Inside Oktopost: Employees Reveal What It’s Really Like to Be Advocates
A good employee advocacy program involves planning, measurement, gamification, and a platform. Many steps are needed to ensure that employees form a consistent habit of sharing content. But the focus of this article is not about what makes an advocacy program successful — because we’ve already written plenty of articles and even published an eBook on that subject. Instead, we’re going to put the spotlight on those who make a program possible — the advocates.
The truth is, that employee advocacy is only successful if members genuinely love their company and are surrounded by a corporate culture that’s rooted in trust and recognition.
When these circumstances are met then employees feel more invested in the program and their messages radiate with authenticity and credibility. More importantly, their posts don’t get filtered or omitted in the same way that your marketing messages would, and therefore generate far more engagement and conversions.
But what is it really like to be an employee advocate? What kind of content do they like sharing? And how is this process benefitting them (if at all)?
From the CEO to our amazing customer-facing team, we’re going to dig up the information and listen to what Oktopost’s top thought-leaders have to say.
CEO: Daniel Kushner
What makes you proud to be the CEO of Oktopost? To end every day knowing that there is a committed team working their butts off to make B2B marketers successful and a critical part of their organizations.
What kind of content do you like to share on your social networks? Mostly content that shows successful milestones of Oktopost or great content that was produced by the team.
How has being an employee advocate shaped your personal brand? I typically connect to everyone I meet and having the ability to constantly update my social profiles with exciting and relevant content is definitely being noticed by my network of followers. I’ve been complimented many times on the content I share, which is a great opener to discuss the Oktopost advocacy solution.
As a CEO, how does employee advocacy benefit your organization? Employee advocacy is about brand awareness, and the ability to share knowledge, show culture, and express views. I believe that the program at Oktopost is most definitely helpful in all of these areas, which influence sales, marketing, employee recruitment and positioning.
Why do you think an investment in employee advocacy is important for B2B companies? It’s the most scalable and effective way to amplify social media reach. The voice of an employee has more credibility than that of a company. Employee advocacy not only connects a brand to it’s customers, but also the employees to the company.
What do you like about using the Oktopost app for sharing content? It’s soooo simple. I can even get some shares done during family dinner without anybody realizing.
VP Operations: Ben Green
What makes you proud to work at Oktopost? I am lucky enough to have been at Oktopost since the beginning. It is pretty cool to see how every little thing you do can have such a big impact on the company.
What kind of content do you like to share on your social networks? My favorite is to share great reviews or mentions of Oktopost. Pieces of content that show how all our hard work really makes a difference.
As a marketing team leader, how have you personally benefited from being an employee advocate? With employee advocacy, I have been able to grow my personal brand and position myself as a thought leader. By taking advocacy to a company level, I am able to see how amplification has helped grow our social reach, without the costs of boosting posts. While this might not be entirely connected to marketing, getting employees on-board with advocacy has helped us connect everyone to the brand which is really important in such a fast-paced environment.
How is the company motivating you to engage in employee advocacy? We use the leaderboard to track the number of clicks each employee is generating. The more clicks the better, so the top advocates are rewarded each month with something small — like food or gift cards.
What do you like about using the Oktopost app for sharing content? Sharing from the app is great for those times you are on the go, when you have about 2 minutes to kill and your phone is your best friend.
Customer Success Director: Dana Niv
What makes you proud to work at Oktopost? We’re a best of breed product with the most effective integrations. We also love our users and really listen to their needs concerning the product.
What kind of content do you like to share on your social networks? I love to post thought-leadership pieces on social media or any articles that are directly tied to Oktopost and its success.
As a customer success director, how do you personally benefit from being an employee advocate? Since I’m constantly sharing content, my personal brand is more visible! My posts are getting much more traction and engagement on Twitter and LinkedIn, which helps position me as a thought leader. Advocacy also serves as another channel for keeping in touch with our users and having constant conversation with them around a certain topic.
