When your own employees aren’t passionate enough to read and share your content, how do you think your prospects and customers are viewing it?
Mark Schaefer
That quote often echoes in my mind during conversations with clients about employee social advocacy. Mark once shared that story, which still resonates: a global company with hundreds of thousands of employees was publishing on social media, yet their posts were met with only a handful of likes or shares. The disconnect was striking. Why, with so much internal horsepower, was there so little external impact?
The answer: Their employees weren’t engaged. And that’s the crux of employee advocacy—it’s not just about sharing content. It’s about caring enough to do so.
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Too many organizations overlook or underestimate this opportunity. Even worse, some restrict it entirely. I’ve seen companies—often concerned about brand control or regulatory compliance—implement blanket bans on employees sharing publicly. It blows my mind. You hire bright, skilled professionals, pay top dollar to retain them, and then discourage them from speaking publicly about the great work they’re doing?
Of course, compliance matters. Regulated industries must navigate specific rules. But even in those spaces, we’ve seen advocacy programs succeed with clear governance, training, and the right tools. The issue isn’t the regulation—it’s the unwillingness to invest in a structure that allows employees to represent the brand responsibly and authentically.
Then there’s the culture question. Some companies have failed to foster internal pride or alignment. Employees don’t share because they don’t feel a connection to the company’s mission or message. That’s not a marketing failure—it’s a leadership one. If your team isn’t excited about what you’re doing, why would the market be?
In today’s media landscape, employees are one of your most underutilized and most powerful distribution channels. With organic reach declining and content overload becoming the norm, brands can’t rely solely on official channels. Audiences crave authenticity, and that’s exactly what employees can deliver. A single employee with a strong LinkedIn presence can outperform your brand page. Multiply that by 10, 20, or 100 employees, and the potential reach becomes exponential.
What is Employee Social Advocacy?
Employee social advocacy is the practice of employees promoting their company’s brand, content, values, or initiatives through their personal social media channels. It’s not limited to retweeting the company blog. It includes sharing insights from their roles, celebrating wins, spotlighting team efforts, and participating in industry conversations—all through a personal lens.
Done right, it’s one of the most effective ways to build credibility, amplify content, and humanize your brand. People trust people far more than they trust logos.
10 Steps to Build an Effective Employee Social Advocacy Program
Building a successful employee social advocacy program requires more than encouragement—it takes intentional structure, clear guidance, and the right mix of tools and culture to empower participation at scale.
Invite your staff to join your new employee social advocacy program voluntarily.
Authenticity can’t be mandated. For employee advocacy to work, participation must be voluntary. Start by explaining why the program exists and how it benefits not only the company but the employees themselves—building their personal brand, positioning them as thought leaders, and giving them a voice in the broader industry conversation.
Create social media guidelines and educate employees on best practices.
Many employees hesitate to post because they’re unsure what’s appropriate. Provide clear, accessible social media guidelines that protect both the brand and the individual. Cover tone, content boundaries, disclosure requirements, and examples of what good advocacy looks like. Don’t treat this as a rulebook—treat it as enablement.
Complete the onboarding process for the employee advocacy tool you will be using.
An advocacy tool can centralize content, track engagement, and simplify the sharing process. Employee advocacy tools enable employees to locate and share company-approved content easily. During onboarding, ensure that your team understands not only how to use the tool but also how their activities contribute to the larger business goals.
Determine your business objectives and key performance indicators for the program.
Be intentional. Is your goal brand awareness, thought leadership, lead generation, recruitment, or all of the above? Define KPIs that align with these goals, such as share rates, click-through rates (CTR), traffic generated, or leads attributed to employee content. Clear objectives make it easier to measure and iterate.
Create an employee advocacy team to manage company-wide efforts and appoint a program coordinator.
Appoint a small team to own the program. This team should include a program coordinator—ideally someone with both internal credibility and marketing know-how—to curate content, provide support, and serve as the internal champion. The broader team can include stakeholders from marketing, HR, and sales to ensure alignment across departments.
Launch a pilot program with a small group of employees before extending it to the entire organization.
Start with a small, enthusiastic group of early adopters. This gives you a chance to test your tools, refine your messaging, and gather success stories. Encourage feedback. Showcase what works. When the broader rollout comes, you’ll have proof points and advocates ready to lead by example.
Curate and develop a variety of fresh and relevant content for employees to share with their followers.
Your content library should be diverse and dynamic, covering company news, customer stories, behind-the-scenes culture, thought leadership, third-party industry content, and timely campaign pieces. Provide suggested captions or context where needed. The easier it is for employees to share, the more they will.
Determine whether content and messaging require pre-approval by the program’s coordinator.
Not every organization needs rigid approval workflows, but clarity matters. Decide early on what content requires pre-approval, what can be shared freely, and what is off-limits. This isn’t about control—it’s about building trust and empowering employees within clearly defined guardrails.
Monitor the program’s performance and reward employees with incentives for their support.
Track key engagement metrics, celebrate milestones, and recognize your top advocates. This can be as simple as a shoutout in a company meeting or as structured as a quarterly reward program. Gamification elements—such as leaderboards, badges, and recognition—can foster friendly competition and sustained interest.
Measure the return on investment of your employee advocacy efforts by tracking specific KPIs.
Use analytics tools, UTM tracking, and advocacy platform data to tie employee efforts to tangible business outcomes. Measure how content shared by employees performs versus brand accounts. Monitor impact on recruitment, retention, web traffic, and even sales pipeline. The more you can connect advocacy to business value, the more internal support you’ll maintain.
Conclusion
Employee social advocacy isn’t a marketing campaign. It’s a reflection of your company culture—and a multiplier for your message. When your employees are proud to share the work they’re doing and the mission they’re part of, your brand becomes infinitely more human, trustworthy, and visible.
If your company isn’t activating its most credible voices, it’s time to ask: Why not? Because if your employees don’t care, why should anyone else?
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