17 Tips To Master LinkedIn Employee Advocacy

Did you know that 86% of workers claim that taking part in an employee advocacy program has a favorable effect on their careers?

Most people find LinkedIn Employee Advocacy beneficial, but are you still having trouble explaining the program to the team as a whole?

Meanwhile, there are large corporations that execute employee advocacy flawlessly and others that are ignorant of its existence.

Given the present condition of social media, we hope you are in the first category as it is one of the most effective things you can do for your business.

We'll dive right into tips to master the LinkedIn Employee Advocacy program in this article!

Now let's get going!

Why Is LinkedIn Employee Advocacy Important?

Did you know that 83% of Americans say they are more likely to buy a product or service if a friend or family member recommends it?

This speaks about the untapped potential of employee advocacy.

Additionally, according to LinkedIn, an employee's network is 10 times larger than their company's profile.

Employee advocacy, first and foremost, saves you tens of thousands of dollars in sponsored advertising.

Additionally, the following are some employee advocacy facts that represent the real benefit of this strategy:

Benefit #1: Enhance Brand Interaction

By growing your audience, you're setting the stage for increased engagement.

Here's a game-changer: Content shared by employees can skyrocket engagement, raking in 8x more interactions than content shared by the brands themselves!

More people connecting with your brand often translates into a boost in revenue, as a larger, engaged audience means more potential customers.

Benefit #2: Attract Top Talent

Get this: A whopping 79% of job seekers are turning to social media to find their next opportunity, according to Glassdoor.

And here's more food for thought: 47% of employees brought in through referrals not only feel more satisfied with their jobs but also tend to stick around longer in their roles.

Welcoming new, skilled employees can significantly elevate your company's performance.

Moreover, when your team members advocate for your brand, it piques interest and attracts more high-caliber candidates.

Benefit #3:Amplify Purchase Rates

Interacting with your audience isn't just about communication — it's about creating a ripple effect.

Check this out: A significant 67% of consumers admit they're inclined to buy products or services spotted on their social feeds.

Even more compelling, the likelihood of making a purchase jumps by 71% when the recommendation comes directly from social media referrals.

When people engage with your brand, they're more inclined to transition from potential customers to actual buyers, enhancing your conversion rates.

Benefit #4: Strengthen Trust

Campaigns often resonate more authentically with audiences than corporate messaging.

Adding to the intrigue, a striking 76% of people surveyed confess they place more trust in content shared by everyday individuals over what's put out by brands.

That's some real talk about the power of personal touch in content sharing!

When your initiatives align with your audience's values and interests, it naturally fosters a deeper sense of trust in your brand.

These are only a handful of the advantages - but when done correctly LinkedIn Employee Advocacy impacts the overall operation of the company.

17 Steps To Master LinkedIn Employee Advocacy

Now that we have scratched the surface, let's share with you some insights on how to excel in employee advocacy.

Stage I: Make an Action Plan

It may seem simple, but without creating an action plan before beginning the program, it is impossible to think of tips to master LinkedIn Employee Advocacy.

Here you can find some best practices of what a good planning process should look like.

1. Define The Purpose ✔️

From the start you need to have a clear purpose for the employee advocacy plan. 

For example, it can sound like this:

“The aim is to position Company X as a thought leader in the industry by motivating staff members to provide original content on LinkedIn, which will ultimately aid in sales and marketing initiatives”.

You can expand your purpose, or redefine it according to your unique company.

2. Find Stakeholders ✔️

Locating stakeholders involves gathering the members of your team who are suitable for the specified roles inside the employee advocacy initiative.

Now that you have a whole team, you are ready to take further steps in your action plan.

3. Create Short-term and Long-term Goals ✔️

Start by determining what you want to achieve right from the beginning and ensure you stick to your deadlines. Aim to keep your goals as realistic as possible.

Here's an example:

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4. Choose Tools and Platforms ✔️

Determine which tools you'll use and whether you want to incorporate any additional platforms alongside LinkedIn.

Here's a list of ideas for you to consider:

Consider your alternatives carefully because third-party time management software can be quite beneficial.

