When it comes to employer branding, it’s not just about the messages coming from official channels. Much like consumer marketing, employee testimonials can be incredibly powerful. Significant impact lies in what your employees are saying—and how often and visibly they’re saying it via social media and in their local communities. In essence, while an organization may “own” the employer brand, employees are the ones who validate its authenticity.
Employee advocacy elevates your employer brand
Employee retention and engagement are no longer just HR metrics—they’re core elements of brand marketing. Give employees reasons to envision a future with your organization, and they are likely to become vocal brand advocates both on the job and off.
According to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer: Trust at Work report, employees who believe they’ll be better off in five years by staying with their organization are:
- 21% more likely to recommend your organization as a place to work
- 19% more likely to regularly share content about your organization on social media
- 34% more likely to speak positively about your organization
Additionally, the DSMN8 Employee Advocacy Benchmarking Report 2025 cites top benefits for social advocacy programs as enhanced employee engagement, brand awareness and reach. From client experience, we’ve seen firsthand that when employees amplify and champion their employer brand and internal communications, it validates that the messaging resonates with them and holds real value.
Empower authentic brand advocacy by focusing on these core initiatives:
- Prioritize recognition: Show employees you value their contributions on an ongoing basis.
- Promote career development: Drive awareness and participation in learning opportunities that help employees gain new skills and chart a career with your organization.
- Listen and act: Create forums for employee feedback and dialogue, share what you learned and make changes that benefit the organization and its employees.
- Engage in storytelling: Provide examples of how your organization and its people live the brand. Share these stories in a variety of ways with internal and external audiences.
- Foster connections: Leverage internal events to build collaboration, relationships and knowledge sharing.
- Drive consistent activation: Execute a sustained, strategic, measurable internal communications program that features consistent employer brand messaging, activates your employer brand and highlights employer brand successes.
These foundational efforts do more than create a positive employee experience—they build the authentic employer brand that drives genuine advocacy. By investing in recognition, development, communication and connection, you create an environment where employees naturally become brand champions.
The business impact is clear and measurable. In an era of increasing skepticism toward corporate messaging, your employees’ voices are your most credible and powerful marketing asset. More than 60% of the participants in the DSMN8 Employee Advocacy Benchmarking Report 2025 cite employee advocacy as extremely or very important to their organization and an integral part of their social strategy.
Look for my upcoming article on how to design and implement effective employee influencer and advocacy programs that amplify these authentic voices and power your employer brand.
