The Only Content Strategy for Employee Advocacy Platform

Are you aware that incorporating employee advocacy into your marketing plan can boost your brand awareness by 24%?

In addition, customers perceive content shared by employees as 8 times more genuine than content shared directly by the brand.

Keeping this in mind, investing additional time, effort, and financial resources into developing a content strategy for employee advocacy appears to be a sensible decision.

We are not discussing the robotic sharing of posts or forcing employees to post content.

Rather, we are focusing on building a genuine relationship between employees and the company's brand.

In this article, we will provide guidance on designing an authentic content strategy for employee advocacy.

Let's get started!

What Is Employee Advocacy?

Most likely, everyone has an idea of what employee advocacy means, and you are correct.

It involves employees sharing content on their social media accounts to increase brand awareness.

However, to genuinely benefit the company, employees should share content on platforms like LinkedIn with sincerity and authenticity.

We understand that the company's reach is likely 30-40% smaller than each employee's network, which is where the real potential for brand awareness lies.

Therefore, employee advocacy is not about employees trying to sell the brand to others but truly sharing their experience and authenticity.

Employee Advocacy Benefits

Let's take a moment to highlight the advantages of a thoughtfully developed employee advocacy content strategy!

🎯 Amplified Reach - Employees can serve as powerful brand advocates, leveraging their personal and professional networks to amplify the reach of your content.

🎯 Increased Credibility - When employees share content related to their industry or expertise, it enhances the organization's credibility, which often carries more weight than corporate messaging.

🎯 Employee Engagement - Involving employees in content creation and sharing fosters a sense of belonging and engagement.

🎯 Talent Attraction - Employee advocacy can also play a crucial role in attracting top talent. Potential hires often research a company's online presence, and seeing engaged and passionate employees can be a compelling factor in their decision-making process.

5 Crucial Elements of Content Strategy for Employee Advocacy Platform

1. Teach Employees About the Brand

If your company has never engaged in employee advocacy, your employees may feel genuinely uncertain about how to present your brand.

They may be unsure about the tone of voice to use or the company values they should promote.

Perhaps the company lacks a well-defined organizational culture and so on.

Learning about the brand and the company you represent is essential.

Not only for advocacy and improving performance metrics, but also for enforcing strict branding guidelines.

Ultimately, when initiating an advocacy program, it is crucial to establish clear goals which will guide the program.

This leads us to the second point.

2. Set Clear Goals

Consider identifying the benefits that each department of the company could achieve.

Maybe you're seeking to recruit new workers with specific qualities or aiming to increase followers on your social media channels.

You might also want to generate additional leads for your sales department.

Whatever your goals, communicate them to your employees before launching any advocacy program to ensure everyone aligns and works toward the same objectives.

Below, we've compiled a list of potential goals for you to consider setting for your advocacy program.

After aligning all the goals, developing a calendar plan for each specific goal will be easier.

3.  Point Out Employees Benefits

Motivating your employees should be the first priority.

It's essential not to force people to do something that doesn't make sense to them, and no one wants to work extra hours for free outside of their daily responsibilities.

However, it is essential not to overlook certain employee benefits.

3.1 Expanding Their Network

Firstly, by sharing content regularly on their LinkedIn profile, they expand their network and bring attention to themselves while also promoting the company.

This can benefit both the employee's professional development and the company's future.

But it’s important for you to educate employees and help them understand the benefits they can get besides promoting your company.

3.2 Way To Become a Thought Leader

Secondly, by taking ownership and becoming the voice of the company, employees can learn how to become thought leaders, an essential trait for each employee.

If employees still lack motivation, financial incentives may be a viable option.

However, focusing first on a solid content strategy is crucial before discussing employee rewards.

4. Assign the Tasks In Advance

If you're wondering what an actual content strategy looks like, let's break it down step by step.

4.1 Create Content

If you plan on starting an employee advocacy program and have a team in mind, you can begin with a brainstorming session to gather everyone's ideas.

Write down all the ideas and decide on the types of content you wish to share with your audience.

It's advisable to have a variety of content forms to keep things interesting, especially since LinkedIn currently favors videos and carousels.

To make the process more efficient, prepare your content in bulk.

You can organize your team to work a few hours each week within their working hours to create the content that you will eventually post.