📌 Note

If you're interested in discovering the top LinkedIn tools, be sure to take a look at our dedicated article: 5 Best LinkedIn Tools to Try in 2024.

5. Onboarding Process ✔️

The goal of onboarding is to get all of your staff members on board with the platform's functionality and teach them how to use it.

Here are some examples of what we need to teach staff members:

6. Arrange Meetings ✔️

To foster effective employee advocacy, consider organizing regular meetings, such as weekly check-ins.

During these gatherings, focus on the following key discussion points:

7. Timeline and Budget ✔️

To effectively manage your employee advocacy campaign, maintain an up-to-date timeline that outlines all necessary daily or weekly steps.

Additionally, it's smart to estimate both the overall campaign budget and individual step budgets.

This proactive approach will help you prepare for any unexpected expenses that may arise.

8. Decide Which Metrics to Follow ✔️

Once you start with the campaign you will need numbers to know how well you are progressing.

Some of the metrics you can monitor are:

Now that you have your action plan ready, let’s see which further tricks you can use to master LinkedIn Employee Advocacy!

💡 Pro Tip

We strongly emphasize the importance of regularly tracking analytics on LinkedIn.

AuthoredUp offers comprehensive metrics, including reach, engagement, and post-comparison data.

With AuthoredUp, you have the flexibility to analyze posts from different time spectrums.

It conveniently captures all the relevant information as you scroll through your posts, simplifying the process of gaining insights into your LinkedIn performance.

Best part?

It can track the LinkedIn content performance of the entire team!

Stage II: Motivate Your Employees

It is clear that without the effort of your employees, this whole campaign is practically impossible.

A question arises - How to motivate the team? 

Let's see what people have to say about why they are a part of the employee advocacy program:

To begin, consider how Employee Advocacy appears to your employees.

This strategy might be unfamiliar and puzzling to them.

As we frequently emphasize, training is crucial, but what other actions should be taken to get your team started? 

In order for an employee advocacy campaign to achieve success, it's essential for staff members to actively support and encourage each other to speak up for the business.

Let's go through the steps to motivate your staff.

9. Explain The Vision ✔️

The company’s vision, mission, and values set the tone for motivation.

If your objectives aren't explicit and well-defined, it's time to put them down on paper and introduce your staff to the company.

Here is an example of what a clear company vision looks like.

Your employees must comprehend how their involvement in advocacy campaigns benefits them personally and how it fits with the company's objectives.

Besides, employees are more likely to support and advocate for the company's goals on social media when they share its vision and mission.

And since you're part of the team, you have the advantage of knowing your colleagues well and can identify what truly interests and motivates them individually.

📌 Note

To navigate this step successfully, you may find our article on Personal Branding on LinkedIn valuable.

It can assist in streamlining and effectively conveying your brand's vision, goals, and tone to your employees for improved alignment in content sharing.

10. Present Them With Personal Benefits ✔️

With more than 1 billion members, LinkedIn is the biggest professional social media network. 

It offers workers a great chance to highlight their abilities to prospective employers and clients. 

Therefore, educating your staff about the advantages of using LinkedIn is another effective way to motivate them.

Encouraging employees to connect with other industry experts on LinkedIn can boost their career prospects and increase their visibility, opening up new avenues for career progression and opportunities.

📌 Note

For further inspiration, please check our article on the best expert accounts to follow.

11. Include Rewards ✔️

Fostering employee engagement in the campaign is pivotal for companies aiming to launch a successful employee advocacy program.

Motivating your employees with tangible rewards that enhance their lives and finances is a valuable strategy.

Consider these concrete rewards:

• Providing regular feedback
• Recognition
• Monetary rewards

Recognizing your employees' efforts and acknowledging their contributions to the advocacy campaign's success is a surefire way to boost morale and encourage active participation.

Recognition can take various forms, including financial incentives, public praise, or opportunities for career advancement.

However, it's vital to ensure that these rewards align with the company's core values and mission.

📌 Note

To explore the potential rewards of this strategy, we encourage you to read our post on How to Make Money on LinkedIn.

It provides valuable insights into the benefits and opportunities that can arise from effectively leveraging LinkedIn.

Stage III: Create Content Upfront

Now is the ideal moment to start planning the content your employees will share during the campaign.

