How to Transform Your Employees Into Advocates Using Twitter

Want your company to get better new recruits, generate lots of positive word-of-mouth and increase sales? Well, there isn’t a magic pill that can make all this happen, but there is something that you have, right now, at your fingertips that can get you there: your employees.

What is employee advocacy?

Employee advocacy is empowering your employees to take to public forums – like Twitter – and become brand ambassadors. Employees have the potential to increase brand exposure and positive sentiment if they are encouraged to tweet about their experiences at your company.

Why is employee advocacy important?

According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, people trust company employees even more than the CEO. So while it might be nice to get your CEO tweeting, you shouldn’t neglect your employees.

By tweeting about your brand, your employees can illuminate your corporate culture, success stories, training and achievements, and the human side of your business.

How to unlock your employees on Twitter

Twitter is the perfect venue to encourage your employees to talk about your company. All tweets are public, and easily amplified across audience segments – making it ideal for employee messages to reach potential customers.

When launching an employee advocacy campaign, be sure to start with the basics: the why and how.

Let your employees know that you want them to share positive stories about their work experiences through their personal Twitter accounts (if they’re comfortable doing so). If you have any guidelines – such as not showcasing a product before it is released or staying away from certain political topics – be sure to make those clear.

Ultimately, the goal should be to let your employees be themselves on Twitter, while sharing what they love about working at your company.

You may have some employees that do not have a Twitter account, but who want to participate. Help them get started by running Twitter clinics, bringing in an expert to train them on the basic functionality and etiquette of the network.

As you’re building out your employee advocacy program, you might begin to notice one or two employees who are extremely committed to the idea. It can be very effective to choose one to be the informal “leader” or internal champion. This employee’s enthusiasm will rub off on her colleagues, and help ensure the success of the program.

Ideas for employee advocacy campaigns

Your employees might want to tweet freely about your brand, but sometimes they’ll need a bit of a nudge in the right direction. Here are some things you can suggest to them to get the ball rolling:

• Behind-the-scenes photos of an interesting meeting or conference
• Company-wide events like luncheons, pub night or training
• Photos from community or charity events they participate in outside of work hours
• One-on-one work they’ve done with/for a client
• Their recent training retreat or certification