Start with the superusers
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 4:23 am
However, I would like to make a side note. Because in my view, not all employees need (and can) take on the role of brand ambassador. Not everyone is familiar with social media, and not everyone can learn it. There can also be too much noise from well-meaning colleagues who still do not know how to find the right tone (or content). So be very careful when selecting potential brand ambassadors!
Employee advocacy in practice: RVO.nl
In his book, Lam advises to give the ambassador program an attractive name, so that people will talk about the program internally. For example, at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) we use the program Smarp under the name 'RVOfan'. We have been doing this since May 2017, when we were the first Dutch government organization to successfully start an employee advocacy program with a select group of employees. The official launch followed in October 2017.
The program ultimately led to additional growth in reach and interaction with our target group. In less than a year, more than 29,000 messages were shared (own content and third-party content). This led to almost 47,000 unique clicks and more than 26,000 likes, retweets and reactions. Ultimately, the program yielded an estimated media value of almost 80,000 euros.
Learnings
What did we at RVO.nl encounter during the rollout of our employee advocacy program? I do have a few tips for all organizations that will soon be following the same path.
I advise companies to first involve a select group of people in the program. We call them superusers : people with knowledge of the organization and social media. This way you create support among the biggest ambassadors and you have good and inspiring examples for others. Look for those who already have a large network in their indonesia mobile number list field or are seen as gurus by their target group.
Infinite content loop
Find the right balance between organizational content and third-party content. According to Lam, the best effect is achieved when employees share content that is created in the marketing department, and the marketing department in turn gets (inspiration for) content from the organization. This creates the infinite content loop , according to the author. Encourage employees to contribute content themselves, so that your employee advocacy program becomes a joint effort . Employees at RVO.nl make full use of the latter option, because they see opportunities to put important topics on the map.
Personal note
Also pay attention to education! For example, organize social media workshops. In these, you can give your employees tips about what works and what doesn't online or give them advice on how to improve their profile. Inspire your staff to add a personal note to a post: why are you sharing this article, why do you find it interesting for your followers.
Employee advocacy in practice: RVO.nl
In his book, Lam advises to give the ambassador program an attractive name, so that people will talk about the program internally. For example, at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) we use the program Smarp under the name 'RVOfan'. We have been doing this since May 2017, when we were the first Dutch government organization to successfully start an employee advocacy program with a select group of employees. The official launch followed in October 2017.
The program ultimately led to additional growth in reach and interaction with our target group. In less than a year, more than 29,000 messages were shared (own content and third-party content). This led to almost 47,000 unique clicks and more than 26,000 likes, retweets and reactions. Ultimately, the program yielded an estimated media value of almost 80,000 euros.
Learnings
What did we at RVO.nl encounter during the rollout of our employee advocacy program? I do have a few tips for all organizations that will soon be following the same path.
I advise companies to first involve a select group of people in the program. We call them superusers : people with knowledge of the organization and social media. This way you create support among the biggest ambassadors and you have good and inspiring examples for others. Look for those who already have a large network in their indonesia mobile number list field or are seen as gurus by their target group.
Infinite content loop
Find the right balance between organizational content and third-party content. According to Lam, the best effect is achieved when employees share content that is created in the marketing department, and the marketing department in turn gets (inspiration for) content from the organization. This creates the infinite content loop , according to the author. Encourage employees to contribute content themselves, so that your employee advocacy program becomes a joint effort . Employees at RVO.nl make full use of the latter option, because they see opportunities to put important topics on the map.
Personal note
Also pay attention to education! For example, organize social media workshops. In these, you can give your employees tips about what works and what doesn't online or give them advice on how to improve their profile. Inspire your staff to add a personal note to a post: why are you sharing this article, why do you find it interesting for your followers.