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That’s why we partnered up with the Cialdini Institute and created our SRO Activation Program. This phased approach streamlines your employee advocacy implementation with templates, presentations and handouts for guaranteed success. We offer two different ways of completing our program.
Self-service (e-learning only) is only recommended for companies that already have experience with employee advocacy. It has no dedicated guidance and just technical support.
All-in-one program with full guidance, coaching and support by our SRO experts. They have years of experience in setting up employee advocacy programs and will guide you every step of the way.
“Cialdini’s theory, clear videos, assignments, and 1-on-1 sessions with our SRO coach, have certainly contributed to my brand ambassador knowledge. I'm convinced that familiarity with these concepts is essential for those venturing into SRO.”
The SRO program helps companies to activate brand ambassadors on social media and equip them with all the necessary tools for a thriving ambassador program
After completing your program, you’ll be able to set up a successful brand ambassador program in your organization. This will dramatically improve your reach and engagement on social media.
You’ll learn how to continuously activate your team of brand ambassadors. This will help you get the most out of your sales, marketing, recruitment, and other business efforts.
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The SRO Activation Program contains 9 live sessions and 66 small assignments for a step-by-step implementation process spread over 6 months.
The SRO Program commences with an e-learning course tailored for SRO coaches. Within this e-learning framework, coaches will receive comprehensive guidance throughout the program. All assignments and live sessions are linked with the e-learning videos. This alignment will effectively support the SRO coaches during the complete process of onboarding and implementing the SRO program.
The SRO Strategy is the foundation of the SRO program, containing a content strategy, goal setting and roles structure for your team. The SRO coaches will create a first draft of the SRO strategy (based on Apostle’s templates). In two meetings, you will receive feedback, and work together to create a final document.
In this session, you’ll get an in-depth tour of the Apostle platform. What are the key features, and how will the platform work once the first brand ambassadors join the team? You will get access to all of Apostle’s resources to ensure a proper technical onboarding.
The program includes setting up a specific meeting structure for both admins and regular users. This helps to keep the brand ambassador program top of mind and keeps everyone aligned within the project. Management updates are meant to keep the management team informed about the progress and editorial meetings are designed to brainstorm about new content with your Social Creators.
In this session, you will discuss the onboarding plan for the first group of brand ambassadors. We advise starting small with a group of 15-20 brand ambassadors. The SRO coaches approaches the first group personally to ask them to join the program. Together, you’ll determine the roles and prepare for the first kick-off meeting.
In the first kick-off sessions, you’ll onboard the first groups of brand ambassadors in the Apostle platform. Your SRO coaches explains the mobile app and stresses the importance of the brand ambassadors’ activity in the program. Your SRO coach will also explain what’s in it for them and why the company is starting this program. Together, you’ll install the app, suggest and schedule content, and walk through some frequently asked questions. After this session, you’re ready to start scheduling your content.
Social Activators and Social Creators get access to their own respective e-learning programs. These programs consist of several short informational videos to explain the importance of their role in the project and what’s expected of them. These e-learning programs are included in the SRO program.
In this session, you evaluate the results of the first period and share it with your management team. It consists of a brief evaluation of the first posts and brand ambassador group. Additionally, it serves as an important meeting to discuss the next steps for your brand ambassador program and get commitment for your management team.
You’ll discuss how to recruit new brand ambassadors. Your SRO coach explains different methods of inviting people to join, including webinars, additional kick-offs, or landing pages. Together, you’ll also decide how many brand ambassadors to onboard each month - for example 10 to 15 people - and compose a monthly recurring recruitment plan.
These new onboarding sessions are given in smaller groups (kick-offs) or larger groups (through webinars). During these (online) meetings, new groups of brand ambassadors are onboarded in your employee advocacy software and added to the brand ambassador program. The amount of kick-offs or webinars depends on the number of brand ambassadors you want to expand with.
After taking the final exam you’ll be a certified SRO Coach. From now on you can implement successful brand ambassador programs in every organization.
