Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) from Post Beyond joined #ContentChat to share her tips for encouraging employee brand advocacy. Here are the highlights:

#ContentChat Recap: Encouraging Employee Brand Advocates

Q1: How do you define employee brand advocacy?

A1 Employee advocacy is a strategic approach for engaging employees to promote their passions and create a halo for the brand #ContentChat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) August 8, 2016

@SFerika I feel like too many company’s take the stance
“you can do you”
when they should be like
Let us help you do you.#ContentChat

— The Gary J. Nix ® (@Mr_McFly) August 8, 2016

@SFerika I feel like too many company’s take the stance
“you can do you”
when they should be like
Let us help you do you.#ContentChat

— The Gary J. Nix ® (@Mr_McFly) August 8, 2016

@SFerika I feel like too many company’s take the stance
“you can do you”
when they should be like
Let us help you do you.#ContentChat

— The Gary J. Nix ® (@Mr_McFly) August 8, 2016

A1) I’m a big believer in this! What do you guys think? #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/MzJnuGsmvG

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

@SFerika A1: A methodology that utilizes a company’s employees to share branded messages. #contentchat

— Go NY Tours (@GoNewYorkTours) August 8, 2016

A1: When you hire carefully enough to make sure you have full buy-in from your work colleagues & you can empower them to speak#ContentChat

— The Gary J. Nix ® (@Mr_McFly) August 8, 2016

A1) I like to think of it as an open invitation to employees, to help communicate what the brand stands for…on their terms #ContentChat

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

Q2: Why is employee brand advocacy important?

A2. Employee advocacy helps cut through the clutter. I’ll read an e-mail from a friend, not from Corporation Z. #ContentChat

— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) August 8, 2016

A2: critical consumer engagement AND employee buy-in. More buy-in = easier to accomplish mission. #contentchat https://t.co/9nTJoZJZzY

— MJ (@MegJagnow) August 8, 2016

A2) It’s an essential step in modernizing your enterprise/org & the stats prove it: https://t.co/PSUYrR70CZ #ContentChat

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A2. Employees often have relevant network connections & their advocacy carries more weight than brand. #ContentChat https://t.co/VIrpxP5sGJ

— Carmen Hill (@carmenhill) August 8, 2016

A2.
Employee Brand Advocacy is a very powerful tactics in bring employees together & making you look genuine to customers #ContentChat

— Troy Sandidge (@Troy_Sandidge) August 8, 2016

A2) Clients/consumers rarely care any more than your own people. It sets the floor higher. #ContentChat https://t.co/BGrB7iyAfA

— Jeremy Bond (@JeremyDBond) August 8, 2016

A2 People want to buy from and work with people they like. People are the ambassadors for your brand. #ContentChat

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) August 8, 2016

A2. Employee advocacy helps cut through the clutter. I’ll read an e-mail from a friend, not from Corporation Z. #ContentChat

— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) August 8, 2016

A2. Employee advocacy helps cut through the clutter. I’ll read an e-mail from a friend, not from Corporation Z. #ContentChat

— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) August 8, 2016

A2. Employee advocacy helps cut through the clutter. I’ll read an e-mail from a friend, not from Corporation Z. #ContentChat

— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) August 8, 2016

Q3: What are the key elements to an employee advocacy plan?

A3) Executive buy-in. Your leadership needs to be on board & set an example for employees #ContentChat https://t.co/Td5Y2HvLB6

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A3) Creat a culture of content – it’s not enough to simply tell employees that they can share ideas #ContentChat https://t.co/IPswyJFLTH

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A3: Remove the barrier between employees and brand contributions. Have a plan for how they can contribute to the blog & social. #ContentChat

— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) August 8, 2016

A3) This is definitely a key element of a successful employee advocacy program 🔑 #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/RJl3Lpj6zC

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A3: ‘What is in it for me’ from employees’ perspective, brand goals, awareness of brand no-nos. #contentchat https://t.co/n3s73AHu4J

— GhostBloggerForHire (@GhostBlogr4Hire) August 8, 2016

A3: 3 things for me: Clear, concise and inclusively collaborative. #ContentChat

— Wayne Hendry (@ideakid88) August 8, 2016

A3) I’m winging it here, ’cause I haven’t seen one.
– Loving your people.
– A strong brand.
– Passion.#ContentChat https://t.co/TU2MkU3KJv

— Jeremy Bond (@JeremyDBond) August 8, 2016

Q4: What have you found to be the best ways to encourage employees to become brand advocates?

