This week, ZenDesk’s head of content marketing, Monica Norton (@monicalnorton), joined #ContentChat to share how to build an employee brand ambassador program that enhances content distribution while also becoming an employee brand-builder.

Q1: What is the top reason a content marketer should sponsor an employee brand
ambassador program in their organization?

We know influencer marketing works when it comes from passionate fans. Chances are, some of your MOST passionate fans are your employees.

A1. Your biggest #brand advocates are on the inside. They know the company well – it’s important to pay attention to your INTERNAL #audience as well as external in terms of what messaging to share and keeping them informed about what’s going on with the company. #ContentChat

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

A1 Employees can be a brands most passionate advocates and a great source of content and social engagement #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) January 22, 2018

Employees extend your brand’s reach.

A1: It vastly expands your reach: The collective audience of your employees’ networks is much bigger than your brand’s audience (10x bigger, according to Dynamic Signal research). #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

You get a two-fer – 1. Employees are “in the know” and 2. Employees’ reach is sooooo much bigger, when activated, than a single brand’s reach. #contentchat

— Ami Chitwood (@achitwood) January 22, 2018

A1: Increase your reach! You want the most amount of people sharing the messaging and stories you took the time to craft, so why not tap into an existing community of folks who are already tuned in to your work? #contentchat

— Vera Flores (@sproutvera) January 22, 2018

Your employees can spread your message with an otherwise unobtainable authenticity.

A1: When employees are willing to talk about the business, your reach exponentially increases. Plus, what’s more authentic than people who are excited about the place they work? #nothin #contentchat https://t.co/0pfroOan5S

— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) January 22, 2018

A1: Fans inside the the org are willing to lead songs of your praises. They also get recognized as knowledgeable and authentic attracting more voices. Wins all around. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/v4LyKK1Za3

— Alan Fleming (@alan_fleming) January 22, 2018

A1: EXPERTISE. I am NEARLY omniscient, but until then, I need my experts. Not only to contribute to the content itself, but to use their voice to get it out there. As Rebekah, I could talk all I want about motorsports, but when @krichert1019 talks, people listen. #ContentChat

— CHARGE (@CHARGEgoforward) January 22, 2018

A1: Employees can be some of the most loyal evangelist for a brand.

Most people “hate” their jobs, if a customer sees how much an employee loves the brand they work for it can build even more trust. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/BfOU9fFCjN

— Christopher Grate (@Chris_Grate) January 22, 2018

Q2: How can you get started with an employee brand ambassador program without spending any money?

Start by defining and documenting your employee brand advocacy program. And make sure execs walk their talk.

A2. According to @CMIContent, you can start by:

1. Making “who we are” clear and simple (create brand guidelines!).
2. Creating employee #content that inspires.
3. Deciding how you want employees to feel about your brand.#ContentChathttps://t.co/tpP7MxKfFJ

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

A2 Document a advocacy strategy 1st. Then identify employees who are passionate about the brand and willing to be advocates. #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) January 22, 2018

A2: One key success factor is having the sharing happen top down. If your boss first is apart of the program, it gives people permission for you to spend time on also sharing. #ContentChat

— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) January 22, 2018

Do you have company email accounts? That’s all you need.

A2 Very simply: Send regular emails with suggested social posts. You can pre-write them and tell folks to copy/paste. #contentchat

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 22, 2018

A2: Start sharing content with employees asking them to share if they like it. Start proactively encouraging them to work with your team on creating content. #ContentChat

— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) January 22, 2018

Put social and other existing comms channels to use for your internal audiences too.

A2: Leverage the comms channels you already have. Regularly send/share pre-written posts and encourage employees to share. #ContentChat https://t.co/DZ3BeFxSxQ

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A2: Easy, social media. Article on #LinkedIn, posts to their #instagram, start small as to not overwhelm your audience and to remain authentic. #contentchat

— SRB Communications (@SRBComm) January 22, 2018

A2: Does your company use an internal comms tool like Lync or @SlackHQ? Regularly share content and social copy through this vehicle. Create a squad of managers who are really tapped into company culture & have them cascade information down to their reports. #contentchat

— Vera Flores (@sproutvera) January 22, 2018

A2: Communicating early & often to employees so that they are aware as you roll out content. If they are looking for it on those channels, that will help it grow more quickly. #contentchat https://t.co/cvDPE5iDK1

— Andrea VassalloMeyer (@andreamv) January 22, 2018

Build a culture of engagement.

