Want to know why employee-generated content is such a powerful marketing tool?
Because, on average, employee networks have approximately 10X as many connections as companies. And even though just 3% of employees share content about their employer, those posts boost their companies’ total engagement by an impressive 30%.
If you’re ready to start leveraging these benefits, you’re in the right place, because we’ve collated eight inspiring examples of real-world brands using employee-generated content.
But let’s start by clarifying exactly what we’re talking about here…
What is Employee-Generated Content?
Employee-generated content (EGC) is any type of content created by employees with the goal of promoting your company. Most EGC is shared via social media, but it can also cover other channels, like blogs and podcasts.
There are multiple benefits to developing your own employee-generated content strategy:
✅ Reach a wider audience and build brand awareness
✅ Make your brand feel more credible and trustworthy
✅ Increase your capacity to create content
So it’s a lot like another of our favorite social media strategies, user-generated content.
As an added bonus, EGC initiatives are comparatively affordable to run, beyond the costs of training and incentivizing your team (and, potentially, paying for a platform to automate elements of your EGC program).
Inspiring Employee-Generated Content Examples
Some of the world’s biggest brands are using employee-generated content as part of their social media strategies. Here are some of our favorite examples…
1. Papa John’s
Papa John’s is one of America’s biggest takeaway pizza chains, with over 3,000 restaurants across the US. But in such a competitive niche, brands need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.
In Papa John’s case, employee-generated content has become a key differentiator.
The company has multiple big employee accounts showcasing the dough-spinning skills of real Papa John’s chefs.
They’re a particularly big deal on TikTok, where EGC creators like @bartoli…
@bartoliHey hi helloooo♬ Hello – Martin Solveig & Dragonette
…and @d0ughjoe…
@d0ughjoeYou know what they say… Better Ingredients Better Pizza Dough Joes Doing It better 👀 🍕🍕🍕🍕♬ Brazim bruno – itsmeunise
…have racked up over 150 million likes and hundreds of millions of views (in fact, the above video from @d0ughjoe had more than 183 million views at time of writing).
It helps that Papa John’s employees have an obvious skill they can display – AKA spinning pizza dough. They’re also in a social-friendly niche, with approximately 4.6 million posts carrying the hashtag #FoodTok.
2. United Airlines
One of the biggest marketing challenges for big brands is to present a relatable, human face.
After all, people form connections with other people, not corporations.
Employee-generated content makes a big difference here. By showcasing the opinions and personalities of your colleagues, it reminds your audience that your company is more than a faceless entity.
United Airlines understands this. As a big, corporate organization, it’s harder for them to seem human than your average mom-and-pop business – so they leverage EGC to make their executive team feel more relatable.
Here’s a good example in which their CEO, Scott Kirby, walks us through the practicalities of quarterly earnings day at United:
Now, I’m sure we’ve all worked for bosses who should never come within 100 feet of a camera.
But when it’s done right, this strategy can be super effective. Indeed, 70% of consumers say they feel more connected to brands whose CEO is active on social media:
3. Salesforce
If presenting a human face is hard for consumer brands, it’s even tougher for B2B organizations like Salesforce. Even if you use Salesforce’s software, it’s kinda hard to imagine it being created by a real human.
So it’s a massive help for the company to have actual employees creating content about their experiences of working for Salesforce, like this day-in-the-life video from solutions engineer Lily Leffingwell:
@lilyleffingwell I lied 240 seconds #salesforcesolutionengineering #solutionengineer #solutionsengineer #womenintech #workingintech #saas #salesforce ♬ original sound – Lily Leffingwell
As well as making Salesforce feel more relatable, content like this can play a key role in your talent attraction efforts.
In fact, if you check out the comments on the above video, you’ll see that Lily fields various questions from people interested in working for Salesforce.
4. Deloitte
Like Salesforce, consulting companies like Deloitte don’t always feel particularly relatable, which can make life difficult when it comes to attracting talent.
Sure, once upon a time, people were queuing up to work for a Big Four firm. But today, there are plenty of other options out there – many of which seem more aspirational.
That’s where employee-generated content comes in.
When creators like @catyyxu share content about what it’s like to work at Deloitte, they make the company look a whole lot more desirable:
@catyyxu Back to work season 🤓#corporatelife #officeoutfit #fyp #consultant ♬ It’s ok I’m ok – Tate McRae
All of which makes it easier for the company to reach, engage, and attract high-quality candidates for job openings.
5. Anthropologie
Remember – EGC isn’t just about tapping into your employees’ social channels. It can also help fill gaps in your content calendar.
This makes a big difference for lifestyle brand Anthropologie. Despite its global presence, the retailer has a pretty small social team. And, with minimal product crossover between different markets, it can be tough for them to capture the creative assets they need.
So they came up with a simple solution: turning their social team into the stars of their social content:
View this post on Instagram
Paige Anthony, Senior Social Media Manager at Anthropologie Europe, told Pretty Little Marketer that this approach has delivered superb results. For instance, in the first quarter of 2024, they generated more impressions on TikTok than in the whole of 2023.
“As the demand for content got higher and higher, and we didn’t have the influencer content coming in at the volume that we needed to fill that gap, we took things into our own hands,” she explained.
6. Mejuri
Like Anthropologie, Mejuri realizes that its employees can play an important role in the brand’s content creation plans.
Their marketing team regularly appears in Mejuri’s Instagram Reels and TikToks, like this one discussing their love of accessorizing:
@mejuriSometimes there are more important matters at hand 💅 — quite literally.♬ original sound – Corporate Saddie
Not only does this give us a glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes at Mejuri, but it also makes the brand feel fun and relatable (that word again).
All of which helps build a stronger connection with the jewelry brand’s audience.
7. Poppi
In a world where 82% of shoppers prefer a consumer brand’s values to align with their own, sharing your brand story is an effective way to turn followers into fully fledged advocates.
This tactic is even more effective when the story is told by the people who were closest to it: the company founders.
Soda brand Poppi is clearly well aware of this. Their founders, husband-and-wife duo Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, regularly post about their business journey – from quitting their full-time jobs to selling their products at farmers’ markets to getting stocked by major retailers.
View this post on Instagram
It’s pretty inspirational stuff, which leaves you rooting for Poppi’s success.
And if you want them to succeed, you’re more likely to buy their products!
8. Starbucks
Our other examples of employee-generated content have fallen into one of two categories:
👉 Employees posting content via their own channels
👉 Brands sharing employee-created content through regular brand accounts
Starbucks does things a little differently; they’ve built a dedicated Instagram account – Starbucks Partners – to house all their EGC, covering themes like the Starbucks Barista Championship and the benefits of donning the green apron.
Of course, there’s also scope for more off-the-cuff content, like this blind taste test:
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The Starbucks Partners Instagram account has 180,000+ followers, and their Reels regularly generate tens of thousands of views, so it’s clearly doing an effective job of spreading positive vibes about the brand.
Want to discover more best practices and examples of high-performing social media strategies? Sign up for one of our upcoming social media conferences.
Featured image by Pexels.
