INFLUENCER MARKETING

Employee Generated Content: 7 Tactics to Scale Marketing ROI

Your employees might be the most underrated marketing engine you have.

Content shared by employees gets eight times more engagement than brand posts and is reshared up to 24 times more often.

These gains transform a hidden asset into a powerful tool for increasing conversion rates and stretching marketing budgets without extra ad spend.

In the next few minutes, you’ll learn seven practical tactics to build an employee advocacy strategy, align teams with content creation, and track content marketing ROI without bloating your stack.

Let’s dive in.

PS: Ready to turn your employees into your strongest marketing channel? Book a free strategy call with inBeat Agency today and let’s build an employee advocacy strategy that drives real results.

TL;DR:

EGC Defined: Employee-generated content (EGC) includes posts, videos, blogs, and testimonials created by employees, not official brand channels.

Why It Works: EGC drives 8x more engagement and 561% more reach than branded content. It builds trust, showcases authenticity, and strengthens employer branding.
Key Content Types:

• Behind-the-scenes glimpses
• Employee spotlights and testimonials
• Culture showcases and recruitment posts
• Industry insights and tutorials

How to Source It:

• Identify natural creators within your team
• Offer incentives and make content creation simple
• Use templates, toolkits, and streamlined approval processes

7 Practical Tactics:

1. Empower advocates with resources and recognition
2. Use social platforms with branded hashtags
3. Centralize content in an EGC hub
4. Create incentive programs with leaderboards and rewards
5. Integrate EGC into broader campaigns and track results
6. Provide training to improve quality and consistency
7. Foster cross-team collaboration for diverse content voices

Real-World Examples: Starbucks, Front Office, Papa John’s, and ComplyAdvantage have scaled reach and engagement using authentic employee voices.

Caveats:

• EGC needs oversight to avoid inconsistent messaging or off-brand content
• Approval workflows and quality control are essential

Tools to Support EGC: EnTribe, Oktopost, Sociabble, Slack, and Google Analytics help manage, distribute, and measure employee content.

Bottom Line: EGC doesn’t replace marketing - it multiplies its impact. When structured well, it expands your reach, deepens trust, and improves ROI without inflating the budget.

What Is Employee-Generated Content (EGC)?

Employee-Generated Content (EGC) is content created by employees that shares their experiences, insights, or perspectives related to the brand, product, or company culture.

It’s shared by employees themselves, rather than through the brand’s official channels.

As Thomas Walters of Billion Dollar Boy says:

“Employees aren't just selling a brand; they are the brand”

This content can take various forms, including social media posts, blog articles, videos, photos, and testimonials.

Now that you know what employee-generated content is, let's explore the different types you can leverage:

Types of Employee-Generated Content

EGC comes in many types, including behind-the-scenes glimpses, employee spotlights, company culture highlights, industry insights, and recruitment content:

1. Behind-the-Scenes

Behind-the-scenes offers authentic glimpses into daily operations or special projects that humanize your brand.

For example, Netflix shared BHS content from the production of "Squid Game," offering audiences a glimpse into the making of the series:

2. Employee Spotlights

Employee spotlights are short features that introduce team members and share their achievements or stories.

For example, Yotpo features video interviews with employees, walking viewers through each person’s role and career journey

3. Company Culture Highlights

Showcase events, traditions, and values that make your workplace unique and highlight your company culture.

For example, ServiceNow uses its YouTube channel to share videos that depict its workplace culture, including team events and employee experiences:

4. Industry Insights or Tips

Professional advice and trends shared by employees.

For example, Miro employees create short tutorials showing how to solve common workflow challenges using the platform, offering practical tips to fellow professionals.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miro (@mirohq)

5. Recruitment Content

Testimonials or job posting shares that attract future hires.

For example, Shopify employees use the hashtag #lifeatshopify to post detailed breakdowns of new job openings, sharing role expectations and application tips, which far outperform simple job-link posts.

With a clear understanding of the types of employee-generated content, the next step is learning how to encourage its creation:

How Do I Get Employee Generated Content?

You can get employee-generated content by identifying creators within your team, offering incentives, and making content creation easy and rewarding.

Here’s how to do it right:

1. Spot strong creators first: Look for employees who already create engaging social posts or blog content.
2. Build a voluntary program: Focus on employees who want to grow personal brands alongside company content.
3. Offer rewards: Recognize top contributors through bonuses, gift cards, executive team shoutouts, or extra vacation days.
4. Simplify content production: Provide graphic design templates, content topics, and easy approval processes.

But why does employee-generated content matter so much?

That brings us to the next point:

Why Use Employee-Generated Content?

Because people trust people, not logos. Employee-generated content (EGC) brings a sense of authenticity that polished brand messaging often lacks. It drives higher engagement, reaches wider audiences through employees’ personal networks, and builds trust by showing the real people behind the brand.