🌟Pro Tip — Text Editor and Drafts Feature

Recognizing the importance of preparation, the AuthoredUp app introduces the Draft feature to tackle the challenge of motivation.

With the Text Editor you can prepare your posts — write, modify, format and get a preview of how they will look on various devices.

Likewise, the Draft feature conveniently enables you to accumulate as many future posts during moments of high motivation.

Later, you can utilize these drafts when needed, ensuring a consistent and engaging stream of content even when motivation might be lacking.

Simply filter through them or scroll effortlessly to find the draft you're looking for.

4.2 Create Good Hooks and CTA

Writing a first post can be challenging, but there are a few strategies to enhance it and capture people's attention.

One effective approach is crafting compelling hooks.

Your goal is to entice people to click on the three dots when they come across your post.

Absolutely, you're spot on.

After successfully drawing people in with a compelling hook, it's crucial to deliver valuable and high-quality content.

Providing substance ensures that your audience finds real value in your posts, fostering trust and increasing the likelihood of them returning for more.

A balance between grabbing attention and delivering substance is key for building a lasting and engaged audience.

Of course, now comes the intriguing call to action.

You'll want it to feel authentic yet compelling, striking that perfect balance between being natural and encouraging action.

🌟Pro Tip — Hook And CTA Library

AuthoredUp provides an extensive library of over 200 hook lines and 100+ calls to action (CTA).

Simply choose the one that aligns best with your post, and you're ready to roll.

Filter options by topics make it easy to find the perfect fit for your specific needs.

4.3 Schedule Posting

Now, the calculation comes into play.

If everyone posts simultaneously on the same day, achieving your goals becomes challenging. Employees should differentiate themselves by adopting a posting schedule at various times throughout the week.

For instance, if someone posts on Tuesday at noon, the next post should be later that day or the following day.

Establishing a well-planned schedule enhances audience recognition, and people become accustomed to your posting patterns.

Some may even log onto the platform at specific times, anticipating your content.

🌟Pro Tip — Scheduling Option

Utilize the handy alarm clock feature on AuthoredUp to effortlessly schedule your posts in advance.

A simple click on the clock brings up the calendar right in front of you, providing an easy and efficient way to schedule posts.

Calendar view makes it simpler to track and manage your LinkedIn content. When you schedule posts using AuthoredUp, they will automatically show up in the calendar.

This is particularly useful for planning and scheduling multiple posts ahead of time.

5. Have The Rewarding System

You have planned everything, and everyone is ready to initiate the implementation of the content strategy.

However, there might be a sense that employees feel their efforts are futile.

That's why You should integrate a reward system that offers something employees genuinely value.

A financial bonus each month for their extra effort could be universally appreciated, and even a simple shout-out within the company expressing appreciation for someone's work can go a long way.

Nevertheless, when creating the strategy, it would be beneficial to directly ask employees about their preferences for recognition and rewards, ensuring that the reward system aligns with what motivates and satisfies the team members.

Wrapping Up

We've only begun to delve into the intricate realm of creating a content strategy for employee advocacy.

It requires everyone's time, calculations, and analytics to discern what works and what doesn't. The process spans many weeks and months before yielding initial results.

Having an effective Employee Advocacy platform is not just a trend; it's a necessity in today's digital world.

But what if we told you there's a way to streamline this entire process just a bit?

Allow us to introduce you to AuthoredUp!

How Authoredup Can Benefit You?

AuthoredUp is an all-in-one alternative to LinkedIn tools with a user-friendly dashboard for individuals and teams.

Key features streamline the content strategy creation process, offering an intuitive interface and specialized tools to simplify tasks, facilitate analytics, and optimize workflow.

Explore AuthoredUp to discover how these features make the complex process more manageable and efficient:

Some other features AuthoredUp offers:

✨ Preview your post for different devices.

✨ Use an Analytics feature to monitor your performance and growth.

✨ Reuse any old post with just a click.

✨ Monitor team analytics to deliver the strategy and get the maximum impact.
✨ Add team collaborators on your draft.

✨ Boost engagement on your posts with GIFs.

✨ Openings and endings in English, German and Dutch.

Why burden your mind in isolation when you have the assistance of a tool to create your content strategy?

Sign in to AuthoredUp today, and see what employee advocacy can look like!