Planning ahead is the best way to prevent last-minute stress and confusion, making the process smoother for staff members, supervisors, and your audience.

You might wonder how this benefits your audience?

The answer is - predictability.

When you consistently share content through your employees, your audience begins to anticipate and engage with their posts.

Engaging content is what breathes life into social media platforms like LinkedIn and effectively communicates your company's message to its target audience.

Let's walk through the steps of content preparation.

12. Optimize LinkedIn Profile ✔️

Optimizing employee profiles is a critical initial step for a successful employee advocacy strategy.

While it may not seem directly tied to content, these optimized profiles serve as the foundation for effective posting.

A well-optimized profile not only creates a positive first impression but also instills confidence in the audience, making them more likely to engage with posts.

What optimization includes:

This preparation ensures that employees' profiles are ready to engage and advocate for the company's message effectively.

📌 Note

For a comprehensive guide to optimizing your LinkedIn profile, we recommend checking out these two informative articles:

• The Only LinkedIn Profile Optimization Checklist
• Things You Should Never Do on LinkedIn

13. Prepare Content Strategy ✔️

Establishing a content strategy is the first step for businesses looking to produce content for employee advocacy on LinkedIn.

It's crucial that every member of the organization, regardless of their role, participates in creating an effective content strategy.

Employees need a clear understanding of the specific content they are expected to promote on behalf of the company and how it aligns with the broader marketing objectives.

To assist in this process, here's an illustrative example of how to approach content strategy:

Ensuring that the content is tailored to the employee's network is equally vital.

For instance, if an individual works in the marketing field, it's essential that they share content related to marketing rather than unrelated topics.

By consistently posting relevant information, employees can position themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields, ultimately expanding their LinkedIn following and influence.

15. Make a Content Calendar ✔️

Considering the management of multiple employees, each with their individual tasks, it's highly advisable to implement a content calendar.

This calendar ensures that everyone is aware of when and what to post, promoting organization and efficiency.

A content calendar serves as a valuable tool for keeping both the management team and employees on track, enhancing coordination and ensuring that content is consistently shared in a timely manner.

💡Pro Tip

Asserting that nobody is available to publish content at any given moment might be an exaggeration.

While LinkedIn doesn't permit scheduling articles directly, you can seamlessly accomplish this with the AuthoredUp Schedule tool, represented by an alarm clock icon.

By using this feature, your posts will be prepared for publishing without any additional effort required.

Furthermore, AuthoredUp is a valuable tool for LinkedIn content creation, especially when you need assistance in creating a content calendar.

You can easily navigate to the calendar view section to visualize and manage your scheduled content pieces.

14. Decide Which Types of Content Your Employees Will Publish ✔️

When selecting the types of content your employees will publish, it's crucial to consider LinkedIn's functionality. 

Repetitively posting content in the same format is not advisable.

Therefore, you can collaborate with your content manager to diversify content types and help your employees get a hub of ideas before the campaign starts.

Here are some content ideas to consider:

Furthermore, keep in mind that LinkedIn prioritizes videos, articles, and carousels. It's wise to prioritize the preparation of these formats to align with LinkedIn's preferences.

💡 Pro Tip

At times, you may wish to pre-prepare content without the hassle of storing it across multiple documents and tabs.

With AuthoredUp, you can conveniently streamline this process.

Access the Drafts section, where you can easily jot down all the details and store them for future use.

When the time comes to publish your posts, simply navigate to the Drafts area, and with just a few clicks, your content is ready for publication when you need it.

Additionally, with AuthoredUp, you can:

🖥️ Preview Posts - This enables you to verify that your content looks perfect across various devices.

📖 Readability Radar - Examine your content's readability to make sure your audience will find it exciting and simple to comprehend.

🔄 Easy Reuse - Bring back your most popular LinkedIn posts with a single click and increase the size of your growth.

🎣 Hook & CTA Library - Create eye-catching LinkedIn posts with over 200 hooks and 100 CTA templates in English, Dutch, and German.

📃 Rich Text Editor - Your posts will look more appealing if you add a creative touch with enhanced formatting options like bold, italics, and bullet points.

