As businesses navigate the shifting tides of economic uncertainty, every dollar and resource must be allocated with precision. With hiring freezes, slowed recruitment efforts, and recruitment marketing budgets under pressure, recruitment teams need to adjust their strategy today to be more agile and efficient. Enter the employee advocacy platform, a tool that turns your existing employees into a powerful marketing force, extending your reach and influence while keeping costs low.
Using SparcStart’s calculator to estimate your earned media value (EMV), with conservative estimates, if you add just 10 employees that post once a week to your employee advocacy platform, you could see an EMV of $540,000. Use SparcStart’s ROI calculator yourself to estimate the potential impact of your advocacy efforts, factoring in variables like employee engagement, content reach, and the overall amplification of your brand message.
If you haven’t already implemented this strategy, now is the time to act. If that impressive EMV doesn’t convince you alone, let’s take a deeper look into why an employee advocacy platform is exactly what your company needs in today’s environment and why you should move quickly to take full advantage of its potential.
The Immediate Value of Employee Advocacy in Uncertain Times
With budget cuts looming, it is time to act to adjust your recruitment strategy to prepare for what you will face tomorrow. Scaling back your recruitment marketing efforts doesn’t mean you need to stop driving brand awareness or candidate engagement. In fact, it’s during times like these that leveraging your existing workforce for organic outreach becomes an even more strategic move.
An employee advocacy platform enables employees to amplify your employer brand message through their own social networks, resulting in earned media that drives exposure, trust, and engagement. Unlike traditional paid media, this type of content feels authentic and often carries more weight with audiences because it comes from real people, your own employees.
Here’s why you should make the investment now:
1. Unlock Organic Reach Without Additional Budgeting
With limited resources available, recruitment teams are often forced to do more with less. Employee advocacy platforms offer a direct and cost-effective way to boost your brand visibility. Employees become brand ambassadors, organically sharing approved and brand aligned content that resonates with their personal networks.
2. Maintaining Recruitment Efforts Amid Hiring Freezes
When hiring slows or freezes, companies still need to attract top talent for the future and maintain their employer brand. Employee advocacy can seamlessly plug that gap. As much as 83% of candidates say they’re more likely to trust a company with employees who share positive information about their experience working there. A workforce that’s actively engaged in sharing authentic content can boost your employer brand and attract talent even if you’re not posting new job openings.
3. Boost Credibility and Brand Trust Through Employee-Generated Content
Companies can no longer rely solely on traditional marketing to create credibility. Employee-generated content is far more effective at building trust and fostering deeper connections with your audience. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, even if they’re not direct connections on social media. An employee advocacy platform empowers your team to share authentic content that speaks to your company’s mission, values, and work culture.
4. Immediate Impact with Minimal Setup Time
Unlike traditional advertising campaigns that require lengthy planning and production, employee advocacy platforms, like SparcStart’s Empower, provide a faster route to increased visibility. Once implemented, employees can begin sharing content almost immediately, giving you rapid access to an expanded candidate base. Plus, with built-in analytics and tracking, you can measure ROI quickly, allowing you to adjust your strategy in real-time and ensure your content is getting in front of the right candidates.
The Bottom Line: Don’t Wait
Taking proactive steps now to boost brand visibility and employee engagement is a smart strategy. The employee advocacy platform is a tactical tool that leverages your most valuable resource, your people, without requiring hefty budget allocations or a long lead time.
By tapping into the power of your employees to amplify your brand’s message, you’re able to expand your reach, maintain recruitment efforts, and establish deeper trust with your audience, all while tracking a measurable ROI.
Take a look at SparcStart’s employee advocacy platform, Empower, then reach out to us if you want to schedule a demo, or reach out to jenny@sparcstart.com if you would like more information.