Social Media Advocacy can massively improve your businesses social media marketing
And it’s for that reason we need to talk about it
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVOCACY OR EMPLOYEE ADVOCACY?
If you’re reading this article you have a network
Either you have a number of employees – aka employee advocacy
Or you attend networking groups and have a close group of contacts – aka social media advocacy
In a nutshell the way advocacy works is that you can utilise your team to help you spread your content on social media
Let’s say for instance you own a large solicitors practice in Greater Manchester
The main social account has 10,000 followers – but 20 of the staff have social media accounts which an average audience of 1000 followers each
The power of social media really comes in place when you have a plan in place to reach an extra 20,000 people by utilising your network
Social Media shouldn’t just be down to one person in the marketing department
SHOULDN’T THIS BE HAPPENING ANYWAY WITH NETWORKING
Absolutely
Business networking isn’t about what happens in the room for 1 or 2 hours a week
It’s about everything in between the meeting
Your Business Networking group isn’t working properly if the group aren’t supporting each others businesses on social media
I find about 20% of a business networking group are doing 100% of the online promotion and social media support –
which means 80% are letting everyone else down
The best networking group are full of people who understand the importance of online networking as well as offline
Here are the steps to think about in implementing your Advocacy Program
1. DEFINE YOUR AMBASSADORS
Sitting down and carefully defining who your ambassadors are is a hugely important step
When you ambassadors are you employees it’s considerably easier, but let’s look at it, if you’re an owner managed business
Which are the natural synergies you already have in place in the real world
For a company like ours – Social Media sits nicely alongside PR, Website Design, Graphic Design, Printers, SEO, Copywriters and so on. Complimentary rather than competing businesses
For an accountant – the natural collaborators might be Business Coaches, IFA’s, Mortgage Advisors, Bank Managers and so on
For an electrician – it might be the network of trades from Window Companies, Plumbers, Joiners and so on
Once you know the who – start to look at the numbers – have these people got an audience? Or will they need to grow one?
2. PLAN THE COMMUNICATION
What is the best method of communication for your ambassadors
Is it email? Whatsapp? A private Facebook group?
Is there freedom for employees / connections to be creative with their shares or is there a strict policy of the correct wording to share?
Is there opportunity for a feedback loop of what’s working and what’s not?
And will you gamify it? Will there be incentives? A leader board of top sharers?
3. TRAINING
Buffer have reported that “Dell has over 10,000 employees who have gone through an internal social media certification program and are trained to support the company’s objectives in social media”
If you’re relying on employees or your network to spread your companies message it’s important they understand social media to a level they feel confident with
One of the biggest barriers to social sharing if people are scared of saying the wrong thing on social media or simply not knowing how to use the platforms
When you defined your ambassadors earlier it’s worth remembering that your best employees with a little training could become your best social media ambassadors over time
Think long term and don’t just go for the easy wins of employees or connections with an existing audience
4. MEASURE
If you can measure something, you can improve on it
Set KPI’s for your Social Media Advocacy Program and look at them on a regular basis
The KPI’S you might want to look at are
* Increased Number Of Social Media Followers
* Increased Reach Of Social Media Posts
* Increased Web Clicks
* Increased Sales
Patience is a virtue and whilst there should be some quick wins – think of this as an ongoing program rather than a one off action
5. REPEAT
Repeat Repeat Repeat
Social Media Advocacy can increase your social media reach by as much as 100-500x
There’s a value to that that needs to be harnessed ASAP
For most businesses it’s the untapped part of their Social Media Strategy
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
Or
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 500+ LinkedIn testimonials and is Ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.
Archives
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- November 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
Leave a Reply