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We’re all familiar with user-generated content all over social media by now — but what about employee-generated content?
Five B2B brands told Digiday that they are turning to their own employees to create and publish content as the new company “influencers,” to extend their reach and engagement beyond their brand social pages. Some of these brands said their employee content performs better than brand content as social media algorithms continue to prioritize individual pages over brands.
“Employees have always been an extension of a brand’s identity,” said Michelle Mastrobattista, founder and creative marketing strategist at marketing agency Brand Paradise. “This expectation has shifted to social media, where employees are encouraged to share their professional journeys, behind-the-scenes moments and personal insights.”
AI document company iScanner posts user-generated content to social media in conjunction with internal team content, said Irina Rogachova, brand strategist of iScanner: “UGC provides diversity and shows different users and cases. Though the videos looked vivid, they earned 30 times less engagement than our usual how-to and tips videos created by our employees.” She didn’t provide exact figures.
This could be content such as “PDF Editor updates you need to know about,” which attracted some 250K views on TikTok. Compared to an external creator, an employee can give an insider look and cover nuances on a product. In this case, the TikTok video was made by iScanner’s social media specialist and published on the brand page, with input from the product team. Employees are paid for their day jobs, and there is no extra compensation to contributing to social posts, Rogachova added.
The posts are approved by its brand team and posted on iScanner’s channel. “The creators don’t explicitly say they work for the company, but this might be assumed if their content is posted through the official brand page, and it’s fairly obvious since the content is on our official page,” Rogachova explained. While there is no specific policy about employees posting about work on their personal accounts, some also do that on their LinkedIn (mostly), as well as Instagram and TikTok — but again, are not paid to do so. While iScanner also runs content made by external creators, the company did not specify the amount invested.
“Employees sometimes share new features they’re proud to have contributed to, behind-the-scenes moments or fun aspects of their day-to-day work,” Rogachova said.
Pija Ona Indriunaite, brand manager at e-commerce and marketing platform Omnisend, has also seen LinkedIn content from its senior staff perform better than the company page in terms of engagement — and ultimately reach the right audience. One branding manager, with more than 3,000 LinkedIn followers, posted about her work at the company “that reached 31K people, generated 59.5K impressions with 250 reactions and 85 comments,” Indriunaite said. They compared that to a post on the company page that targeted 5.8K users, reached 1.6K and got 20 reactions.
The engagement from the employee post was also attracting the right demographic, mostly coming from senior professionals in Omnisend’s target market, location and industry, Indriunaite explained. “Company pages, at the same time, are usually also followed by customers, which aren’t always the most relevant audience — at least for employer branding content,” Indriunaite added.
What’s in it for the employee? Employee brand advocacy can provide employees with opportunities for their own professional growth, increased visibility and the chance to showcase “the culture behind the brand,” said Jayde I. Powell, a social strategist and B2B LinkedIn creator.
Back in the day, employees saved their employer reviews for Glassdoor — but Powell says employee-generated content (referred to as some as EGC) can also turn into a recruiting and retention tool for companies: “It’s not enough for brands to just say all the great things they do to attract and retain their workforce. They have to show it, and one of the best ways to do that is by incorporating employee-generated content into their marketing strategy.”
Additionally, ongoing economic uncertainties during the tariff back-and-forth presents another incentive for B2B marketers considering the cost factors in creator investments, said Nicholas Spiro, chief commercial officer at Viral Nation. “The cost of employee content creation is much smaller than the cost of an external brand partnership, and the majority of the time the cost will be free,” Spiro added.
Content shared by employees sees eight times more engagement than content shared by brand channels, according to a survey by MSL Group. Additionally, thanks to LinkedIn’s video expansion and prioritization of individual content over a brand’s, LinkedIn’s top influencers include C-suite executives and other senior leaders with a 6.2% in average engagement rate across 9,000 posts — exceeding the typical 1% to 2% rate reported by other LinkedIn users, per influencer agency Everywhere. LinkedIn also reported in February that LinkedIn video growth is up 36% year-over-year, and video creation growing twice the rate of other post formats.
This algorithmic shift makes employee content creation a more effective strategy for organic reach, especially with platforms that favor timely, candid and trend-based content, which employees can often create more quickly and authentically than traditional marketing teams.
“Especially on LinkedIn, personal pages consistently outperform company pages in both reach and engagement, partly due to the authenticity and relatability that individual voices bring,” said Aaron Henry, founder and managing director at agency Foundeast Asia. “This amplifies visibility beyond the limitations of corporate accounts, strengthens professional credibility and attracts potential clients, partners and talent.”
For instance, the agency compared LinkedIn engagement metrics between its client Virgin Active Singapore corporate page to Joanne Lim, the head of marketing in Southeast Asia and found that content on the personal outperformed the brand page. While the average engagement on a corporate post was .7%, it was 2.1% on Lim’s personal page, Henry said.
Agency MG Empower also recently developed a broader strategy for employees to create content to engage more staffers on its three pillars: brand building, education and inspiration in content creation. Emily Townes, senior account manager at MG Empower, is one of the executives leading this project due to her experience in social and influencer marketing, though the policy encourages personal posts, it is not mandatory for employees.
“EGC is also being used by businesses internally to bring their online communities together, not only to share who they are, their personality and core values, but also to further establish their position as thought leaders and a reference within the industry,” Townes said.
https://digiday.com/?p=573159
