Over the past few years, employee advocacy has been making headlines in the digital advertising industry. In fact, some have gone as far as saying that employee advocacy is set to be the new mega-trend in marketing and sales. 

The widespread used of new technologies in general and social media in particular have made it easier to get employees involved in magnifying the message of the brand they work for. Employee advocacy relies on this fact and offers organisations a new channel to carry out their brand awareness efforts.

Through employee advocacy, staff use their existing networks of social media contacts to share or promote key messages about a brand or a company. Typical employee advocacy activities include sharing corporate news on Facebook, posting vacancies to their LinkedIn profile, or re-tweeting positive customer reviews and achievements.

Through advocacy, employees take on a new role and become ambassadors to the company they work for. Employee advocacy has also caused the focus to shift away from a top-down approach to sales and marketing to a more collaborative system that empowers and motivates employees to take action and support the company's efforts. It is no wonder that many companies are choosing to incorporate employee advocacy to their traditional sales training.

Effects on sales

Employee advocacy has been gaining popularity for its ability to offer increased exposure and to reach a wider number of market segments. Advocacy can boost sales because it adds a human and even personal factor to advertising, making it easier for potential customers to identify with a brand. In fact, some studies have shown that marketing messages coming from staff are believed to be up to 6 times more credible than those coming from a company, so it makes sense to complement sales coaching programmes with advocacy training.

The potential of employee advocacy is so enormous that some advocacy solutions have already been designed to help businesses consolidate their efforts in this respect. This is the case of applications like SmarpShare, which has been proven to outperform paid advertising campaigns. One thing is clear: employee advocacy is here to stay and to magnify the voice of companies in ways we never thought possible.