Sell Your Company on Employee Advocacy

Transcription

1 HOW TO Sell Your Company on Employee Advocacy Everything You Need to Get Internal Buy-in for Your Employee Advocacy Program 1

2 Table of Contents Introducing Advocate Marketing 3 The Power of Employee Advocacy 5 Achieving Top Level Support 8 Employee Advocacy is Happening Now 11 Proven Results: Advocate Marketing Benchmarks 14 Your Company s Employee Advocacy Revolution 20 Connect with Advocate Marketing Pioneers 23 Employee Advocacy Training & Compliance 25 Employee Advocacy Launch Breakdown 31 Conclusion: Employee Advocates: 33 Your Most Powerful Marketers Key Takeaways 34 2

3 Introducing Advocate Marketing Companies can no longer communicate in a vacuum. Consumer communication networks have vastly changed since the days of TV, print and banner ads. With social media, the barriers to access have been removed and consumers now can not only talk directly to brands they prefer it. A new kind of marketing has emerged that places value on quality interactions with consumers. Conversations matter. Marketing no longer happens in isolation. What s Employee Advocacy? It s taking the passion and expertise of your workforce and using it to fuel interactions with your prospects and customers online. How Does Employee Advocacy Work? The average consumer on social media is able to connect and influence more people over various social networks than ever before. Your employees are a part of those networks. By giving them the opportunity and the right tools, they can shape conversations with their connections about your brand. Social media and communication professionals already know the value of employee advocacy. And as experts, they re in the best position to rally support within their organization to launch an employee advocacy program to drive business goals. How Do You Get that Support? This ebook will give you everything you need to get internal buy-in for your employee advocacy program. 3

4 EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY Empowering your employees to connect and engage their social media networks with your brand. 4

5 The Power of Employee Advocacy Advocate marketing is the #1 way to engage and communicate with stakeholders online. Social Media is trapped with a small group of professionals. They are limited by their size and network reach, both of which are dwarfed by the sheer volume and reach of employee networks. Enabling hundreds and thousand of employees to share content will increase awareness, engagement and sales. Social Media Team All Employees I have been at Intel over 15 years and for the first time I felt really connected to driving our product in the market. Intel Employee Advocate 5

6 { Tweet This } MORE POWERFUL 135 brand advocates are more powerful than 1,000,000 fans. 6

7 YOUR EMPLOYEES PASSION is greater than your sponsored message. 7

8 Achieving Top Level Support This all sounds great, but the most successful social enterprise programs all have one thing in common: Top level support. Regardless of industry size or marketing budget, selling a new program internally can be a challenge. To date, difficulty with measuring ROI and compliance issues have made business leaders skeptical. Results have been difficult to measure. Negative press has been a challenge to contain and that s why an employee advocacy solution is so important. In today s environment where there is an alarming lack of trust in all institutions, employees are increasingly the key prism for brand credibility and trust. Engaging them can provide companies the best way to humanize and unify their enterprise voice a strategic imperative in today s environment. Micho Spring, Chair, Global Corporate Practice Weber Shandwick 1 1 Weber and Shandwick, Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportunity in Employee Activism 8

9 The C-Suite Doesn t Get Social Media What Business Leaders Want to Know However, just because social media isn t their strong-suit doesn t mean that they won t be able to see the value in it. Most executives from sales to marketing to finance got to their position by making smart calls and balancing priorities. There are a number of reasons why your executive team may push back on an employee advocacy initiative: We don t see the value in employee advocacy. Our company social media policy wouldn t allow it. Social media ROI isn t measurable. Our employees aren t trained to represent our brand on social media. I don t have time to run an employee advocacy program. Many Questions: One Answer Company time and resources are a valuable commodity. Any new program that an organization invests in must be able to stand up against these commonly cited questions and concerns. To sell an employee advocacy solution internally, you ll need a solution that can solve these key pain points. Not to mention, organizations that have seen the most success with employee advocacy and the highest increases in employee engagement all have had support from company leadership. 9

10 { Tweet This } SOLVES THE SOCIAL DILEMMA On Facebook, brands can only reach 1-2% of their networks organically. 2 2 Valleywag: Facebook Is Ending the Free Ride 10

11 Employee Advocacy is Happening Now Employee advocacy is already happening. Research shows that employees not only want to advocate for their company online most are already doing it. According to research, 39 percent of employees have shared positive comments about their company online 3, most without training or tools from their company. 77% Of consumers are more likely to buy a product when they hear about it from someone they trust. 4 3 KRC Research Nielsen

12 Employee Advocacy is Happening Now Marketing and human resources professionals alike can recognize the risk of this situation. Most organizations don t have the resources to manually track employee activity on social media. To attempt to counter this, many companies don t allow social media at all which is a huge missed opportunity. Organizations that embrace employee engagement on social media rank higher among consumers. There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE 4 Branded Content Content Shared by Employees Content shared by employees receives 8X the engagement of content on branded channels. 5 4 Businessweek: How Jack Welch Runs GE 5 Based on actual SocialChorus program implementations. 12

