Why Employee Advocacy is Critical for Your Business

Employee Advocacy:
Mobilizing Employees to Tell the Brand Story

Contextualizing the Marketplace 1:9:90
1% CREATE CONTENT
1
Influencers
This group drives the conversation about a
specific topic. When they create content,
others listen.
9% SHARE & REPACKAGE
9
Advocates
This group curates, contextualizes and re-
packages influencer content. They provide
their own point of view.
90% LISTEN & LEARN
90
Enthusiasts
This is the broader market. They rely heavily
on word-of-mouth, peer recommendations
and Google search.
Join the conversation: #MarketingMile13 @Britopian

What’s the Market Opportunity for Employee Advocacy?
92%of consumers say peer
recommendations are
their most credible
source of brand
information
of people find "people
like yourself &
employees of a
company” credible
and trustworthy when
seeking information
about a product
67%
of business pros &
ITDMS participate
and engage with
colleagues and peers
within social media
65%
SOURCE: Acquity Group, Boston Consulting Group, SNCR
of B2B business
decision makers do
research and seek
colleagues’ POVs
before making
purchase decisions
94%
EMPLOYEES
(EXECS, SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, AMBASSADORS)

New Business Requirements are Forcing Change
TODAY’SNEWENVIRONMENT
REQUIREMENTS
INTERNAL EXTERNAL
MANAGE MORE EFFICIENT
AND EFFECTIVE
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
PROCESSES
Harness the massive amount of
available content and data to
rethink and re-equip business
operations
ENGAGE IN A MULTI-
STAKEHOLDER
CONVERSATION
Use new mediums to
communicate with a wider, multi-
faced set of stakeholders –
influencers, media and
customers
INNOVATE AT FASTER
SPEEDS
Focus business efforts on
innovation rather than continued
improvement in order to stay
relevant
HUMANIZE YOUR BRAND In a world where marketing is
driven by data and content,
brands must learn to
communicate with empathy
EMPOWER EMPLOYEES Equip employees with the right
content at the right time in order to
increase brand impact
EMBRACE THE RISE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL
Whether you are a B2B or B2C
company, it’s important to
remember “people buy from
people.” It’s vital to sync the
internal with the external

The Impact of Employee Advocacy
DRIVE
BRAND AWARENESS
CHANGE
BRAND PERCEPTION
SOLVE
CUSTOMER
SUPPORT ISSUES
EDUCATE
EXISTING CUSTOMERS
PROVIDE
INSIGHTS FOR
INNOVATION
INFLUENCE
PEERS
TO BUY
FILL
THE SALES PIPELINE

Stakeholder Value - Internal and External
SALES & REVENUE
BRAND ADVOCACY (WOM)
INSIGHTS & FEEDBACK
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
SOCIAL SELLING
STRATEGIC PLANNING
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL ENABLEMENT & TECHNOLOGY
HAPPY EMPLOYEES
HIGH MORALE & PRODUCTIVITY
ARMY OF BRAND CHAMPIONS
ORGANIZATIONAL READINESS TRUSTED, CONTENT AMPLIFICATION
ENGAGEMENT,
BRAND LOVE
ACTIVATION, MEDIA
INTEGRATION
1
2
3
4
EMPLOYEES CUSTOMERSBRAND

The Brand Advocacy Spectrum
AMBASSADORS
CUSTOMER ADVOCATES
EMPLOYEE ADVOCATES
INFLUENCERS
• Paid influencers
• Can be found and hired
through ambassador
networks
• High influence in various
verticals
• Share content created
from influencers
• Already have a natural
affinity towards the brand
• Group of internal employees and
subject matter experts
• Trained to share and create
branded content
• Storytellers
• The 1% driving the conversation
about topic or category
• Usually have high reach and
large communities
• Relationship with a brand based
on incentives
INFLUENCERS
AMBASSADORS
EMPLOYEE
ADVOCATES
CUSTOMER
ADVOCATES

The Value Proposition
What’s in it for the
BRAND?
Content creation
Reach new audiences w/ trusted,
branded content
Trusted source for
insights and feedback
Promote / defend brand
What’s in it for
EMPLOYEES?
Employee engagement
Internal “rock star” recognition
Access to exclusive content
Platform for sharing thoughts
with the wider audience
Thought leadership

General Types of Employee Programs
BRAND AMPLIFICATION
This program involves sharing “branded” messages and content with employees so they
can “re-share” the content within their personal social media channels. Content can be
customized and/or changed by participating advocates and is usually managed by a
central marketing organization.
BRAND JOURNALISM (CONTENT DRIVEN)
This program involves mobilizing employees to tell stories (usually long & short form)
that are published on a corporate site/blog, the LinkedIn blogging network or a media
site. It can also involve employees sharing and amplifying other employee
stories/content.

