6 Advantages of Employee Generated Content

For most companies, the burden of content creation is often placed on the marketing team. A strategy that seems straight forward yet can be restrictive. The demand for dynamic, interesting, and engaging content is growing. Limiting content production to a single team can impede the range of your company voice. Content can become stale. However, implementing an employee generated content strategy can help.

While it is the job of the marketing department to plan, execute and adapt content marketing activity, having other departments create great content can breathe new life into company communication. Here are six advantages of using an employee generated content strategy. 

1. Expand Internal Communication

Encouraging content creation across departments encourages engagement.

An immediate benefit of employee content creation is internal communication. So, encouraging employees to produce content (blogs, infographics, videos) allows individual departments to communicate with each other about day to day activities, events, and larger projects. In turn, this increases employees’ awareness about what is taking place throughout the organization and drives collaboration across departments.

2. Expand Creativity 

A further benefit of employee created content is your employees is pushing them to think outside of the box. To produce content, teams must analyze problems, develop ideas, and articulate processes. Finding fresh ways of communicating forces employees to both expand their creativity and develop their thinking. Ultimately leading to greater creativity in other areas of work. Additionally, expanding creativity ensures your teams are always prepared to find new solutions and tackle problems with ease.

3. Expand Employee Advocacy

Encouraging employees to produce original content that is shared on social media boosts brand image and trust among your audience. Your employees bring a multitude of voices and opinions that make your content production more engaging. Employees and audiences are more likely to share employee generated content because of its originality and ability to engage.

4. Expand Consumer Trust

The most relatable insights customers can obtain are from employees within your company. 84% of consumers are more likely to trust posts and recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends, about brands than posts coming directly from the organization. Therefore, developing this trust through user generated content is key. Additionally, user generated content gives insight into daily activities. Combined with the trust employee shares create, clients begin to feel informed about what is going on at the heart of the business. Ultimately leading to greater brand loyalty. 

5. Expand Your Prospects

Online prospects are receptive to the transparency that comes from communicating through employees, especially in a social selling context. They also value content that comes directly from sales teams, as it is original, dynamic, and stands out from the pack.

6. Expand Recruitment

Job candidates are far more likely to apply for a position with a company that involves current employees in online communication. So, promoting employee testimonials provides a window into how your company works. In addition, editorial employee generated content gives a dynamic and engaging voice to your everyday activities. This therefore boosts brand image and gives your company a dynamic and engaging voice, which ultimately draws in new candidates.

Employee Generated Content: A Complete Approach

Promoting employee generated content allows you to invest in employees’ skills by encouraging them to share their experiences through content creation. From breathing new life into stale content to pushing employees to think outside the box, employee generated content is beneficial across the board. It boosts employee advocacy, engagement, and brand awareness. While it takes time and effort to cultivate and monitor an employee generated content strategy, it is clear that it is worth the investment.