Could your employees be your brand advocates? In theory yes, each one of them has their own reach and influence online and can use that influence to strengthen your brand. 

The process is called employee advocacy, and it’s an effective way to use the influence of your workforce online to your benefit. Overtime, your employees gain more trust and influence and drive referrals to your business.  

But like all other digital strategies, employee advocacy should be managed properly. That is why you need an employee advocacy program. So an employee advocacy program is a strategy to manage how your employees talk about your brand online. Let’s find out more about this strategy. 

Key Benefits of Employee Advocacy Programs

An employee advocacy program has many benefits:

• Expanded Brand Reach and Visibility. Each employee has a unique social network. When they share company content, it reaches audiences your corporate accounts could never touch. In one case, a regional accounting firm saw a 1,342% increase in website traffic from LinkedIn after starting an advocacy program. Employee shares amplify your message far beyond paid ads or brand pages.

• Authentic Credibility and Trust. Consumers trust people far more than ads. Content coming from a real employee has noticeably higher credibility: people are more likely to believe a recommendation from a genuine person than a corporate account.

• Stronger Employee Engagement and Culture. Advocacy programs give employees a voice in the company’s success, and this boosts their engagement. Participating employees feel more involved and valued. In turn, an engaged workforce is more productive and less likely to leave – they become your biggest advocates both online and offline.

• Cost-Efficient Marketing and Lead Generation. Compared to traditional marketing campaigns, employee-driven promotion is extremely cost-effective. Instead of paying for impressions, you leverage the existing social platforms of your team. Every share, like or comment from an employee becomes a free extension of your marketing budget, making advocacy a powerful way to get high ROI on your content. Use a proper social media management platform to monitor the conversation about your brand. If you’re incentivizing employees by rewarding their referrals, it helps to use a referral management platform such as ReferralCandy to manage the process. 

• Talent Attraction and Employer Branding. Authentic employee stories are also magnets for top talent. Job seekers trust current employees’ insights about workplace culture more than any job ad. In general, when employees publicly endorse their employer, it signals a strong people-centric culture.

Mitigating Risks: Policies, Compliance, and Boundaries

What if an employee posts something off-brand, or violates regulations? The key is a structured approach. Most concerns can be addressed through clear policies, training and oversight:

Establish Clear Guidelines

Define the dos and don’ts of social advocacy up front. Create a simple social media policy that outlines what content is appropriate (and what is off-limits) to share Include requirements such as using disclaimers (e.g. “Opinions are my own”) and rules against revealing confidential data. By codifying these rules and regularly reminding employees, you align advocacy with compliance.  

For regulated industries (finance, healthcare, etc.), you need to involve legal or compliance teams to review advocacy programs and provide industry-specific training. This proactive governance keeps risk low while still allowing employees to speak freely about approved topics.

Provide Training and Support. 

Equip employees with resources and examples so they feel confident sharing. Offer social media best-practice workshops and an advocacy platform with pre-approved content. Explain the strategic goals (e.g. brand awareness, recruiting, thought leadership) so employees understand why they’re asked to participate. You can also deliver structured learning through learning management software to help employees develop new skills across different areas of their role.

You can even provide support using remote desktop monitoring to track employees’ development with greater precision. Recognize top advocates publicly or with rewards to reinforce positive behavior. When employees know exactly how to contribute—and see it pays off for their personal brand—they are more likely to promote the company carefully and consistently.

By integrating eNPS questions into your employee engagement strategy, you can identify the most passionate advocates within your workforce. These advocates can be nurtured and empowered to amplify your message authentically and drive higher engagement across social platforms.

Encourage Authenticity and Balance 

Don’t force scripted posts. Employees should feel that sharing is optional and genuine. Advocacy works best when employees choose to share relevant content organically, rather than being coerced. Also respect personal boundaries: some employees will mix personal tidbits with work posts, others will keep them separate. It’s wise to advise staff on how to balance personal and professional content online, but allow their unique voice to come through. Authentic posts build trust; overly polished or mandatory posts can seem promotional.

Next steps

Assemble a cross-functional team to scope an employee advocacy pilot. Align on goals (e.g. increase LinkedIn share counts by X%), create an employee social media policy, and launch a small training program. Make sure that employees are genuine online and care about the value they offer to their audience rather than simply promote your products.