Brands are using social media more and more each day to drive traffic to their website and market their products/ services. But, most brands aren’t utilizing one of their biggest marketing assets… their employees. Employee advocacy gives your brand authenticity, trustworthiness and reach. Employees are using social media to build their personal brand, so why not have them help build the brand they work for as well?

Employee advocacy is the promotion of a company by its team members. An employee advocate:

• raises awareness and positive exposure through social media channels
• recommends a company’s products or services to friends and family
• represents the best interests of the company both internally and externally
• is a credible spokesperson for your company

Employee advocacy is more important than ever. When employees talk about their company in a positive way, the company gains exposure, reach and engagement. A study by LinkedIn showed that employees get 2x higher click through rates on social media from their shares compared to company shares of the same content.

Content from individual users is also seen more on social channels than content from brand pages. Together your employees have more social connections than your brand, so imagine how many more people see your content if it is shared. Not only do they have more connections combined, but also reach a variety of people that may not see your company’s social media posts. By utilizing your employees’ social media networks, you have the ability to reach a much larger audience and have your post seen by more people that are connected with your employees.

People trust other people a lot more than they trust brands. Most of the time, people see social media as a way for brands to “sell” products and services. Word of mouth can be one of the most effective marketing methods and your employees can drive this. Employees who share positive posts about your company are honest and more believable to other people.

Brianne Palensky, account coordinator at The Cyphers Agency, a Capitol Communicator sponsor, works with client and agency teams alike to create, optimize and measure digital and social media marketing campaigns. She’s also a search engine marketing guru.