How is content sharing adding value to your customers? When connecting to my customers (which I do with nearly every user I speak with) I’m able to pass on content that is relevant, important and interesting for them and I do this by a simple click — meaning that I do more of it more often. They get to read useful content and our brand gets more traction. Win win.
How is the company motivating you to engage in employee advocacy? The competition element is the most important aspect of the program for me. I look at tens of instances of Oktopost a day but when I look at mine I like to be on top!
What do you like about using the Oktopost app for sharing content? It’s super easy and the content is always of super high quality so I don’t have to think too much about it.
Strategic Account Executive: Jen Gutman
What makes you proud to work at Oktopost? Meetings. Whether with prospects, customers or even our own team meetings, I absolutely enjoy each and every one. After each meeting, you can’t help but conclude it feeling confident. No, seriously. Every meeting at Oktopost places you at the center of beyond thoughtful, challenging discussions that create the foundations for decisions, initiatives, and changes — that you know you will help make happen.
What kind of content do you like to share on your social networks? The content I like sharing most on my social networks focus on the power of Employee Advocacy, especially since I have seen first hand at Oktopost how far our team has been able to expand our brands reach. A must have when I share content is a compelling image. If there is no image, I will not share it– and Twitter, I love to share moving GIFs.
What do you like about using the Oktopost app to share content? It’s so easy! And because it’s so easy, I am always at the top! I have it down to a science. I wake up in the morning and ride that digital transformation wave all the way to the top! Like most of us, I wake up… I scroll through my Facebook feed for news, check LinkedIn to see if I have any new connections and do a quick scroll through Twitter. Since I keep my Oktopost app in the same folder as my social networks, as soon as I am caught up on social in the morning… I go to the app and start sharing content from there. I am not even out of bed yet! And I know, that by the time it posts, the people who need to see it will be commuting to work and have something to read! The day goes by… lunch… same pattern and of course, before bed… I follow this same social regimen. As you can see, the Oktopost app is no longer just an app… It’s a lifestyle!
In what ways has employee advocacy contributed to your social selling? I have been coined by prospects, customers, family and friends as a social media ninja. Employee Advocacy keeps me active on social, places me as a thought-leader especially to the people who matter most and helps my prospects trust me. You can sell something, but if you have relevant, accurate content to back it up and are passionate about sharing it, social selling becomes natural.
How have you benefited from being an employee advocate? Not only have I become more knowledgeable in the B2B social media strategy space through reading the content I am sharing, but being an active employee advocate has molded my personal branding into the right audiences, at the right time and the right place. People on social networks know they can come to me and talk strategy, and I really know what I am talking about! My network on LinkedIn has increased with relevant connections, the amount of people who view my profile have drastically increased, on Twitter, I never had a following and now I am being followed and added to important B2B marketer lists. It’s a great feeling to know I am impacting the B2B social media world.
How is the company motivating you to engage in employee advocacy? It’s certainly authentic. When you love where you work, a company doesn’t have to do much to motivate you to share. However, the rewards program certainly helps! We also get rewarded with burgers — that’s got to be my favorite! And ice cream sandwiches! At Oktopost, we all love food… so often times when we are #1, we get rewarded with delicious gourmet food!
As a #1 employee advocate, who do you feel is your biggest competition? Daniel! (CEO) I win every month with the highest engagement and reach, but Daniel wins with the most conversions. Both are important, but he is my #1 competition when it comes to conversions. Hopefully, my prospects reading this will help me punt Daniel off the field
Final Words
Employees are an organic source of content promotion within your company and therefore have the ability to amplify your social reach and engagement. However, for an advocacy program to be successful, employees need to be authentically proud to be working at their organization and feel that their contribution is continuously recognized.
At Oktopost, employees feel happy to step through the door each morning. This is reflected in their willingness to share positive content about the company and its success. Across marketing, sales, and customer success, advocates are valued and rewarded for top performance and full commitment through yummy food, out-of-office activites, and more food! The buzz generated through their personal networks has a tremendous impact on our conversions, and makes the program a huge success.
Originally published at www.oktopost.com on November 24, 2016.