Brand Amplification

Brand Journalism
The Coca-Cola Journey site
launched in 2013 with a focus on
telling stories related to business,
innovation, music, sustainability
and other topics.
Contributors to the site include
employees, customers and
influencers, and it’s powered by
the Contently platform.
Conversations from Coca-Cola
Journey are aggregated using the
#CokeJourney hashtag.

Blending Internal and External Engagement
Internal Internal
Proactive employee
advocacy community that
shares and engages with
internal audiences.
Internal External
Enabled employees communicate meaningful messages externally with
customers and partners resulting in trustworthy relationships.
Healthy and proactive communities
create their own conversations
resulting in advocacy.
External External

Where Does Employee Advocacy Fit into Brand Storytelling?
Community Engagement & Measurement
Build a social governance model to ensure all content / ads are within brand / FTC guidelines.
Listen and respond. Monitor, track, report and escalate all conversations as needed.
Narrative Development or
Campaign Strategy
Deliver an editorial and creative
framework to reach the right
audience using content best
practices and community
engagement.
Audience Intelligence
Stakeholder
Engagement
Empower, train and mobilize
employees, customers and
channel partners to participate
and tell the brand story.
Channel Strategy
Build a channel and media
strategy based on audience
segmentation, native social
platform capabilities and user
functionality.
Paid Media
Use analytics to determine the
best targeting on social channels
based on audience behaviors
and conversations – where they
spend their time and what media
outlets they “like”, “follow” and
“talk about.”

Activating Employees
to Shape The Brand Story

PLAN IDENTIFY
ACTIVATEAMPLIFY
EMPLOYEE
ADVOCACY

PLAN IDENTIFY
ACTIVATEAMPLIFY
EMPLOYEE
ADVOCACY
Delivering an amazing employee experience should be
the focal point of all programs and activations. Making that
experience memorable, and more importantly, convenient
for employees to share content, is critical.
The content itself must not only tell a good story but also
be relevant to the brand, product or business priority. It
should resonate with what employees care about and
align with their passions.
In order to determine success of employee programs,
there must be a framework establishing what to measure
and how to measure it.
Defining the Guiding Principles

PROGRAM
LOGISTICS
How long will the program
last? What do we call our
program?
STAKEHOLDER
COLLABORATION
Are all of our internal
stakeholders involved –
legal, brand, IT, etc.?
SELECTION
CRITERIA
Who do we want
as our advocates? How do
they join the program? Is there
a criteria?
BRANDED
CONTENT
What do we want our
advocates to say and does it
align with our content
strategy?
SOCIAL MEDIA
POLICY
Do we have a policy in place
that protects the brand and
empowers our employees?
TECHNOLOGY
SELECTION
Do we have the right
technology for our program?
Can it scale long term as the
program grows?
GOALS &
OBJECTIVES
What exactly do we want to
achieve with our program?
Does it align with our
marketing and business
goals?
The Operations of Employee Advocacy

Identifying Employee Segments, Behaviors and Channels
EXECUTIVES
SALES
CHAMPIONS
SUBJECT MATTER
EXPERTS (SME)
CONTENT TYPES
Industry and thought
leadership
Brand product and other
IT related topics
Industry and thought
leadership
Pre-created content from
brand and marketing,
thought leadership,
cultural, job openings
CHANNELS
Executive branded Twitter
handle, branded blogs,
LinkedIn (blog/influencers)
engagement in industry
forums, bylines
SME branded Twitter
handle, community,
engagement in industry
forums
Branded LinkedIn profile
and/or personal social
channels
Personal social channels
ACTION
Content
creation
Content
creation
Shares
Shares

CONTENT
CREATORS
CONTENT
CREATORS
CONTENT
CREATORS
CONTENT
CREATORS
CONVERSATIONALIST
LISTENERS
Low
Participation
High
Participation Create a training curriculum with a focus on
thought leadership, long-form content,
blogging, videos, podcasting, webinars and
events.
Create a training curriculum with a focus on
best practices of community engagement
and provide value-added content for
maximum participation.
Create a training curriculum with a focus on
how to use tools to listen to brand and
industry related conversations.
Build a Training Curriculum to Address Levels of Participation
5
min
15
min
30
min
QUICK GUIDES
What can you do in social if you only had:

PLAN IDENTIFY
ACTIVATEAMPLIFY
EMPLOYEE
ADVOCACY
Ensure that employee content aligns (either directly or
indirectly) with the broader brand story, industry topic
discussion, event or initiative.
Build an editorial calendar so that content can be planned
in advance and aligned with other initiatives in the market.
Content should be anchored in one or more of the
following core values – utility, education, entertainment,
access, emotion, exclusivity, information and promotions.
Enable participation through smart technology
deployments (make it EASY for employees to participate).
Mobile integration is critical for adoption and growth.
Activate Employees with Strategic CTAs

