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Nov 1, 2024
Are you familiar with social media advocacy? I’ve seen it emerged as a powerful marketing strategy for any company seeking brand awareness, transparency, and customer trust.
But how can a social media advocate benefit your organization? Surprisingly, their influence can make a world of difference.
Buckle up, in this article I’ll cover:
Let’s roll!
Social media advocacy is the social media brand marketing done by people other than the brand itself. It can be employees, partners, customers, influencers, or anyone you can strategically include to support your campaign on social media.
A social media advocacy strategy helps you recruit active fans and employees to leverage their accounts and voice to advertise your brand. It’s like digital word of mouth but more targeted.
Social media advocacy might sound excessive: why would you need an advocate if you have a solid marketing plan and an in-house team?
However, in 2023, social media users seek authenticity instead of glossy marketized pictures. And that’s what an external thought leader can provide.
One of the 2023 trends is trust. Potential customers are more likely to give a brand their vote of confidence and convert if the communication comes from someone other than you as a brand.
Supporting your brand through advocates builds up your reputation and humanizes your marketing efforts.
Social media has insane visibility potential. Brand advocates help you spread awareness by tapping into different clusters of people.
Say, a brand has 10K followers on Instagram. The influencer advocating your brand has another 10K. That’s 20K potential customers who’ll see your product and might spread the word.
Community is a widely overused term. Yet, it bears significance for companies who want to build long-term relationships with their customers. If your employees and customers are willingly vouching for your brand, doesn’t it make it legit? This support converts karma and sales, bringing more people in and retaining the exciting ones.
Influencer marketing wasn’t a thing five years ago; same for employee-generated content. But here we are now: influencers are a solid part of most marketing campaigns, and employee advocacy is a hot topic on LinkedIn. Advocacy creates a new content layer, making the social media landscape even more diverse.
Ok, advocating on social media sounds useful. Now, let’s investigate what social media advocacy can look like and what your advocates might do to help your brand’s reputation.
The most straightforward way of supporting a brand is through positive reviews. It can be your employees writing nice things on Glassdoor or LinkedIn, or satisfied customers leaving testimonials on their IG Stories.
View this post on Instagram
An advocate encourages potential customers to try the product; positive reviews build confidence that this is the right choice.
Advocates actively shape the brand’s online presence. Their company-related content increases visibility and may influence public opinion about products or services.
One of the classic examples is wearing the company’s merchandise: you think it’s just an Instagram post, but it’s free publicity, as long as your employees wear a t-shirt with your logo.
Social media allows brands to broadcast every product detail like no traditional media could.
Amazon unboxing haul on TikTok
Check out how many hauls and unpacking videos are on TikTok — that’s an excellent way for brand advocates to transmit their positive experiences and answer questions about the service or product.
UGC is an incredibly powerful tool because of its transparency and authenticity: in commerce, people believe other customers first.
UGC re-share on Instagram by @starbucks
When your users are willing to create content for you and distribute it on social media channels, make no mistake — this is the purest form advocacy.
Customers like it when a company is actively involved in the conversation. Now, imagine if the answers come from real people willing to share personal experiences.
A personal touch speaks much louder than another promo: advocates can leave comments, participate in polls, and overall engage with others. That’s how a community is born.
Nobody said advocacy efforts should only be organic-sourced. Influencers, opinion leaders, bloggers — people with followers who value their opinions can become your advocates. Campaigns supported by brands can show products in a positive light and help tap into specific audiences. One option for showcasing these collaborations is to use collaborative posts on Instagram.
So, you’re positive you need brand advocates. Where do you find them? I’m sure you already have advocates for your social media — maybe you just haven’t recognized them yet!
If your brand has loyal fans and regular customers, look no further — these people are your potential brand advocates. Nurture and grow your relationships. Your supporters can provide you with tons of UGC. Make sure you follow a customer satisfaction guide to keep track of the pulse.
Product showcase Instagram post by @asos
ASOS is making good use of it. The fashion retailer regularly encourages customers to share their outfit photos and styling ideas on social media platforms using hashtags like #AsSeenOnMe or #OOTDASOS. Customers advocate for ASOS by showcasing their unique fashion choices while wearing ASOS products. Ultimate social proof.
Employee advocacy is based on your colleagues naturally promoting your brand across their personal networks through expert posts, branded pics, or company-related stories.
LinkedIn employee advocacy post by Semrush’s VP of Brand Marketing
Remember that employee advocacy is a matter of habit, and populating the idea of sharing company-related content regularly takes time. So every employee advocacy program needs a locomotive.
Planable’s social media marketer reminding us to interact with the brand on social media
Find one proactive teammate willing to share their expertise and communicate the brand’s messages on their social channels, or become one yourself. Setting an example will help you take a step towards making it a team thing.
Industry influencers and celebrities who are popular among your target audience can help you promote your brand through their social media.