A2. If your have a culture where you encourage your employees to stand out and be a thought leader, you have created an ambassador program without spending money #contentchat

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 22, 2018

Q3: If you’ve considered using an employee brand engagement platform as part of your program, please share how you decided to implement or not to implement it.

Start with a pilot program.

A3: We started small to test and learn what people wanted to share and how they shared. Plan, Test, Redo, Always test… #contentchat https://t.co/Atxv4qGrMj

— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) January 22, 2018

Bake it into onboarding.

Q2. Start with simple stuff. New employees get a welcome package – tshirt, stickers, , accessories, coffee mug, etc. HR/management can set positive tone in first few days of employment. #contentchat

— Steve Bitter (@stevebitter) January 22, 2018

@Zendesk has a wonderful new hire orientation. @monicalnorton ‘s team would take turns sharing social with those meetings. @ChelseaLarsson used to wait for people to follow us during the orientation and double check they did. 🙂 #contentchat

— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) January 22, 2018

Check out Bambu by Sprout.

A3: We use @BambuBySprout to curate posts that our employees can share. We include our own content, news coverage of @Zendesk, & industry news. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

Q4: What are some tips for convincing the leadership team to give you budget for your employee brand ambassador program?

Use data (yours+others’) to show the impact.

A4a: Show the potential. Use UTM codes in the post links, so you can track traffic to your site from employees’ shared posts. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A4. Provide numbers. Via @MSocialBusiness, #brand messages are shared 24x more when distributed by employees vs. the brand itself.
#ContentChathttps://t.co/jz0o74nBYJ

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

A4 There’s a ton of data that proves people want to hear from people, not brands. It’s more effective. Start there. #contentchat

— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) January 22, 2018

A4 Document the ambassador strategy with measurable KPIs. Provide insights into what’s already working well #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) January 22, 2018

A4: Women lie, men lie, numbers don’t lie. Show them data from previous programs you’ve held or from case studies you did on other brands that implemented similar programs. #contentchat pic.twitter.com/bHGSMx4kNI

— Christopher Grate (@Chris_Grate) January 22, 2018

Show the current inconsistency of brand social mentions.

A4b: Brand consistency is another persuasive argument. Many employees will share content whether you ask them to or not. By providing pre-written posts, you get a consistent (and correct) message. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

Tap into FOMO.

A4. Just tell them their competition is crushing them with their own employee ambassador program and are winning the market share #contentchat

— Cheval John (@chevd80) January 22, 2018

Don’t forget the employee engagement benefits.

A4: I think many organizations suffer from personal detachment from employees. I’d persuade them that employee ambassador plan would generate more motivation, higher retention rates and advocacy from brand employees #contentchat

— Benny Gelbendorf (@BGelbendorf) January 22, 2018

Q5: We know “you build it and they will come” doesn’t work. So how do you find and engage employees in your brand ambassador program?

Start small and let positive word of mouth get around.

A5: Start small first. Don’t include all of the company in the program until you know what each team would want to share – meaning what sales like to share might be different than the product team. #ContentChat

— Amy Higgins (@amywhiggins) January 22, 2018

Understand—and appeal to—the benefits for the ambassadors.

Q5: Use the same approach as you do with any marketing plan:

Find out what really makes your employees tick.

Find out the reasons why they show up to work for you every day other than the obvious.

Figure out what motivates them to share content #contentchat pic.twitter.com/sHeMvZh4ix

— Christopher Grate (@Chris_Grate) January 22, 2018

Over-communicate about the program, and broaden your horizons.

A5a: Over-communicate! Regularly post reminders on all your internal comms channels. Consider leaderboards/public recognition for active sharers. We also include it in new hire orientation. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A5b: Don’t assume it’s just your marketing team who will share. Some of our most active sharers at @Zendesk are in sales. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A5: Communicate the initiative in different formats (all hands meetings, emails, internal comms tools). Task executives to speak about this new program. FWIW if you have happy employees they’re more likely to be tapped in than not. #contentchat

— Vera Flores (@sproutvera) January 22, 2018

A5 The best way to do this is to engage people OFFLINE about it. Look people in the eye and tell ’em about it. Show ’em how excited you are and try to get them to feel the same way. If you see in their eyes that the excitement ain’t visible… don’t keep pressing. #contentchat pic.twitter.com/f8nGhtRdE9

— Ken Gordon (@quickmuse) January 22, 2018

Identify, encourage, and reward your best employee brand advocates.

