jobs, are more likely to engage with content shared by real people under the guise of an employee advocacy strategy.

Research across a range of industries supports this. According to Glassdoor, 75% of job seekers are likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand. Cultivating a strong employer brand can reduce your cost-per-hire by 50% and increase the number of qualified applicants by another 50%.

As LinkedIn’s data shows, the click-through rate on a piece of content is two times higher when shared by an employee, compared to when shared by the company itself. Tech giant Dell garnered 45,000 additional clicks to its website during the first year of its employee advocacy program alone. 

Employee advocacy brings benefits for business development as well. One analysis found leads generated through employees sharing content on social media are seven times more likely to turn into customers than other types of leads.

The pillars of an employee advocacy strategy

A strong employee advocacy program is built on consistency and relevant content. According to Alex, it’s important to establish a content strategy that includes a variety of content types – ideally five or six topics that can engage your audience. 

Before investing in tools, it’s advisable for the company to should map out the program's structure to ensure it aligns with specific goals. To meet those goals, you must target your audience effectively on the right channels. 

Sharing content across multiple platforms like LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and TikTok might seem the way to go, but not every platform will be suitable for employee advocacy messaging.

A well-thought-out plan should also include internal processes such as tracking content performance and determining potential rewards, like referral bonuses, for active participants. Mapping out a clear structure and objectives allows companies to manage content flow and execution. In other words, don’t wing it!

Creating on-point content  

To create content that doesn’t make audiences tune out, it’s wise to avoid selfies and the “Hey, we’re hiring!” posts. What really resonates, says Alex, are your team members' stories. 

He recommends highlighting the lives and work of your team, not just their day-to-day but also what brought them to their current role, and what they’re passionate about outside of work. 

This kind of storytelling is more of a top-of-the-funnel strategy, Alex says, but has a long-term payoff. People might not jump at your job vacancies right away, but after seeing multiple stories like this, they might start to think, “I love how this company supports its people. Maybe it’s time for me to explore something new.”

Networking and industry events are also an excellent vehicle for employee advocacy – an approach we thoroughly endorse here at Bespoke Careers. Although advocacy is often linked to digital marketing, we think it’s just as important to encourage employees to be brand ambassadors at events. 

In fact, sharing insights about their work, projects and industry trends are easy forms of advocacy your team might be practicing already.

Should you use AI?

Artificial intelligence tools have already transformed and streamlined much of the time-consuming tasks of creating content for employee advocacy programs, but they must be used wisely.

Tools like Canva and Grammarly can save you hours of work, along with new tools that allow you to quickly create graphics and edit videos. But it’s sensible to avoid relying solely on AI outputs, states Alex. You still need to manage the content and ensure it aligns with your brand’s voice and objectives. 

Getting buy-in 

Creating thoughtful content can be a challenge for some of us – not everyone is a natural-born content creator. The first step in creating buy-in is making employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences.

Alex explains it’s important to show employees what's in it for them. Giving team members a framework for creating content can help them develop their personal brand, which can be a big motivator. 

Gamification and introducing a bit of friendly competition can do wonders. With an “internal point system” and a leaderboard, Alex says, you can reward employees for the most shares or engagement. This could involve points, gift cards, or other small incentives. 

The return on investment from such programs can be significant, though implementing them can be challenging. “People love [incentives]; it's a very small thing you can do, and I would say the ROI from that is tremendous,” he says. 

Leading by example

Employee buy-in is just part of the equation. When only individual contributors share content, it may lack the influence needed to drive engagement,

In contrast, when hiring managers, team leaders, directors, or even VPs and C-level executives participate, it adds credibility and authority to the program. Having managers roll up their sleeves and get involved highlights that employee advocacy is more than just posting a photo or video – it’s a deliberate process aimed at building a strong employer brand and attracting the right candidates.

Keeping employee advocacy authentic

Participation in employee advocacy programs should be voluntary, Alex noted. If employees feel pressured to join in on advocacy efforts, it won't come across as genuine. 

Personalization is the key to making employee advocacy authentic. When starting an advocacy program, some employees might not know how to create content themselves or feel uncomfortable doing it, so offering guidance on this is important, he says. 

However, as the program matures – maybe a few months or a year in – you can encourage employees to take more ownership and start personalizing the content. 

For instance, you could provide a team member with a tracking link for a LinkedIn post, but allow them to create their own message or choose hashtags, he says. This is the best way to allow an employee to sound like themselves and not like they’re posting social media content using a template. If an audience sees employees "put out the same messages as 200 other teammates, it’s pretty obvious we’re ghost-writing… and it’s not authentic.”

Employees who have been actively participating in advocacy should be encouraged to share ideas, he adds. For instance, if a team member suggests shifting the focus from job postings to highlighting local office culture or showcasing projects, that input can add valuable dimensions to the program.

Let employees be a part of that process, Alex says, and you’ll get some unique ideas that make advocacy efforts stronger and more authentic.

Summary 

Employee advocacy programs may involve a fair amount of initial groundwork, but the ROI could be limitless. 

When your team members willingly share exciting company updates, work wins, or just how much they love their jobs with their personal networks, you’re getting genuine advocacy that money can’t buy. It’s like a magnet for talent and helpful for attracting clients as well. 

More advice from the architecture and design recruitment experts

At Bespoke Careers, part of our mission is to represent the employer brands of the companies we represent. For considered and tailored advice on your employer branding strategy, talk to our team of architecture and design recruitment specialists. Contact us today – we’d love to help!