Employees are – luckily or not – ambassadors of the organization they work for. In their effort to increase web and social presence, many companies have launched Employee Advocacy programs, thus inviting human resources to support and promote the brand by sharing contents on their personal social profiles, or by posting on blogs, forums and discussion groups.

Potential effects are really interest, as social users are more likely to pay attention to brand contents if coming from an employee. Some studies about LinkedIn, for instance, proved that the same post gets double clicks when shared by employees, and performance is halved when using the corporate account.

Employees activation cannot overlook an honest and virtuous management of internal relations, and the establishment of a working climate where talents are inspired, motivated and acknowledged. We can’t forget that not all employees are featured and willing to become brand ambassadors. To be effective it’s advisable to select the so-called ‘Champions’, a group of people who are digitally active and involved in company projects. They will be engaged first, then will likely cascade colleagues and peers.

Designing an ‘employee-friendly’ storytelling is the real critical element for any Employee Advocacy program. We cannot expect people to share promotional or self-referred contents, or contents that are boring or too far from their interests and preferences. Visuals make it easier, as images and videos usually increase social virality. A careful schedule is also needed to avoid creating too many contents, which may result in channel saturation and drop interest.

Any example worth considering? Look for famous hashtags such as #LifeatLoreal, #LoFaccioPerché or #ProudFerrerian: you’ll discover what employee ambassadors at L’Oreal, Decathlon and Ferrero write about.