How to turn your employee advocacy program into a movement

The dialog round worker advocacy has advanced. We’re not asking why to spend money on it. The query now could be:

How do you construct an advocacy program that sticks? One which workers need to be a part of and keep a part of?

In our newest webinar From program movement: The three secrets to an unstoppable employee advocacy program, we heard from two powerhouse leaders who’ve constructed advocacy engines which can be overflowing with demand and driving measurable enterprise influence.

Meet the specialists:

Ale Schlesinger, Social Media Supervisor at HiBob, who constructed a program so common that workers request entry quicker than she will grant it.

Sarah Hankins, Senior Advertising and marketing Content material Specialist at CBIZ, who designed a hands-on coaching tour that turned curiosity into company-wide participation.

Collectively, they shared their playbook, challenges, pivots, metrics, automation ways, and what actually works. Right here’s what each B2B advocacy chief ought to take away.

1. Begin with three core elements: training, incentives, communication

“You may have a extremely nice program with a lot of nice content material, however it’s not going to do something for you in case your advocates don’t actually know the way to take part.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

Sarah laid out her foundational framework: if folks don’t know the way to take part, or why it issues to them, your program won’t ever attain vital mass. Right here’s how each Sarah and Ale carry these three core elements to life:

Schooling: construct confidence and readability from day one

Each specialists stress that training can’t be one-and-done.

At CBIZ, Sarah provides:

• Stay trainings for workplaces and groups
• LinkedIn optimization suggestions
• Private branding steering
• In-person and digital onboarding classes

At HiBob, Ale partnered with Oktopost’s workforce to host multi-time zone trainings, overlaying options, suggestions, and platform navigation, all the time tying it again to non-public worth.

Incentives: create speedy worth and long-term motivation

HiBob runs a beneficiant prize construction: quarterly winners rise up to $900 in present playing cards, and annual winners can earn $1,500. However extra vital than the prize is the perceived worth:

• Advocates see extra engagement on their posts
• They develop their networks
• Their contributions are publicly acknowledged

Communication: preserve dialogue open, responsive, and private

Sarah personally onboards every new person and makes certain they know she’s out there. She invitations suggestions, solutions questions shortly, and shares success tales in quarterly classes and year-end recaps.

Ale reinforces the message by way of inner instruments like Bob (HiBob’s HR platform) and Slack, continually reminding workers that this system is lively, beneficial, and open to everybody.

2. Flip coaching right into a company-wide occasion

“It began with one in-person coaching in Kansas Metropolis… and I couldn’t consider the excitement it generated.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

Sarah’s advocacy roadshow was born from one standout session that created surprising pleasure, folks had been actually pulling coworkers into the room to listen to about Oktopost and their worker advocacy program. That power impressed her to create a 12-stop lunch-and-learn tour, with classes on:

• Tips on how to replace and optimize your LinkedIn
• What it means to be a thought chief
• Why social sharing issues in B2B
• Tips on how to use Oktopost successfully

Why it labored:

• It demystified this system in a enjoyable, non-corporate method
• It created FOMO and peer affect (“Hey, did you go to the Oktopost coaching downstairs?”)
• It made advocacy a part of tradition, not simply tech

Can’t go on tour? Sarah recommends:

• Internet hosting team-specific Zoom trainings
• Constructing a quarterly “social abilities” session into onboarding
• Pairing coaching with a problem to drive activation

The secret is making it really feel like an occasion, not only a tutorial.

3. Use gamification to construct long-term momentum

“It’s type of like a Computer virus. They be part of for the prizes however they keep as a result of they see the worth.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

At HiBob, Ale has constructed a sturdy incentive system. However she’s clear: gamification isn’t nearly factors, it’s about creating moments of motivation. Her workforce makes use of:

• Leaderboards that reset every quarter
• Public recognition in inner platforms
• Customized prize buildings that evolve over time

At CBIZ, Sarah doesn’t have the identical finances flexibility. However that hasn’t stopped her from utilizing gamification to drive momentum. Her low-cost, high-impact methods embrace:

• Swag baggage
• Bluetooth audio system
• Raffles for anybody who shares a minimal variety of posts
• Shoutouts throughout firm calls

“You don’t want an enormous prize to get folks excited. Typically it’s simply the popularity or the enjoyable of the problem.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

The end result is similar: participation grows, and sharing turns into a behavior, not a job.

