5 Content Strategies That Can Boost Employee’s Online Engagement

It can be easy to overlook factors like employee engagement. Fortunately, the addition of online spaces like social media has made it easier for businesses to keep employees engaged and motivated.

A 2024 Forbes piece highlights the rise of employee-generated content (EGC) as one of the latest content trends sweeping the Internet. Beyond platforms traditionally associated with professionals like LinkedIn, employees from various businesses are also making their presence known on conventional social sites like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

The article highlighted that 81% of consumers consider trust essential when making purchasing decisions, and EGC helps facilitate this by providing a transparent view of the people behind the brands they support. Today, 86% of brands use user-generated content (UGC) in their marketing strategy, so it makes as much sense that businesses are also relying on EGC strategies to provide a new perspective.

Having your employees engage actively with online activities and content can also be cost-effective as it helps streamline the content creation process. Employees already know a business' brand voice and values, so less time and resources are required for content briefing and revisions than working with content creators or influencers.

However, employees' online engagement should be properly cultivated to prevent miscommunications or misunderstandings. In this post, we'll be sharing five content strategies that can help you boost your employees' online engagement rate:
‍

Creating a communications plan

Aside from boosting online engagement, keeping employees active online is also essential for communicating a business' message and vision. To do this effectively, it's important to establish a comprehensive communications plan for important events like product launches, company activities, and other development processes.

You can also reach out to third-party services to bolster your employees' and marketing teams' communications planning process. Digital agency LinkNova stress that it is important to develop a consistent brand voice, so that you can more effectively reach your target audiences, from consumers and shareholders to employees. Digital PR campaigns can help create a communications plan, helping to ensure that employees remain engaged by contributing to developing the business' voice and online presence.
‍

Establishing employee protocols for your online brand

A well-made communications plan should act as the blueprint for a business' online content strategy and how employees can engage with it. Additionally, establishing employee protocols aligned with the business' online brand is essential to empower and motivate employees to make good online decisions. This includes developing a social media strategy and policy that employees can easily comprehend and follow.

Online brand protocols for your employees should also extend beyond the confines of conventional social media platforms like X and Instagram. The professional networking platform LinkedIn has come a long way since its early days, and can help businesses and personalities build a consistent presence and branding using its data archive feature. This includes the ability to easily audit previously posted content so that employees and businesses can focus on high-engagement and evergreen content that adds value to their branding. By setting clear protocols for online behavior, you can ensure that employees reflect your company culture and represent the business professionally and consistently, regardless of the platform.
‍

Holding social media training sessions

Of course, it's extremely challenging and shouldn't be necessary to monitor online employee activities to ensure they adhere to your business and brand protocols. With how fast the Internet moves, there's no way to manually keep up with your employees' online activities.

To help employees better understand the importance of their online voice and activities, it can help to invest in social media training. These can come in the form of programs or workshops that help develop skills related to using social media platforms for marketing. Through social media training, employees can learn valuable insights on creating and sharing relevant content in line with your business' values. Employees will also be able to learn from social media experts and consultants or through online courses for more effective ways to engage with the online audience and better represent the business online.
‍

Encouraging collaboration

While providing employees with the necessary tools and skills can go a long way toward boosting online engagement, it may still not be enough to motivate them to be more active online. Even though social media and Internet use are widespread today, some employees may not be as enthusiastic about being active or vocal online.

In these situations, incentivizing employees to engage with your business or brand's online activities can be highly beneficial. Utilizing gamification through services like Qarrot's incentive campaign can foster a spirit of healthy competition within your team. By establishing objective-driven campaigns with measurable tasks, you not only encourage collaboration but also enhance overall engagement among employees. For instance, businesses can motivate their teams to interact meaningfully with the company’s online posts and content. By rewarding employees who demonstrate initiative over specific periods, you can create a dynamic environment that values contribution and promotes active participation through gamification.
‍

Celebrating employee wins and milestones

Finally, the best way to motivate employees beyond gamified incentives is to show them that you care and are attentive to their efforts and activities. In a previous post, we highlighted findings from a Gallup research indicating employees who receive great recognition are 20 times more likely to be engaged than employees who receive poor recognition. At the same time, a Manufacturing Institute report showed that workers who feel valued are less likely to feel stressed out on a typical workday (16% vs. 66%). Additionally, these valued employees are less likely to plan on leaving the company within the next year (2% vs. 12%).
‍

Related article: 6 Proven Employee Engagement Ideas for Manufacturing Employees
‍

If you find that your employees aren't as engaging or active on your business' social media posts and content as you'd like, one of the best ways to get them to start is by sharing and promoting their stories and successes. This can be done on various social content, including blog posts, social media posts, and even video content if your business or brand has a video channel. This provides a more organic approach for employees to start engaging with business posts and content, even if it starts with a like or two. Over time, you can also foster a positive and interactive culture where employees can also celebrate each other's successes online to provide a positive and inviting representation of your business and company culture.