Guide to Employee Advocacy Platforms
Employee advocacy platforms are a form of software designed to help companies build relationships with customers. The idea behind employee advocacy is to leverage the influence of your existing employees and give them a platform to share their experiences and stories about working for your business. Employee advocates do this by sharing, liking, and commenting on content from the company's social media accounts. This helps create an even stronger connection between customers and the brand.
The primary purpose of using an employee advocacy platform is to increase brand awareness and recognition in the marketplace. By having employees post content that reflects positively on the company, it can boost credibility among potential customers or clients. Additionally, having employees share their experiences also serves as a kind of testimonial that can provide comfort to those considering doing business with your organization.
Employee advocacy platforms come with different features that offer many advantages for companies looking to better engage with their customers. Some platforms allow users to set up specific criteria or parameters when they search for content such as topics, keywords, dates, etc., so they can target areas relevant to their audience more effectively. In addition, these platforms often have analytics tools that allow businesses to measure the results of their efforts including reach, impressions, engagement rates and more - helping organizations gain insight into which tactics work best for their particular customer base or target demographic.
Another key benefit of using employee advocacy platforms is that it provides an easy way for employees to get involved in promoting the brand without much extra effort on their part - especially when compared to traditional methods like email outreach or cold calling prospects. This allows businesses to tap into a wider variety of talent within the organization who may have valuable knowledge about certain products or services without taking up too much time from individuals who would otherwise be too busy doing other duties throughout the day.
These days there are lots of different options when it comes choosing an employee advocacy platform so it's important for businesses do some research before making any decisions in order make sure they're getting one that meets all their needs and budget constraints. The right choice will ultimately depend on what type of content you want shared by your employees as well as how much support you need from the provider in terms of setting up campaigns or providing additional features like analytics tools mentioned earlier.. With careful consideration though any organization should be able find one that works best for its unique situation – helping foster increased engagement with existing customers as well as reaching new ones more easily than ever before!
Employee Advocacy Platforms Features
- Monitoring: Employee advocacy platforms provide detailed metrics for tracking the success of a company’s outreach program. The platform can track the number of engagements, likes, posts, and shares from employees on social media. This data helps to measure the effectiveness of an employee’s advocacy efforts.
- Automation: Employee advocacy platforms can automate many of the tasks associated with managing a successful employee outreach program. This includes scheduling posts and messages, setting up automated alerts to notify managers when employees make new posts, keeping track of employee engagement on various channels, and more.
- Content Curation: Employer advocacy platforms allow companies to create organized content libraries for their employees to access easily when posting or sharing content online. These libraries help keep all relevant material in one place and make it easier for employees to find what they need quickly.
- Connection Management: Employee advocacy platforms provide tools that allow companies to manage their connections with external partners and other organizations. This includes tracking contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers, managing relationships between partners and employees, sending out targeted invitations to join groups or take part in events, etc.
- Gamification: In order to incentivize participation in employee outreach programs, some platforms offer gamification features that reward participating individuals with points or rewards based on the amount of activity they undertake while advocating for their employer’s brand.
What Types of Employee Advocacy Platforms Are There?
- Social Media Monitoring Platforms: These are platforms used to monitor and measure the impact of employee advocacy activities on social media. They usually allow users to track metrics such as reach, engagement, sentiment, and ROI.
- Engagement Platforms: These platforms help employees to create and share content online with their networks. They also provide tools for employees to network with each other in order to help spread awareness about a company’s message.
- Gamification Platforms: These are platforms that reward employees for participating in employee advocacy campaigns by giving out badges or points. This encourages employees to participate more often and be more active in advocating the company’s brand and values.
- Analytics Platforms: These are platforms that use analytics tools to monitor how effective an employee advocacy campaign is by measuring metrics such as clicks, impressions, shares, likes and retweets. By tracking these metrics, companies can determine which types of posts are most successful and tailor their campaigns accordingly.
- Employee Portal Platforms: Employee portal platforms give companies a centralized hub for their employee advocacy activities where they can access resources needed for the campaign, post updates about the company's latest news or initiatives, track performance metrics from all campaigns in one place, assign tasks among team members etc.
Employee Advocacy Platforms Trends
- Increased Focus on Recognition: Employee advocacy platforms often emphasize recognition, which is becoming increasingly important in the workplace. Companies are recognizing the value of providing employees with recognition for their accomplishments and encouraging them to share those achievements with their peers.
- Improved Communication: Employee advocacy platforms provide a platform for companies to communicate more effectively with their workforce. This can help to increase employee engagement and reduce barriers between employees and management.
- Streamlined Workflows: Employee advocacy platforms also provide a more efficient way to manage workflows, such as task delegation, project tracking, and team collaboration. This can help to reduce time spent on mundane tasks and ensure that all stakeholders are kept informed of progress.
- Social Media Integration: Most employee advocacy platforms include social media integration, allowing employees to easily share company updates, news, and other relevant content across various networks. This can help to increase brand awareness and reach wider audiences.
- Gamification: Many employee advocacy platforms incorporate gamification elements into their design, which can be used to encourage participation in activities such as sharing content or completing tasks. This can make it more enjoyable for employees to engage with the platform, leading to increased engagement overall.