A4) From our very own #ContentChat host @sferika: pic.twitter.com/GuXzy1wR7n

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A4 Educate your employees advocate on your company’s social strategy. Provide them with early access to exclusive content #contentchat

— Kathy Kopacz MS (@kkopacz1) August 8, 2016

A4: empathic listening backed by action. When employees know they have a channel for ideas and feedback they get more involved #contentchat

— Phil Barnes (@Barnes_Phil) August 8, 2016

A4) Treat it as if you’re marketing ‘internally’ to your colleagues, peers & company leadership #ContentChat https://t.co/Lh9rz41k1i

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A4: Let them have a say how they want to approach and contribute to it. Don’t micromanage them – let them have some control. #ContentChat

— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) August 8, 2016

Q5: What are some potential pitfalls of encouraging employees to be brand advocates?

A5) This stat makes me sweat. It’s a reminder of how critical it is to have a well-thought out strategy #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/amlFWIOdx1

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A5: Don’t force it. It should always be authentic. #ContentChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) August 8, 2016

A5) Scaling these prgrms across diff departments can be a challenge. Always keep your audience in mind #ContentChat https://t.co/IPswyJFLTH

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A5a: Some companies force employees to tweet pre produced messages. Talk about disingenuous. #ContentChat

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) August 8, 2016

Q6: What should employee social media guidelines include to encourage brand advocacy while protecting the brand?

A6) Focus on what TO do. What not to do is implied. Hard to keep enthusiasm when focusing on “don’ts.” #ContentChat https://t.co/qyqWDHC66Y

— Jeremy Bond (@JeremyDBond) August 8, 2016

A6. While we should encourage employees to share – also remind them that if they’re sharing, they’re committing to a presence. #ContentChat

— pamelahughes (@pamelahughes) August 8, 2016

@SFerika and here are our recco’s 😊 https://t.co/0axvliXkR5 #ContentChat

— PostBeyond (@postbeyond) August 8, 2016

A6: Here are a few top of mind thoughts… #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/6KMaJUvx5A

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) August 8, 2016

A6: Policies against feeding trolls, image/video/GIF guidelines, automation guidelines. #contentchat https://t.co/ws42x4KMOQ

— GhostBloggerForHire (@GhostBlogr4Hire) August 8, 2016

A6) These are the guidelines we use with our customers! A great starting point 📍 #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/UiNJiE0kOI

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

Q7: What are some examples of brands with active employee brand advocacy programs?

A7) The largest childrens hospital (@sickkids) in Canada is a personal fav, used for internal comms: https://t.co/FGgG7LjyuF #ContentChat

— Hannah Kovacs (@hkovs) August 8, 2016

A7: I used to work at Microsoft that had a very active employee advocacy program – literally thousands of employee blogs #ContentChat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) August 8, 2016

A7: IBM’s #NewWayToWork campaign to predict the future of business. 6K employees engaged,250K social shares, 50K leads created. #ContentChat

— Wayne Hendry (@ideakid88) August 8, 2016

A7: World of Beer is one I’ve worked on. Got employees outward facing to discuss all the cool things going on in tavern. #ContentChat

— Jeff Reno(e) (@Renoe) August 8, 2016

A7: I’m not exactly guaranteeing this because I’m not on their staff, but I bet anything @buffer does! 🙂 #ContentChat

— Annaliese Henwood (@MktgInnovator) August 8, 2016

If you have an employee advocacy program overview or social media guidelines you’d be willing to share, let me know in a comment!