From Data to ROI: How To Make Employee Advocacy Measurable

The challenge: management wants ROI, you only have likes

Many marketing and communication teams struggle with the same question: how do we prove the value of our social media efforts
Without clear KPIs and reports, conversations with management often get stuck on surface level metrics such as likes and impressions.

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The solution: structured reporting and BI

With a structured approach you can show real business value by reporting on:

• Activity  how many employees actively share content
• Reach  how many people you reach both organically and through employees
• Engagement  which posts and themes generate interaction
• Leads and candidates  how much traffic and how many applications are generated
• Cost benefit  what you save compared to paid advertising

By reporting on this monthly or quarterly, you build trust and long term support for your program.

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Why BI tools make the difference

By connecting your advocacy data to tools such as Power BI, Looker Studio or Tableau, you can blend it with other business sources such as CRM and applicant tracking systems.
This lets you show the contribution of employee advocacy to sales and recruitment and turns it into a visible part of the business rather than a nice to have marketing activity.

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Practical tips

• Keep reports short and visual  ideally one or two pages or a simple dashboard
• Always add one or two success stories alongside the numbers
• Align KPIs with leadership so impact is recognisable and relevant
• Compare results over time to show progress and growth

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Conclusion

With clear reporting and smart use of BI tools you can prove the value of employee advocacy in a way that resonates with management. You connect activity and engagement to leads, candidates and savings, and you create the support you need to scale your program.

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