Forced “advocacy” is worse than none.
For the marketing, communications or HR lead who wants employees and stakeholders that WANT to become ambassadors.
Is this you?
You heard about, or even launched an advocacy program to make employees “post more”
A few months later, the only ones still posting are the ones who already did, and everyone else has gone quiet… again.
You post from the LinkedIn’s company page yet nobody sees it, so you pay to reach an audience that you actually already have.
The experts in your company know their stuff and have expertise that is valuable for leads, clients and stakeholders, but online they’re invisible. In the meantime your competitors’ employees seem to be everywhere in your newsfeed and rank #1 on Google and ChatGPT.
And now the executive team and board members agreed that “social” and “advocacy” matters, but only if the conditions are “perfect” and your team takes full responsibility if shit goes wrong…
Reach moved to people
A little while ago, posting from your company’s social accounts still did an ok job.
You posted, and a decent amount of your followers even engaged with it.
That time is over!
Reach on branded accounts, specifically LinkedIn, has collapsed, and today almost nobody sees what you post, unless you pay for it.
At the same time, trust in branded content has collapsed.
Even if you win the lottery and your post drops in the newsfeed of your followers, they scroll straight past it.
But they do stop for a post from someone they actually know.
The engineer posting her POV on a new innovation.
The consultant sharing how he fixed that big issue at one of your clients. The executive making a short video inviting young professionals to join the company.
The reach you lost on your own company accounts didn’t disappear.
It moved to the people and stakeholders inside and outside of your company.
Point it at what the business needs and they get known for what they know, which is why they keep going.
That is the only version of advocacy that survives month six.
What is employee advocacy?
Employee Advocacy, or what I like to call ambassadorship, is your employees and company stakeholders sharing what they notice, experience, and know in their own voice with the people in their networks.
You’re not hijacking their personal profile to push a fake and boring corporate message.
|You’re helping them build their professional reputation and share their point of view on relevant topics.
Some will do that by writing a post on LinkedIn or an article on your website.
Some will do it by commenting with an additional insight from their experience.
Some will just reshare it with their network.
No matter their choice, they all build a professional reputation and become top of mind in their network.
And with that, your company’s reputation and reach are carried along.
What changes when you fix this?
When you make this work, and you can, success might look like this.
For the business
Figures from EveryoneSocial, IBM, DSMN8, Hinge Research and the Algorithm Insights Report 2025 by Richard van der Blom, not individual client results.
For your people
- 86% increase in internal career growth opportunities
- 8x more engagement than corporate content
- 91% of B2B buyers prefer companies with active, visible executives
- 40% stronger customer relationships with companies that empower their workforce
Why most programs fail
Research shows that lack of engagement and motivation costs companies more than sickness or absenteeism.
- When employees don’t care, performance drops.
- When they feel trusted and take ownership, results improve
Most organisations still operate under outdated models in which control of the message is key.
Those that create boundaries but further let go of control see people step up in ways that forced advocacy could never produce.
Approach
Companies force advocacy instead of enabling it. People post because there’s a target attached or a prize to win, not because they want to.
The audience isn’t stupid and spots that polished and forced content instantly. No engagement and even worse they stop liking the author.
Content
The communication department hands out scripts instead of supporting content creation.
Every post ends up sounding like the same boring corporate content that nobody cares about.
Congratulations you have just taught your audience to ignore your content.
Value
The board expects that all employees take part, spend time and energy on it, without offering them anything in return but a strict social and content policy.
If there’s nothing in it for those that do the work, don’t be surprised when people sabotage your efforts.
It runs on trust
Most programs skip the one thing that makes advocacy work: trust.
I call it employeeship. It’s the belief that people want to do good work.
Give them enough trust to own it and they will, without being forced or paid a bonus.
When a company trusts its employees, it lets go of some control.
That space becomes ownership, and ownership is what makes someone take initiative.
You can’t force someone to sound authentic, but you can create the conditions in which they want to.
That’s when advocacy runs on its own, instead of feeling like another task on an already full to-do list.
The VIBE framework
The biggest mistake every single company makes before I start working with them is that they treat everyone the same.
