‘Five steps’ to brand advocacy

There are five stages towards achieving brand advocacy among employees, according to Forrester Research.

A new study from the firm, Best Practices for Driving Employee Brand Advocacy, lists the ways in which workers can be encouraged to praise a product or service in their personal lives.

Many of these focus on the brand message, encouraging companies to circulate such messages internally and reinforce behaviour and attitudes among employees which align with the brand.

By involving employees in developing a strategy, personalising the brand promise and ensuring they are able to deliver on this pledge, involvement may also be increased, according to study author Cindy Commander.

She writes: “To drive employee brand advocacy, chief marketing officers and other executive team members invest time and commitment.”

“Marketing leaders should use five best practices to move employees from brand resisters up the pyramid to brand advocates,” she adds.

Previously, Ms Commander asserted that businesses must “bridge the marketing-IT gap” in order to ensure creative professionals are given the resources they need to do their jobs.