Instagram post by Lady Gaga supporting Haus Labs makeup products
A prominent example of celebrity advocacy for a brand on social media is Lady Gaga and her brand Haus Labs cosmetics. The singer actively promotes and supports Haus Labs on Twitter and Instagram. Lady Gaga posts content of her wearing Haus Labs products or showcasing the diverse makeup looks you can create, holds Q&A sessions, and interacts with the brand’s community. She even started her hashtag, #HausOfGaga.
Some industries are more expert-oriented than others. In this case, try to enlist industry leaders in your advocacy program. Such an advocate would give your product or service more credibility.
Expert LinkedIn post by Rand Fishkin about SparkToro
Take, for instance, Rand Fishkin and SparkToro. Yes, he is the founder of SparkToro (and Moz, too), so it only makes sense for him to advocate for his brand. But the reason he can effectively promote it to other people is that he’s an expert on SEO, and his opinion matters. His followers come for SEO advice, and they get it — while also being slightly exposed to SparkToro promotion as a tool for SEO thought leaders and their woes. 100% legit.
Let’s get practical: here are six steps to build your advocacy program from scratch.
Guess what? We start with goals: there’s no social media advocacy strategy without them. Determine what you hope to achieve: is it increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or attracting new talents?
Defining your goals will provide direction and help you align your advocacy efforts with your overall strategy. It will also identify your target audience and primary channels.
To ensure your advocacy efforts bring continued success, you must first determine what success is and how to measure it.
Set your KPIs based on goals, and remember to stay realistic.
Identify people who are already passionate about your brand or industry and have a significant following on social media. Look for customers, employees, influencers, business partners, or industry experts who align with your brand values.
Brand advocates amplify your brand message and allow your company to tap into existing networks. Organizations benefit from advocates’ genuine connection with their followers both in terms of metrics and less measurable things like credibility and trust.
Advocacy’s widespread adoption is a challenging task. Ensure that your advocates are getting something out of your collaboration, too.
It’s not always about money — but it’s always about recognition.
Brand advocacy is tricky because it’s easier to spot than it is to fake: if your advocates don’t believe in your brand, their followers will notice. So you don’t want your advocates to promote you like any other ad channel — you want to develop relationships.
Inspire and support the content flow: share relevant updates, creative assets and freebies, and brainstorm ideas. But stay reasonable: don’t dictate their posts but rather guide their creativity.
Media library for creative assets in Planable
Monitor and track the performance of your social media advocacy program. Analyze the data and metrics aligned with your defined goals and KPIs. Analytics help you identify patterns and trends and choose best practices for your specific case. Use the insights to refine your strategies and optimize your program for better results.
Social media advocacy program is no easy nut to crack. However, here are several pro tips on how to make it bring robust results and keep it upbeat.
Make sure everyone is on the same page and up to speed. Brand book, FAQ, creative assets, a list of no-no things. Think of it as a welcome pack presenting your brand, product, and goals. It helps align the messaging and sets a foundation for a successful advocacy relationship.
Major social media platforms are designed to engage. Mobilize your advocates and encourage their active involvement by organizing contests, challenges, or interactive initiatives. Such activities foster friendly competition and motivate advocates to generate more content and engagement, ultimately amplifying your brand’s reach. Plus, it’s fun.
Pay attention to the insights and feedback your advocates share regarding their audience. They’ve been with their followers for a while, so they know their interests, preferences, and needs. By understanding their audience, you can collaborate more effectively and tailor your content prompts to resonate with their specific communities.
Utilize social media management and collaboration tools that streamline communication, content sharing, and tracking. Such a platform simplifies collaborating with brand advocates: no need for lengthy review and approval processes, dozen emails on tweaks, and other necessary but time-consuming parts.
Real-time, in-context collaboration in Planable
Regularly evaluate and review the performance and impact of your social media advocacy program. Keep an eye on key metrics, ask for advocates’ feedback, and search for trends that suit your company. This iterative approach lets you fine-tune your plans and stay relevant to your audiences.
One of the challenges organizations face when working with social media advocacy is building a comfortable workflow that produces the right message but doesn’t limit creativity. Planable is just the tool for that:
Collaborative social media calendar in Planable
Imagine you’re kickstarting an employee advocacy program and want to build an ecosystem for managing it effectively. This is how it can look like in Planable:
All that comes for as little as $11/month — after you’ve used the free 50 posts felt the full power of the platform and inevitably grew fond of it. A flexible billing system allows you to tailor Planable to fit your team like a glove.
Building a social media advocacy program may take time, but it’s worth it. If you don’t trust me on that, trust the market!
Now, grab your free 50 posts in Planable, and let’s begin — the best time is the present time.
Content marketer with a background in journalism; digital nomad, and tech geek. In love with blogs, storytelling, strategies, and old-school Instagram. If it can be written, I probably wrote it.
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