13 { Tweet This } EXTENDS REACH Employees have 10x more followers than corporate social accounts.6 6 Cisco Employee Social Media Study 13

14 Proven Results: Advocate Marketing Benchmarks Once your executive team recognizes that need for change, they ll want to see the vision and details for your plan. To get started, you ll need program benchmarks and a timeline for implementation. To do this, look to top brands from around the world that have already leveraged employee advocacy platforms to raise brand awareness and drive sales leads and conversions. Results from employee advocacy programs leveraged by leading brands across all industries show that an effective solution requires these six elements: + Initial 90 day program + A proven plan and strategy + Employee training and guidance + A network of employee advocacy experts + A partnership dedicated to your success + A plan to scale beyond the first group of employees 14

15 Proven Results: Advocate Marketing Benchmarks Employee Advocacy Benchmarks Based on data from employee advocacy programs across industries, here s what the advocate adoption rates for the first days of your program should look like: Days EMPLOYEE ADVOCATES 30 Advocates 100 Advocates 250 Advocates 500 Advocates 1000 Advocates EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENTS 0 Engagements 4000 Engagements 12,500 Engagements 17,500 Engagements 24,000 Engagements 15

16 Proven Results: Advocate Marketing Benchmarks Engagement Benchmarks Based on actual implementations this is how your audience will start to engage with your brand s content. Advocate Marketing Value (AMV) In the employee advocacy platform, all actions taken by an advocates produce marketing value for your brands. This is measured through advocate marketing value (AMV), a KPI based on 3rd party industry averages for the estimated value of social media interactions. Audience engagements or actions on social media from those in your employee advocate s network also delivers marketing value to brands. The majority of employee advocacy programs need just 30 active employees to achieve positive ROI. Employee Advocates drive marketing value through actions taken in the platform, such as: + Consuming content published on the platform + Sharing company content on social media + Motivating their network to engage with company content Friends, family, and other audience members in your employee s network drive marketing value by: + Resharing brand content. + Interacting with brand content through comments, likes clicks and more. + Downloading marketing collateral. + Responding directly to the brand about new initiatives 16

17 Proven Results: Advocate Marketing Benchmarks Many brands who have invested in employee advocacy programs have also found benefits to their brand that can t be captured by AMV. These brands have seen huge value in being able to leverage their advocacy program to: Increase reach and social media engagement Amplify marketing campaigns and drive website traffic Establish their employees as thought-leaders Power social selling initiatives Increase employee engagement and attract top talent 17

18 { Tweet This } DISCOVER NEW AUDIENCES 90% of an employee s social audience is new to the brand. 7 7 DELL Study 18

19 Case Study How One B2B Tech Company Generated 12X Their ROI When the principal social media engagement manager at an enterprise technology company needed to get her employee advocacy program off the ground, she sought out a solution that would provide a platform and a partnership. What she found was SocialChorus and together their partnership has advanced her brand s employee advocacy program generating 12-times ROI in one month. The brand s employee advocates generated over 10,000 social media audience engagements at the company s largest annual conference driving new leads for sales as well as amplifying their marketing campaigns. The popularity of the program was widespread. Many of the other divisions at the company saw the success of the employee advocacy program and want to start their own programs as well. INITIAL MONTHLY RESULTS K Active Employees Audience Engagement PROJECTED MONTHLY RESULTS 1.5K 290K Active Employees Audience Engagement ACTIVE EMPLOYEE ADVOCATES 400 Before SocialChorus First 90 Days To hear more from Jennifer Kirk go to: socialchorus.com/jenniferkirk 19

20 Your Company s Employee Advocacy Revolution Inside-out marketing doesn t impact just the marketing department it affects the entire organization. Employees who are engaged with their company are 2x as productive and are responsible for up to 80 percent of customers overall satisfaction and not just sales and marketing are impacted. 8 While all departments can benefit from stronger employee engagement, human resources initiatives to attract top talent are reinforced by employees advocating for their brand online. 8 Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, David MacLeod and Nita Clarke 20

21 Your Company s Employee Advocacy Revolution ROI Accross Your Organization DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY VALUE Marketing Leader Social Media Manager Digital Marketing Manager Sales Communications Talent Aquisition Internal Communications Drive Revenue Increase Social Engagement Drive Website Traffic Power Social Selling Increase Brand Awareness Attract Top Talent Engage Employees With the right training and platform, employees can develop their personal social media brand to present themselves as thought leaders in your industry. From sales to product teams and more, having employees who are engaged with sharing your company news and culture gives an authentic voice to your brand s message online. When consumers and job applicants research your company, they ll find a multitude of well-informed and passionate employees who they can trust. 21