A5. Actively monitor and reward employees who are engaging with your brand. Create contests. Get leadership teams on board with advocating for the brand as well – it will encourage others to do so. #ContentChat

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

A5: Figure out who’s on social media and sharing relevant content. Not every employee’s a good fit for this, so you have to get out there and find the ones that are #ContentChat

— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) January 22, 2018

A5: I’ve tried incentive plans as well as contests and what’s worked best for me is working with highly invested, highly engaged employees who are interested in their personal branding. #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) January 22, 2018

A5: Having a leaderboard has been helpful. Sharing the stats frequently and resetting the points back to square one helps to level the playing field and fires up the competition! So glad I can catch a bit of #ContentChat today!

— Laura Philbin (@laura_philbin) January 22, 2018

Q6: From an employee’s POV, why should I share my employer’s content on my personal social media channels? I already am at work 40 hr/week! Isn’t that enough???

Show how sharing relevant industry content can build employees’ personal brands.

A6 Helps build personal brand by sharing their expertise on the topic. #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) January 22, 2018

A6. It shows that you’re aware of what’s going on in the industry. Not only do you build your own credibility/thought leadership – you show your network that you care about the company you work for and that you’re paying attention. #ContentChat

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

Consider direct and indirect financial incentives.

A6: employees benefit from sharing content in a few ways: a) hiring bonuses b) personal brand building c) good relationship with marketing (everyone needs a friend in marketing). #ContentChat

— Maureen Jann (@SuperDeluxeMo) January 22, 2018

A5: Provide some sort of incentive to get them involved and maintain that enthusiasm. Even a contest can be a friendly way to get things started. #ContentChat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 22, 2018

Include relevant industry content in the mix—don’t only curate your own company’s content for sharing.

A6a: Your employees can become helpful resources for their networks if you feed them not just your own content but also industry news. Help them look knowledgeable and smart. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A6b: Don’t forget about the sales team! 72% of sales reps who use social media in their tool mix outsell their peers (cha-ching!). https://t.co/9nPZor4Ui8 #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

Focus on creating high-quality content that employees would WANT to share…even without a formal program in place.

Definitely agree. Encouragement is good. Gratitude is good. Trying to enforce rules around sharing on personal social accounts is a recipe for unhappy employees (which is the opposite of what you need here) #ContentChat https://t.co/PnJv8zDIDZ

— Kristen Hicks (@atxcopywriter) January 22, 2018

Q7: What are some pitfalls to avoid with running an employee brand ambassador program?

Not having clearly-defined guidelines.

A7. Not getting all employees on the same page in terms of messaging. Make sure you’re creating brand guidelines and messaging formats for employees if you want your company news to be shared a certain way. #ContentChat

— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) January 22, 2018

Trying to make it mandatory.

A7: I worked with someone who said if employees didn’t want to share our content they shouldn’t be working there. I don’t agree! It shouldn’t be forced. Also, not every person’s audience is a fit for every brand’s content, especially in B2B. #ContentChat

— Erika Heald | Freelance Chief Content Officer (@SFerika) January 22, 2018

A7a: Never require employees to post or share: that simply won’t work. Authenticity is key. For that reason, also be wary of contests & prizes. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

Making it all about your brand.

A7b: Encourage sharing of third-party content—not just your brand’s stuff. Thought leadership means sharing different viewpoints. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

Q8: What are the KPIs content marketers should track to prove the value of their employee brand ambassador program?

A8a: Site traffic from shared posts: use UTM codes in those post links. For certain posts that resonate w/ our employees, we see lots of traffic from employees’ posts. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018

A8: how does employee advocacy ladder up to our content marketing KPIs – engagement, reach, building audience, support, etc #contentchat

— Scott Lum (@ScottLum) January 22, 2018

A8b: If you’re using software for employee sharing, track: active users, total shares, & shares/user. Also keep tabs on what types of stories are shared the most to guide future curation. #ContentChat

— Monica Norton (@monicalnorton) January 22, 2018