The influencer marketing sphere is in flux—authenticity, rather than celebrity endorsements, drives purchase intent and brand affinity.
As Gen Z and millennials seek genuine connections with influencers, brands should explore expanding their traditional influencer marketing tactics and embrace employee advocacy via employee-generated content. With this tactic, real employees become influencers and share their experiences and love for the brands they work for. This approach to influencer marketing can be a powerful tool for building trust and engagement.
Authentic employee-generated content builds trust and drives results
For Gen Z, authenticity in marketing and social media is key. Celebrity endorsements once dominated feeds, but today’s consumers see popular celebrities as a bit detached at times. Gen Z in particular wants to connect with brands that align with people like themselves and seek real stories from people who they know, like, and follow. Employees who live the brand every day are better positioned to build these connections than celebrities.
Employees are also able to deliver authentic connections because they are also true consumers. They work in the brand’s stores, they try and buy its products, and have their own personal favorites. An employee’s real life experiences and preferences can provide audiences with authentic, peer-to-peer recommendations that mega influencers can’t replicate.
Creators have the ability to drive Gen Z down the marketing funnel. Over 80% (82.0%) of Gen Z shoppers have bought something because of creator or influencer content, according to a March 2024 EMARKETER survey.
Using owned employee influencers to create content on the brand’s behalf is a more efficient way to drive Gen Z to love and care about your brand, Brand Networks has found.
A Brand Networks client saw two times more impressions, and three times more engagement, on employee-created influencer content within a campaign that also featured an A-list influencer’s post on the brand’s handles. The employee-led portion of the social campaign delivered stronger results for a fraction of the cost. Empowering employees to create content can more effectively and efficiently scale a brand’s messaging and its influencer campaigns.
Empowering employees as influencers
To unlock the full potential of employee-generated content, brands can leverage Brand Networks’ BN Influencer solution to build and scale an employee influencer program. BN Influencer is an AI-powered platform that engages employees to create authentic organic content. By providing employees with this simple platform, brands can guide their workforce through producing content that speaks to their audience in a compelling and relatable way.
BN Influencer allows brands to manage employee influencer content programs with customizable templates that employees can use to share or create content, with their personal touch. All of the content published within an employee influencer program is guaranteed brand safe by Brand Networks’ BN Guard, an AI-powered technology that ensures all content meets brand guidelines and specific regulatory requirements prior to publishing.
Employee-generated content can be posted on employee, brand, or local store handles organically, and is monitored across platforms. Employee-generated content that performs well organically can then be seamlessly boosted with paid media, combining the authenticity of employee influencers with the scale of traditional advertising.
Explore the potential of employee-generated content at Brand Networks’ BN Influencer hub.
—Mike Garsin, CEO and Founder, Brand Networks