Employee Advocacy Platforms Advantages
- Increased Brand Awareness: Employee advocacy programs help to increase brand awareness as employees share company content with their own networks. This helps to expand the reach of the company's message and create more visibility for its products or services.
- More Credibility: When a customer sees that an employee is endorsing a product or service rather than just seeing a post from the business itself, it adds credibility and validates the quality of those offerings. As employees are often seen as more trustworthy sources of information, their endorsement lends greater credibility to what the company is promoting.
- Higher Engagement: As content is shared by trusted contacts through employee advocacy platforms, it sparks higher engagement from followers who may be interested in learning more about the company offerings or opportunities. It also reaches audiences that may not have been reached through traditional marketing channels.
- Improved Employee Engagement: By giving employees an active role in sharing content related to their organization and its offerings, these programs can help to motivate them and improve Pemployee eengagement overall. It also provides employees with a sense of ownership over company activities which can lead to increased loyalty and dedication as they become part of something larger than themselves.
- Greater Reach & Targeting: By leveraging the vast networks of individual employees, companies can get their messages out faster on social media while also targeting specific customers based on interests and demographics. With employee advocacy programs, businesses are able to access new markets quickly and efficiently which can result in higher conversions rates when compared with traditional marketing methods.
How to Select the Right Employee Advocacy Platform
- Establish Goals: Before shopping around for an employee advocacy platform, it is important to have a clear understanding of what you hope to accomplish with it. Are you looking to increase brand awareness or increase website engagement? Do you want employees to share content or help with recruiting new talent? Defining your goals will help narrow down your search.
- Research Availability: Once you have established what your goals are, research the available platforms on the market that meet those requirements. Read reviews and case studies from other companies who have used each platform and determine which one best fits your business objectives and budget. Utilize the tools given on this page to examine employee advocacy platforms in terms of price, features, integrations, user reviews, and more.
- Look at Ease of Use: An employee advocacy program should make it easy for employees to interact with content by allowing them to quickly share on their preferred social media platform. The ideal platform should also offer plenty of options in terms of customization so employees can tailor their posts according to different business needs.
- Analyze Security Measures: No matter how good a platform looks, security should always be a top priority when selecting an employee advocacy program. Make sure any potential platforms include robust security measures such as user authentication protocols and data encryption technology in order to protect confidential company information from unauthorized access or misuse.
- Trial Run: A trial run is always recommended before committing to any long-term contracts or investing large amounts of money into an employee advocacy program; many vendors offer free trials or demos which allow you test out the service before signing up for it officially. This will give you time evaluate whether the program actually meets your expectations without risking too much money upfront.
Who Uses Employee Advocacy Platforms?
- Management: Managers are typically among the first users to adopt an employee advocacy platform. They use it to spread important company news, encourage collaboration and set examples of how employees should engage with their networks.
- Employees: Employees use a platform to share content that is relevant to their role or industry, as well as items related to the companies mission and values. This helps showcase their expertise, bring more visibility for the company’s brand, and build relationships with industry contacts.
- Brand Advocates: These individuals are highly engaged users who are passionate about the company they work for and want to create positive conversations around its brand. They help create enthusiasm inside the organization by sharing stories and photos of what it's like working there with their friends and followers.
- Customers: Customers can benefit from using an employee advocacy platform by getting access to exclusive promotions, offers, sales information, updates on product launches, etc., directly from employees working within the organization they're engaging with.
- Influencers: Influencers play a major role in helping organizations reach new audiences while also creating awareness around campaigns. Companies can leverage employee advocacy platforms by having influencers feature products or services in exchange for discounts or freebies linked back to their own social profiles through tracked links that measure success metrics such as engagement rates and clicks.
Employee Advocacy Platforms Pricing
The cost of employee advocacy platforms can vary depending on the features and technology you are looking for. Generally, pricing is based on the number of users and starts around $50 per user per month. For those who want more robust technology and an extensive suite of features, prices can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month.
When evaluating how much a platform will cost you should look at what value it provides your company in terms of reach, engagement, brand awareness, and higher quality leads. If an employee advocacy platform can increase customer loyalty and help reduce marketing costs, then it may be worth the increased price tag. Additionally consider any additional services that come with the platform such as customer service or consulting services to help you get up-and-running quickly and maintain success over time.
Depending on the size of your company, you may be able to get a good deal on an employee advocacy platform by signing a longer term contract or taking advantage of any promotional offers. Also, look at the features offered by each different platform and decide which are essential for your success. Some platforms offer advanced features such as analytics, content curation, and automated campaigns that can help you maximize the success of your program.
Overall, it is important to weigh out all the cost factors associated with purchasing an employee advocacy platform and make sure you are getting value for your money in return.
What Software Can Integrate with Employee Advocacy Platforms?
Employee advocacy platforms typically integrate with a number of different types of software, including social media management tools, customer relationship management (CRM) software, marketing automation software, and analytics and reporting tools. Social media management tools allow an organization to manage and monitor their social media accounts. CRM software helps companies manage and track customer relationships. Marketing automation software helps automate and streamline marketing processes, such as lead generation and email campaigns. Lastly, analytics and reporting tools provide insights into employee advocacy performance, including reach and engagement metrics. By integrating with these different types of software, employee advocacy platforms can help organizations increase the efficiency of their campaigns and better leverage the power of their employees.