4. Change up your contests to maintain the sport recent

“We change up the sport each quarter… so individuals who didn’t win this time really feel like they’ve a brand new shot.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

Ale rotates the scoring standards each quarter to maintain issues recent and inclusive:

• One quarter may reward engagement
• One other may reward content material options
• One other may reward consistency or originality

Sarah enhances her program with randomized raffles:

“I’ll say, ‘Share three posts by July 1st and also you’re entered to win.’ It provides everybody, no matter leaderboard rating, an opportunity to take part.”

This mixture of merit-based and chance-based recognition retains folks curious, hopeful, and concerned.

5. Present management the ROI, by way of information

“The reply is information. Truthfully, the reply is all the time information.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

When Ale wanted to safe finances and inner assist, she constructed a data-forward presentation that linked advocacy to actual enterprise worth. Key takeaways included:

• How worker posts generate increased attain than company pages
• How engagement impacts lead gen and site visitors
• Why workers’ networks unlock visibility company posts can’t

“Should you’re ranging from zero, usher in use instances. Should you’re relaunching, present previous success. Both method, carry numbers.”

6. Make communication private, not programmatic

“Even when this system will get large, folks must really feel prefer it’s private. That they’ll come to you.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

Sarah emphasizes the significance of ongoing, human communication. Her standout ways:

• Private onboarding emails from her personal private electronic mail deal with
• Quarterly efficiency recaps
• A year-end “Oktopost Wrapped” video showcasing high advocates and program-wide stats
• A survey hyperlink within the wrap-up so advocates can recommend enhancements

“Some folks simply don’t know what their posts are doing for the corporate. Displaying them their influence is what retains them engaged.”

7. Relaunch strategically when engagement dips

Somewhat than rolling issues out little by little, Ale handled her program relaunch like a marketing campaign. She mixed:

• A refreshed leaderboard and level system
• Up to date prize tiers
• Stay coaching classes throughout time zones
• Strategic reminders in HiBob’s inner comms platform
• A transparent concentrate on “What’s in it for you?”

The consequence:

• 155% enhance in posts
• 117% enhance in attain
• 8,400+ classes in two months

8. Companion with HR and IT to scale onboarding and automation

“It grew to become a full-time job simply maintaining with entry, new hires, and seat limits… so I automated as a lot as I might.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

Ale partnered with HR and IT to:

• Add Oktopost to all new rent’s onboarding in Week 1
• Embrace hyperlinks to a coaching recording, incentive deck, and signup type
• Floor Oktopost in every advocate’s SSO dashboard
• Routinely take away inactive customers after 90 days

Why take away inactive customers? To make room for brand spanking new, enthusiastic individuals.

“I’ve a waitlist of people that need in. If somebody hasn’t been lively in 90 days, I need that seat to go to somebody who will probably be.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

This strategy helps this system keep recent, lean, and centered on lively engagement, not passive signups.

“I did the analysis. I checked out each platform. Oktopost was the one which made sense.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

Each leaders emphasised how very important Oktopost is to scaling their program. Their favourite options?

• Featured content material (precedence posts through electronic mail)
• Gamification & leaderboards
• Repost function for sharing native LinkedIn content material
• Social BI dashboards (together with customized textual content blocks for narrative insights)

“We’ve all the time used Oktopost at CBIZ, our assist has been superb. Any suggestions I get, I go alongside, and I do know it’ll be checked out.” – Sarah Hankins, CBIZ

Most significantly, they belief their CSMs (shoutout to Josh Sloane and Luke Dreyer) to assist them plan launches, adapt ways, and get essentially the most out of the platform.

10. At all times reply: “What’s in it for them?”

“Each function that you just discuss, please tie it again into what they’re getting out of it.” – Ale Schlesinger, HiBob

This theme got here up repeatedly. Whether or not you’re presenting to executives or onboarding workers, in order for you adoption, converse their language.

• For management: advocacy extends model attain
• For gross sales: it will increase visibility and belief
• For workers: it builds their voice, their community, and their skilled model

“It truly is in everybody’s greatest curiosity, or we wouldn’t be doing it.”

Construct your worker advocacy motion

Advocacy applications don’t go viral on their very own. They succeed when somebody champions them with readability, creativity, and consistency, identical to Ale and Sarah.

At Oktopost, we assist B2B manufacturers construct employee-first, culture-driven advocacy applications that scale, from onboarding and gamification to analytics and government reporting.

Able to construct yours? Let’s talk, we’d love to assist.