Align Employee Narratives with Brand Story
Insights from audience analysis
Determine “winnable moment” – what’s the core idea?
Employees are the heroes
of the story
Employees are the
characters in the broader
story
Employees comment
the story
Data and insights extracted
from the analytics will be used
to inform a strategic framework
and social narrative.
The strategic framework will
inform all content creation and
creative assets.
An editorial and creative
framework will categorize
content based on guidelines
and brand criteria.
Content categories

Ensure Content Adds Value
UTILITY
Helps me “do”
something or solves
a problem
EDUCATION
Makes me smarter
about a topic or
subject
ENTERTAINMENT
Makes me laugh
and inspires me to
be happy
ACCESS
Connects me to
others that share the
same passions
EMOTION
Elicits a passionate
reaction that
empowers me
EXCLUSIVITY
Makes me feel
special and
emotionally invested
INFORMATION
Shares current news,
views and insider
information with me
PROMOTIONS
Gives me rebates
and product related
promotions

Make It Easy for Employees to Participate

How It Works
Mobile
Notification
Company
News Feed
Sharing
Interface

PLAN IDENTIFY
ACTIVATEAMPLIFY
EMPLOYEE
ADVOCACY
Integrate employee-generated stories and content across
the broader digital eco-system.
PAID: Syndicate employee driven long form/blog content
to 3rd parties and relevant sites (promoted content,
content syndication)
EARNED: Pitch thought leadership content and bylines to
relevant media
SHARED: Publish and promote content on branded social
channels. Amplify with paid media.
OWNED: Build a media site (content hub) that aggregates
employee-generated and branded content.
Amplify Employee Content

Frequent and Consistent Storytelling is Critical
SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING BY THOMAS SMITH (SLIGHTLY MODIFIED)
The 1st time people see the content, they don’t really see it. The 11th time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads.
The 2nd time, they don’t even notice it. The 12th time, they start to think that it must be a good product.
The 3rd time, they are aware that it is there. The 13th time, they start to feel the product has value.
The 4th time, they content appears to be familiar.
The 14th time, they start to feel like they’ve wanted a product like this for a long
time.
The 5th time, they actually read the content. The 15th time, they start to yearn for it because it’s not in the budget.
The 6th time, they thumb their nose at it. The 16th time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future.
The 7th time, they get a little irritated with it. The 17th time, they make a commitment to buy the product.
The 8th time, they think, “Here’s that stupid ad again.”
The 18th time, they curse their poverty because they can’t buy this terrific
product.
The 9th time, they wonder if they’re missing out on something. The 19th time, they count their money very carefully.
The 10th time, they ask their friends or colleagues if they’ve tried it. The 20th time prospects see the ad, they buy what it is offering.

Integrated Employee and Branded Content
PAID
MEDIA
SHARED
MEDIA
OWNED
MEDIA
EARNED
MEDIA
Your
Employees
Surround sound your
audience with trusted,
credible content from
your employees.

An Example Customer Journey
Google Search (unbranded,
industry term).
Industry related technology
discussion
(i.e. data center, networking, servers).
Technology discussion within the blog
post comments between customer
and blog post author. Follow each
other on Twitter and continue there.
Frequent sharing, retweeting and
commenting within various social
networks. Subscribes to brand’s blog
feed.
Branded white papers, blog posts and
other forms of thought leadership.
Continued dialogue with employees
about the benefits with of using
brand’s technology solutions.
Seeks validation from other, 3rd party,
sources before making purchase (i.e.
asks colleagues, Google search for
customer testimonials, etc.)
Industry white papers and research
reports. Customer related “guest”
blog posts and/or customer
testimonials.
Brand’s thought leaders and subject
matter experts continue to share
content that adds value to the
technology conversation; passes
along conversation to sales.
Retweets and shares branded
content. Contributes to brand’s
community and industry blog.
Branded white papers, blog posts and
other forms of thought leadership to
include support related material.
Employees retweet and share content
from customers. Engage openly and
in public about the brand’s solutions.
CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR CONTENT TOPIC AREA EMPLOYEE INTERACTIONPURCHASE FUNNEL
AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PURCHASE
ADVOCACY

Determining the Right Measurement Framework
Trackable metrics at every level, from impressions to clicks to sales.
Dynamic Signal even tracks sales leads generated by employee
shares and assigns leads accordingly on Salesforce.
Let proud employees
endorse the company to
build a great employer
brand and help with
recruiting
HR and Company
Culture
Drive social selling and
lead generation, and
create more productive
sales thought leaders
Sales and
Marketing Leads
Inform and engage
employees to become
experts, advocates and
contributors
Employee
Communications
Humanize your brand and
increase awareness
through your employees’
authentic voice
Brand
Awareness
Drive more registrants and
attendees to webinars and
events with real-time
sharing
Event
Promotion

www.lws.co/mile13
Register for our next “Marketing at Mile 13” webcast:
Marketing at Mile 13 - Webcast Series

Thank You
Michael Brito
SVP San Francisco, Head of US Digital Marketing
@Britopian

Why Employee Advocacy is Critical for Your Business

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