Companies either expect everyone to become a content creator, or ask so little that even the ones who want to contribute disengage. Everyone has a different capacity and willingness to be seen and to participate.
So instead of a one-size-fits-all approach for everyone, I help you build an ambassador program on four levels, a framework I call VIBE.
Voice · your thought leaders
Typically, your executives, topic experts or consultative sellers.
They have a point of view and can put it into words. They publish in-depth content and build a reputation in their industry. Give them room to say what they think, instead of a script to read.
Influence · your ambassadors
Typically, your sales reps, business developers and social media enthusiasts.
They create shorter, more frequent posts about their professional experiences and their expertise. There are more of them, so together they carry most of the reach.
Boost · your amplifiers
Typically, employees who benefit from some visibility or team wins but don’t have the time, job responsibility or skills for consistent content creation.
They don’t write or record new content but contribute through comments with substance and shares, which pushes the good stuff further. Low barrier, big impact.
Engage · your promoters
Occasional likes and reposts, from people not active yet, and from partners and clients outside the company. That’s the layer most companies miss, and their support carries even more weight than a colleague’s.
Push people into the wrong level, and they burn out or drop off.
Let each person contribute at the level that fits, and advocacy keeps going on forever.
Three ways to work on this
Depending on where you are, one of these comes first.
When we work together, we settle which one in the intake call.
Insights
I open eyes to why the old approach fails and why everyone needs to contribute in their way through a keynote or masterclass.- The four levels of participation, matched to motivation, efforts and skills
- Everyone understands why Employee Advocacy matters
- What’s in it for each employee personally
- The basics of a professional presence
- How you can contribute starting today!
Strategy
Together we map everyone on the VIBE participation levels and turn that into a plan, so you know who does what and where to start.- What success looks like to you and the company
- Your people mapped across the four VIBE levels
- Guidelines that keep everyone comfortable
- Built around your culture and goals
- Strategic, tactical and practical insights
Skills
The foundation is set? Now it’s time to train and coach your ambassadors on the skills that make a difference and turn activities into habits.- A personal strategy that contributes to the individual and company goals
- Professional personal branding on profiles and content
- Personal strategic networking that contributes to goals
- Engagement skills to build visibility and trust
- A routine they keep after the coaching stops
Proof
I’ve worked with hundreds of companies and thousands of professionals in every industry and seniority.
From solopreneurs to small and midsize companies and corporates at every level.
Questions I get a lot
What is employee advocacy?
Employee advocacy is your people sharing what they know, in their own voice, with the networks they already have, sometimes called employee branding. The version that fails is employees reposting company updates. Real advocacy helps your people build their own reputation, and the company gets carried along with it.
Why do most employee advocacy programs fail?
Many Employee Advocacy initiatives fail because they put the company’s needs first. Companies force ambassadorship instead of enabling it, they hand out scripts instead of supporting their people, and they expect people to take part with nothing personal in return. Fix those and Employee Advocacy keeps running on its own.
What is the VIBE framework?
VIBE is a method to meet internal and external ambassadors where they are. It splits into four levels and gives structure and insights to marketing and communication departments what to focus on for best results and who to support with what. The levels consist of Voice (thought leaders), Influence (brand ambassadors), Boost (amplifiers), and Engage (occasional supporters, including clients and partners). Let each person work at the level that fits them, and they don’t burn out or drop off.
Isn’t this just making employees post corporate content?
No, that’s the version that fake Employee Advocacy platforms try to tell you and inevitably will fail. You’re not hijacking someone’s personal profile to push a corporate message. You help people to share their own expertise and build their professional reputation. The company benefits because people trust a person way before they trust a brand.
How do you help run the advocacy program?
Three ways, depending on where you are. A keynote or masterclass to get everyone aligned (Insights), a VIBE strategy and a plan so you know who does what (Strategy), and hands-on training or coaching for your ambassadors in small groups (Skills).
More on Employee Advocacy
Recent writing on ambassadorship and advocacy programs, and what it takes to build one that lasts.
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If I’m not the right partner, you get your money back.