Getting executive buy-in for social media advocacy programs can be a challenge because, generally, the champions of the program can’t articulate how the program will be measured to accurately show contribution to the bottom line. Let’s not forget, an employee advocacy program is an organizational transformation that requires high levels of risk and investment. This can be easily avoided by considering the right metrics from the beginning.
Here, I’ve laid out three necessary phases for implementation and measurement.
Phase 1: Justify your costs.
Most people begin their quest for executive buy-in by coming up with a cost-justification model beforelaunching the program. While marketers realize the cost-justification soon after they witness the decreased return of paid ads and increased impact in employee shared content, executives are a different breed. Top executives want to understand the impact an advocacy program will have from the get-go. Thus, Phase 1 needs to be about cost justification. Below are a few cost-justification models.
CPM Model
If your company measures paid advertising through a CPM model, the goal is awareness (reaching the most number of eyeballs at the lowest cost). A cost of $7 per CPM (to reach 1000 eyeballs) is a fairly standard cost on social networks like LinkedIn that offer a platform to reach a specific audience. Sharing content through your employees’ social networks will allow the organization to reach a larger audience, thereby immediately reducing CPM costs. Since the audience receiving the messages encounters them through their trusted contracts, you should expect to see higher engagement levels on the content versus paid media.
CPC Model
Similarly, CPC is the cost to reach a specific audience but is measured by clicks. In brands looking to drive action through a particular set of messages, this is a model to consider. Looking at a cost of $7 per click means each time the link is clicked it will cost the organization $7. Deploying an employee advocacy program will yield a sharp decreases in CPC as there is no charge on clicks and because the audience trusts the messenger. Engagement and click-through of shared content will reveal a cost-efficient investment.
Consider an example:
Using a CPC or CPM model requires you to measure what the cost is of deploying and running the program + the expected decreased CPM/CPC against the current model of paid advertising.
The below table shows the current program costs for paid advertising:
| Fixed Monthly CPM/C Cost | Avg Cost-Per-Click | Monthly Reach | |
| Q1 | $15,000 | $10 | 1500 |
| Q2 | $15,000 | $10 | 1500 |
| Q3 | $15,000 | $10 | 1500 |
The below table shows the projected impact and cost-savings of implementing an employee advocacy program:
| Proposed ProgramMonthly Cost | Avg Reach Per Person(Twitter and Facebook) | AdditionalAvailable Reach | Projected Monthly Reach (25% of connections) | Monthly ProposedCPC Cost | |
| Q1 | $30 x 50 employees ($1750) | 1000 | 50k | 12,500 | $0.14 |
| Q2 | $25 x 500 employees($12,500) | 1000 | 500k | 125,000 | $0.10 |
| Q3 | $20 x 5000employees($100,000) | 1000 | 100M | 25M | $0.01 |
The data in the above table outlines a cost-effective way of testing a 50 person employee advocacy pilot as a proof of concept. Provided the program yields successful results, the data also shows that a deployment of 500 employees will yield additional results while still coming in under the current monthly spend of $15k.
Phase 2: Adopt and educate.
An employee advocacy program requires a full-scale change and often represents the most significant digital transformation project an organization will undertake in the foreseeable future. It requires both internal employee buy-in and a commitment to learning news skills and tools. As a result, two very important metrics must be considered in demonstrating a successful plan: adoption and education.
There are a number of ways to measure the adoption of an employee advocacy program.
Program signups look at the number of people who have signed up for the employee advocacy program. Thenumber of logins reports on the number of program participants and tells you how many people actively make the program part of their daily routine. (Note: To actualize this metric, be sure your platform vendor offers real-time reporting.)
The number of social shares examines the number of company content shares and gives you an accurate representation of the number of people distributing your content; the number of social share is vital for obtaining accurate CPC and CPM results. The percentage of approved social profiles (calculated at the beginning of an advocacy program) is one of the most important implemented metrics because it ensures that participants have an approved social profile that meets the requirements of your marketing team. (You can see our recommended scorecard for auditing company LinkedIn profiles.)
Phase 3: Lead generation, social selling and revenue attribution.
The final phase of employee advocacy measurement involves calculating thought leadership, social leads and revenue generated from the social pipeline.
Quantifying thought leadership involves determining reach and engagement (the number of posts that were interacted with on social media). This metrics process hinges on teamwork within the marketing department. Acquiring the right information at the right time depends on proper training surrounding context and audience-specific goals. Some brands use their own proprietary measurement for influence while others opt for more arbitrary scores provided by Klout or Kred.
Social leads are the number of leads generated through monitoring social channels and keyword conversations. This metric is key for gauging how well social media is driving real sales results. After content is shared, there must be a way to measure the action taken. A strong advocacy platform will funnel advocate’s social leads to the sales team in order for them to follow up with the lead and be given attribution for this action. Sales people need a way to attribute social media to a lead source to accurately depict the impact social haves on generating net-new leads. For content marketing teams, these leads can also be filtered into various marketing automation systems (to nurture leads).
The social pipeline is the percentage of the conversion pipeline attributed to social media. A well-presented and successful advocacy program must consider the impact of the program on company revenue. Define which metrics are valuable for your brand and work with the sales team (from the beginning) to communicate to C-level executives that the program’s goals align with the company’s overall revenue goals. Knowing what CRM system your organization uses and choosing an advocacy platform that integrates with it will set you up for success (and likely a promotion).
image: Ciceron