Without an SRO Activation Program, you could be inadvertently missing out on the immense potential of organic reach. This program empowers you to tap into the power of social networks and unleash your brand's visibility to a wider, engaged audience.
The program empowers you to excel in the science behind Social Reach Optimization, craft high-quality SRO strategies, and successfully onboard and activate brand ambassadors.
From our practical experience, we've encountered numerous brand ambassador programs that fell short of expectations. Employee advocacy isn't just about posting online – it's about changing behavior for the long haul.
The best way to get your content to your audience is through your brand’s most valuable online asset: your employees. Apostle is an all-in-one and easy-to-use brand advocacy platform that simplifies social sharing for all your ambassadors and results in up to 7 times more engagement from your audience!
Corporate posts only reach about 2-7% of your followers on social media.
Personal posts reach 25-30% of the ambassador’s followers. With an advocacy program you’ll boost your online reach with an astounding 561%.
92% of people trust social media posts in their personal networks more compared to corporate posts, and interact with them more often.
Convert people to customers of employees 7 times more likely.
Managing all of your corporate pages and scheduling posts for colleagues, dealers, and franchisees by mail is too time-consuming.
Manage all of your social media pages in one dashboard.
The time investment for marketing and your brand ambassador team differs. The marketing team will dedicate more time to setting up the strategy and structure, as well as creating and scheduling posts for brand ambassadors.
The time investment varies depending on the participants' roles. Based on a 6-month implementation plan, the time investments per role are as follows:
SRO Coach: Approximately 53 hours in total, including assignments, strategy sessions, and onboarding brand ambassadors.
Social Master (Content Marketeer): Approximately 5-10 hours per month, depending on the number of posts to be scheduled for the team.
Brand ambassadors: Approximately 15 minutes per month. NB: Some roles may take around 1-2 hours per month. Read more about our roles here.
The SRO program provides clients with a strategic, data-driven approach to employee advocacy, maximizing brand reach and increasing engagement through step-by-step guidance and training. With a clear sense of purpose and necessary tools, employees are motivated to actively share branded and personal content. Without the program, the lack of direction and support may result in lower adoption and inconsistent advocacy efforts.
The Apostle employee advocacy software is essential in an SRO program, streamlining implementation, simplifying content sharing and engagement and empowering colleagues to become active brand ambassadors. Its features and support contribute significantly to the program's overall success, making it invaluable in any SRO initiative.
The SRO program typically takes 6 months to complete, but this can vary based on company size and the number of brand ambassadors involved, ranging from 3 months to a year. However, to ensure a successful and impactful implementation, we recommend dedicating at least 6 months.
Maintaining team engagement is crucial once the SRO program concludes. You have the option to continue engaging your current team of brand ambassadors through editorial meetings, workshops, and management updates. Additionally, you can choose to expand your team further. As an SRO Coach, you will stay in contact with your brand ambassador team to ensure their ongoing active participation and to keep your brand at the forefront of their minds. Reporting and analysis play a crucial role during this process.
No prior experience in social media marketing and brand management is required for the SRO Coach. Basic understanding and affinity with social media is encouraged and can be very helpful. The comprehensive course accommodates diverse backgrounds, equipping learners to excel as SRO coaches, regardless of experience level.
The core principles of an SRO program remain applicable across organizations of all sizes, the specific implementation approach and considerations may vary based on the company's scale, resources, and organizational structure. The length of the program depends strongly on the number of brand ambassadors to be onboarded, ranging from 3 to 12 months (for larger companies). However, we do encourage all clients to start small (10-25 colleagues) and gradually expand the number of brand ambassadors during the process.
Wil jij als marketeer het bereik en engagement van jouw organisatie vergroten op social media? Delen jouw collega’s nog geen authentieke, branded of thought leadership posts op social media en blijf je daardoor achter op de concurrentie?
Dan mag je deze masterclass niet missen!
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