22 { Tweet This } INCREASES REVENUE 12% increase in Brand Advocacy generates 2x increase in revenue growth. 9 9 The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth, Fred Reicheheld, fellow at Bain & Company 22

23 Finding the Right Partner: Like most social teams, our team is scrappy and small and it s important to us that we have partners who are in the project with us for success. We believe that SocialChorus is a strong partner for us. Natanya Anderson, Director of Social Media and Digital Marketing at Wholefoods Creating Content: We re pulling content for our employee Advocate Marketing program from upcoming events, product launches and marketing activities. Look at what you already have planned on your social calendar and pull the most engaging topics and posts and ideas for your employees to share. DeShelia Spann, Digital Marketing Strategist at Eaton Motivating Engagement: Our advocates are sharing what they love about our brand through blog posts and photos on their social channels. What s really amazing to see is the amount of engagement and conversation that is happening around the unique pieces of content that is being created. Fossil Eaton Whole Foods Jencey Keeton, Global Marketing Manager, Social Media at Fossil 23

24 Your Employees are Already Talking About You Anyway. 50% of employees are posting messages, pictures or videos in social media about their work. 11 1/3 of them are doing so without any encouragement from their employer KRC Research KRC Research

25 { Tweet This } INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY Engaged employees are 2x as productive and responsible for up to 80% of customer satisfaction Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, David MacLeod and Nita Clarke 25

26 Employee Advocacy Training & Compliance 26

27 Employee Advocacy Training & Compliance PRIORITY PHASE ONE PHASE TWO PHASE THREE PHASE FOUR Basic Training for All Employees Training for Individual Departments Executive Training Subject Matter Expert Training Ensure smooth access to advocacy platform Teach social media and platform basics for quick and easy adoption Tie training initiatives to business goals (ex. social selling) Build program off of Phase One training Highlight social selling benefits and strategy Show how executive participation drives advocate marketing Identify experts and train on leveraging thought leadership Begin after phases 1, 2, & 3 27

28 Employee Advocacy Training & Compliance 28

29 Employee Advocacy Training & Compliance I ve heard all kinds of reasons why we shouldn t be doing employee advocacy. You need to remain focused on what you re going to achieve and remember that people are already doing this. The bigger risk is doing nothing at all. Leanne Carmody, Head of Internal Communication at Heineken 29

30 { Tweet This } ATTRACTS TOP TALENT Socially engaged companies are 58% more likely to attract top talent Cisco Employee Social Media Study 30

31 Launch Breakdown The activation and launch timeline of your employee advocacy program shouldn t be a mystery. An employee advocacy solution should come with a launch plan customized to fit your brand s unique requirements. When presenting the program timeline to an executive team, here s an example of what your employee advocacy roadmap might look like: EMPLOYEE SOCIAL AUDIT Show how employees are already sharing content ONBOARDING PLAN Recruiting and training beta and full program participants OPTIMIZATION PLAN Outline program KPIs and leverage them for the highest results IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Step-by-step strategy for integration ENGAGEMENT PLAN Leverage content that drive engagement and enable sharing from any device 31

32 { Tweet This } FAST ROI Employee advocacy programs need just 30 active employees to acheive ROI. 32

33 Conclusion Employee Advocates: Your Most Powerful Marketers No one knows your brand experience like your employees. They re experts, not only in your products and services, but also in your industry. Top brands around the world are already getting started with inside-out marketing to create connections between consumers and their most passionate brand advocates: their employees. SocialChorus platform is a proven solution for brands to leverage employee advocacy within their organization. Curious to find out more? Check out our demo at socialchorus.com or give us a call at of the Fortune of Fortune s Most Admired Companies 3 of the 5 Largest U.S. Retailers 5 of the 12 Fortune 500 Software Sompanies 4 of the 5 Largest Consumer Packaged Goods Companies 3 of the 4 Largest Telecommunications Companies 33

34 Key Takeaways: Your Internal Buy-In Toolkit { Tweet This} More Powerful 135 brand advocates are more powerful than 1,000,000 fans. Solves the Social Dilemma On Facebook, brands can only reach 1-2% of their network organically. Extends Reach Employees have 10x more followers than corporate social accounts. Discover New Audiences 90% of an employee s social audience is new to the brand. Increases Revenue 12% increase in Brand Advocacy generates 2x increase in revenue growth. Increases Productivity Engaged employees are 2x as productive and responsible for up to 80% of customer satisfaction. Attracts Top Talent Socially engaged companies are 58% more likely to attract top talent. Fast ROI Employee advocacy programs need just 30 active employees to achieve ROI. 34

35 The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team. Phil Jackson, Head Coach, Chicago Bulls Copyright 2014 SocialChorus, Inc. All rights reserved. 35