Authenticity wins: The key to effective employee advocacy campaigns

When the average person is exposed to hundreds (if not thousands) of ads per day, authenticity has become the currency of influence.

Corporate content shared by real people through channels like LinkedIn is perceived as three times more authentic, which helps messaging break through the clutter. This content is also responsible for driving a 30 per cent increase in engagement over brand-originated posts. The data doesn’t lie, explaining why employee advocacy has become a coveted tactic and why professionals at all levels are feeling the pressure to share content that supports their organization’s objectives.

For organizations: Empowering genuine ambassadors

To make it easy for busy team members to advocate through their personal channels, many organizations have introduced platforms that supply pre-written content and images. While typically rooted in the best intentions, this approach often backfires.

Team members may be willing to share verbatim content, but a lack of personalization can imply that they lack the tools, resources or background information to explain why these priorities matter to them, or should matter to their network. Moreover, when pre-written content doesn’t drive strong engagement, individuals may be less willing to spend their hard-earned social capital to support future priorities.

Before selecting employee advocacy as a tactic, organizations should ask the following questions:

For employees: Balancing support and authenticity

Leveraging personal channels like LinkedIn to support business priorities can feel like a double-edged sword. For senior executives, advocacy and thought leadership are increasingly becoming job requirements that are further complicated by the need to balance personal, industry and corporate content.

Supplied content, while convenient, typically comes across as inauthentic and is likely to result in low engagement. This doesn’t benefit either party, build trust, or help achieve the intended business objective.

Before posting about corporate priorities, individuals should ask themselves the following questions:

Authenticity is the key to successful employee advocacy strategies and campaigns. Content sharing through personal channels can and should be mutually beneficial for both individuals and organizations, if done properly.

Hashing Media maximizes the impact of employee advocacy campaigns and helps individuals authentically engage with their networks by building values-driven strategies and narratives aligned to both corporate and personal priorities. Let’s collaborate to transform you and your team into powerful, genuine ambassadors.