As users turn away from public social networks to using private groups and dark social media, reaching those people with branded messages is becoming more and more difficult. In accordance with this, employee advocacy is on the rise, with an increasing number of companies focusing on their own staff to spread their messages far and wide.

In this episode of the Digital Download Podcast I talk to Keith Lewis, Social Media Manager at Zurich Insurance UK, about the organisation's journey over the last few years towards a fully-fledged employee advocacy programme. We discuss the challenges of the approach and some of the key considerations, such as how to identify and encourage advocates, how to guide them, and what processes and software tools work best.

Here's what is discussed in this episode:

Why PR no longer controls the message
How you can relinquish control without destroying the message
Why advocacy may address the move to dark social
How reach through employees is significantly higher than through corporate channels
How an advocacy audience differs from a corporate audience
How empowering employees reaps significant rewards
How to identify potential employee advocates
How software supports the development of advocacy
Why success in advocacy breeds success
How to identify and distribute shareable content
The role content curation plays in effective employee advocacy
How taking part in an advocacy programme need not affect your day job
Why an effective internal network can be as important as external social media channels

 
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