Employee advocacy has been on the rise for years now, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer how big an impact it’s had on business. But is it just another marketing trend? We believe it is here to stay, and it is clear that it has now become the marketing priority for any company in 2025.
According to Hubspot’s 2024 state of marketing report, social media is the highest ROI marketing channel. With the increasing number of social media users and the way social media usage has evolved, these platforms have become the most sought-after source of information for users and consumers alike.
People trust people, they want to learn from and do business with real people, not brand logos. Personal recommendations and endorsements hold a huge sway on purchasing decisions, and the fact that employee-shared content generates 8x more engagement than brand-shared content is proof of that. That’s why leveraging employee voices on social media is something businesses cannot avoid doing if they want to stay relevant in the digital space.
Your employees' extensive networks on social media offer a wider audience and connections. Plus, the high engagement they generate raises awareness about your brand. Employee advocacy is definitely not something your company should miss out on in 2025.
Employees represent one of a company's most trusted resources. Employee-generated content is perceived as more credible on social media and can reach a more diverse audience. Just think about the number of employees your company has: if each one shares company-related content, it can reach a large audience and have a long-term impact on brand trust and perception.
When employees share company news, product updates, achievements, and thought leadership content in their personal tone of voice, this type of word-of-mouth carries far more weight than paid ads or corporate messaging. And that’s because it comes from a genuine voice considered a lot more authentic than the company’s own. People tend to believe more what employees say about their employer than what the company itself says, so by sharing branded content, your employees will help boost your brand’s authenticity.
Additionally, as we move towards 2025, authenticity becomes more and more important in marketing, as customers value it a lot more in the companies they work with. They want to know what the team says about their employer and whether the company is living up to its promises and values. Hence, authenticity grows more when employees share unfiltered experiences about company culture or the products they use. The company is represented through them, and this reinforces its credibility. As a result, their audiences perceive the brand as more trustworthy, which can positively increase lead generation.
According to a LinkedIn report, posts shared by individuals often get more interactions and engagement than the same content shared by a corporate page, and employee networks are at least 10 times larger than a company’s follower base.
The organic reach of corporate social media posts has been steadily declining, especially as platforms like LinkedIn prioritize content from personal connections and followers over branded content. However, employee advocacy offers a great way to overcome this challenge: when your employees share content on their personal social media profiles, it’s more likely to be seen by their connections (and the connections of those connections), and the more employees are involved in advocacy efforts, the greater the potential reach of your company’s content.
In addition, your employees' networks are filled with prospective leads, and when they share branded content, it’s far more engaging. People interact with content from connections they know (the more interaction, the more the brand visibility), hence, content from the employees and that of the corporation combined together will greatly boost your social media reach, reasons why it is a marketing priority for 2025.
Employee advocacy provides a more organic approach to attracting and nurturing potential customers than other traditional methods like paid ads. Employees typically have networks that extend far beyond the company's usual audience. When your employees share content, insights, and personal stories related to your brand, they can expand the reach of your content and attract potential leads through their personal network. More importantly, these are not cold contacts; these leads are already your employees' connections and are more likely to engage with their content.
According to a Nielson report, 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. This means that personal recommendations from friends, family, connections, and colleagues are more effective at influencing buying decisions than any other form of advertising.
For your sales teams, this presents an excellent opportunity to leverage the power of their colleagues' referrals to grow the sales funnel through the leads they generate. Plus, employee advocacy is also about nurturing those leads. When your employees share meaningful content and insights with their personal networks, it can foster engagement that builds relationships over time. As potential leads interact with this content, employees can respond, answer questions, and further educate prospects about your brand’s offerings. By doing this, they help generate more leads for the company, which might eventually become clients.
Social selling, the process of leveraging social media to find, connect with, and build relationships with potential clients, goes hand in hand with employee advocacy. In fact, social selling relies heavily on authentic, personal connections, precisely what employee advocacy enhances. B2B buyers are turning to social media channels on their path to purchase, so your sales team can leverage their social networks to find the right prospects and build trusted relationships with these B2B buyers in their network.
Customers today want more than just a product; they want to engage with experts who understand their pain points. Through advocacy, your sales representatives can develop and nurture their social networks. These actions can position them to be top of mind for the prospects once they are ready to buy. Leads developed through employee social marketing convert more frequently than others, and socially engaged companies are more likely to see increased sales leads.
Employer branding is the way businesses differentiate themselves in the labor market to attract talent and be perceived as the employer of choice. Employee advocacy is a great supporting strategy for attracting talent. When employees share their positive work experiences and company culture, it builds trust and credibility with potential candidates: it turns the spotlight on the company and its dedication to its employees in an authentic and genuine way.
By turning your employees into brand ambassadors, you can boost and support your recruitment efforts. Candidates believe in real stories from current employees, so having them talk about the company, what they like about working for you, etc., will strike an important chord with your potential candidate.
The brand-related content your employees share helps build affinity with the talent pools you’re looking to hire, and through an employee advocacy program, your employees can promote specific job offers, the workplace culture, and its values on their personal channels, which will help to better target profiles and increase the awareness of your company while also reducing the costs associated with recruitment.
Thought leaders are people who share their expertise and knowledge in a specific industry or space and who, with time, come to be perceived as knowledge leaders whose opinions can be very influential in their specific field. Building thought leadership is a strategy used by brands to position themselves as experts in a particular field or sector, showcasing their expertise and knowledge and building authority on social media. Employees who share quality content regularly can build visibility and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
Encouraging your employees to share insights, reports, and industry trends can help position them (and your company) as a thought leader. This not only enhances your company’s reputation but also helps your employees build their own personal brand and reputation. You can help your brand ambassadors organize a content strategy to ensure the quality and relevance of the content that they will be interested in sharing.
This will set a balance between the type of content, be it company-related, industry-related, and general content. Even when content shared by employees is not directly related to your company, your brand benefits. That’s because when your employees are seen as thought leaders in their space, your company is seen as a leader by association. And that exposes your brand to more people who are likely to become interested in your company and its offerings.
Employee advocacy is a key asset for every business's marketing strategy. Whether you are looking to increase your brand authenticity, build stronger employer branding, improve social media reach, or generate leads, empowering your employees to become brand ambassadors can unlock a great marketing asset that will continue to amplify your company's growth and engagement.