📌 Note

For a deeper understanding of how LinkedIn performance functions, we invite you to explore our dedicated article: Understanding LinkedIn Performance.

It will provide you with valuable insights into maximizing your LinkedIn experience.

Stage IV: Measure Your Progress

When launching your campaign, don't expect immediate fireworks.

Be patient as it steadily grows, and remember that initial stagnation doesn't equate to future stagnation.

By diligently tracking your metrics, you gain a clear understanding of whether you're moving in the right direction.

Among the most crucial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor is engagement.

This data will provide valuable insights into your campaign's impact and effectiveness.

16. Monitor Engagement ✔️

Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of your content in resonating with your target audience.

The level of engagement helps identify the types of content that generate the most interaction and the employees who excel at promoting content actively and successfully.

Here's one formula to calculate engagement:

By analyzing this data, companies can refine their employee advocacy campaigns, focusing on creating more content that resonates with the audience and harnessing the influence of highly engaged employees.

💡 Pro Tip

The AuthoredUp’s Correlation Plot feature employs interconnected graphs to create a comprehensive data overview.

It helps you analyze the relationships between multiple variables, such as impressions, reactions, comments, shares, total engagements, and readability.

This integrated view provides valuable insights into how these factors are interconnected and how they collectively influence your content's performance on LinkedIn.

17. Monitor Content’s Reach ✔️

The content's reach is another important metric to monitor. 

This metric shows the number of viewers and provides useful information about how well the employee advocacy campaign expands the company's reach.

Let's see what one graphic can look like.

Finally, it's crucial to analyze the impact on income and website traffic and link social media analytics to business objectives. 

This involves tracking the volume of traffic from LinkedIn to the company website and the number of leads or conversions resulting from that traffic. 

Businesses can better assess the return on investment (ROI) of their employee advocacy program and identify its most successful components in revenue generation.

💡 Pro Tip

Another valuable analytics feature offered by AuthoredUp is the Growth Timeline.

This feature presents a visual graph that monitors your progress over time, utilizing chosen metrics including impressions, reactions, comments, shares, and engagement rates.

The Growth Timeline provides a comprehensive and user-friendly overview of your LinkedIn performance, enabling you to visually assess your growth trends and performance metrics with ease and precision.

Wrapping Up

Leading a LinkedIn Employee Advocacy campaign is undeniably an exciting journey. As we've discussed, it's a venture that can be both rewarding and challenging.

While the path to success may have its complexities, what if we told you that there's a way to make it easier?

Allow us to introduce AuthoredUp!

Unlocking Employee Advocacy Success with AuthoredUp

AuthoredUp is not just any LinkedIn tool; it's uniquely designed exclusively for LinkedIn users like you.

Whether you prefer using it as an app or a Google Extension, AuthoredUp offers a range of benefits that can significantly simplify your LinkedIn Employee Advocacy program:

🌸 Tailored Exclusively for LinkedIn — AuthoredUp understands the intricacies of LinkedIn, ensuring its features are finely tuned to enhance your experience.

🌸 Collaborative Drafting— Effortlessly save and manage multiple drafts, and bring the magic of teamwork to life by inviting others to collaborate on your content.

🌸 Versatility — With the option to use it as an app or a Chrome Extension, AuthoredUp offers flexibility in how you navigate and engage on LinkedIn.

🌸 Comprehensive Analytics — Gain valuable insights with features like the Growth Timeline and Correlation Plot, helping you track your progress and make data-driven decisions.

🌸 Content Calendar — Streamline your content planning with the Content Calendar on Click, making it easier to schedule and manage your posts.

🌸 Engagement Monitoring — AuthoredUp allows you to effortlessly monitor engagement metrics of all employees, helping you fine-tune your content strategy for optimal results.

🌸 And much more.

As you reflect on your LinkedIn Employee Advocacy journey, consider the advantages of implementing AuthoredUp.

It's a tool designed to simplify and enhance your experience, offering a suite of features that can propel your campaign to greater heights.

Ready to change the narrative of your LinkedIn journey?

Sign up for AuthoredUp today and see how it can transform your LinkedIn Employee Advocacy program.

The possibilities are endless, and the journey awaits!