Moreover, it strengthens your employer brand by giving potential hires a glimpse into your company culture. Best of all, it’s a cost-effective way to produce relatable, impactful content, without the typical production overhead.

In short, EGC doesn’t replace your brand voice; it amplifies it in a way that feels human, not scripted.

To understand the tangible benefits of EGC, let's delve into some compelling statistics that highlight its impact on marketing performance:

Employee-Generated Content Statistics

EGC delivers exceptional results, significantly outperforming traditional brand communications.

Brand messages shared by employees achieve 561% more reach compared to the same messages distributed through official company channels.

This is largely because employees typically have 10 times more followers than brand accounts, which allows them to tap into broader and more authentic audiences.

Companies that adopt EGC have reported a 27% increase in online engagement and a 19% boost in sales within the first year.

Furthermore, 52% of communications and HR teams now regularly use EGC on internal channels. This underscores its growing importance in strengthening employee advocacy and enhancing internal communication efforts.

The numbers look great, but there are a few downsides to keep in mind:

Cons of Employee-Generated Content

EGC can bring challenges like inconsistent messaging, brand misalignment, limited content quality, and extra approval workflows:

• Inconsistent messaging: Without guidance, posts can drift away from marketing goals.
• Brand misalignment: Content may not match company tone or values.
• Limited content quality: Not every employee is a skilled content creator.
• Extra approval workflows: Content approvals add time and complexity to content marketing efforts.

Despite its challenges, the right tactics can help you maximize the benefits of employee-generated content.

And this leads us directly to our main topic:

Employee-Generated Content Tactics

Want to make the most of what your team can create?

These seven tactics will show you how:

1. Empower Employees as Brand Advocates

Empower employees by encouraging them to share authentic stories about their experiences with your brand.

Offer clear guidelines, provide creative resources, and recognize their contributions publicly.

Host internal workshops to inspire participation and make sharing feel natural.

Highlight employee content across company channels to build momentum.

When employees genuinely connect with the brand, their voices amplify its message far beyond what traditional marketing can achieve.

Pro tip: We advise setting up a digital toolkit accessible to all employees, filled with easy-to-use templates, hashtag suggestions, and trend alerts. This simplifies the content creation process and ensures consistency and professionalism in how they represent the brand online.

Real Case Study: Starbucks’ Partner Stories

Starbucks invites its employees to showcase their experiences through @starbuckspartners, a dedicated account focused on employee-generated content.

Team members in their iconic green aprons use the platform to share stories from their workdays and highlight initiatives like fundraising for charity and volunteering.

The account has resonated widely, growing to over 180,000 followers and continuing to attract more.

2. Leverage Social Media Platforms for EGC

Start by identifying where your employees are most active.

Focus on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, depending on the audience you want to reach.

Create branded hashtags to unify employee posts, boost visibility, and track engagement across different social media channels and marketing campaigns.

Pro tip: To streamline your employee-generated content efforts, you can use inBeat'.co’s free toolkit. It offers resources like ad generators, making it easier for employees to create and share consistent, high-quality content across various social media platforms.

3. Create an EGC Content Hub

Select a platform that simplifies content collection and management.

Tools like EnTribe offer centralized dashboards where employees can submit content via easy-to-launch forms. This streamlines the process for both contributors and managers.

Alternatively, platforms like Sociabble and Oktopost provide features for content curation, rights management, and seamless publishing.

Regularly update the hub with new blog content, social posts, white papers, and employee testimonials to keep teams engaged and aligned with your content strategy.

Pro tip: Audit your existing content libraries before building a hub to ensure you only promote high-performing pieces. To boost adoption, integrate your EGC hub with daily tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams so employees encounter share-ready content where they already work.

4. Implement Recognition and Incentive Programs

Want to see a flurry of employee posts?

Launch a recognition program with monthly leaderboards and public shoutouts.

Treat content sharing like a friendly competition to drive engagement.

Track performance with your content marketing analytics tools and highlight high achievers in your email newsletter and Slack channels.

Pro tip: We recommend aligning incentives with personal goals, like LinkedIn growth or portfolio building, to make participation feel more rewarding and authentic.

5. Integrate EGC into Marketing Campaigns

Embed employee-generated content to boost authenticity. Feature employee stories in email newsletters and landing pages.

Use social posts or video clips in paid ads to increase engagement rates. Incorporate EGC into white papers and case studies as proof points.

Ensure your campaign briefs include EGC assets. Track conversion rates and bounce rate in Google Analytics to gauge impact.

Pro tip: Tag employees directly in campaign posts to increase initial reach and engagement over time. For bigger campaigns, involve employees early in brainstorming to create content that feels natural and ties seamlessly into the customer journey.

6. Provide Training and Resources

Want your team to create impactful content confidently?

Host quick training sessions on content creation basics like framing photos, writing strong captions, and using branded hashtags.

Offer simple guides on social selling and content sharing frequency.

In fact, companies with formal training programs see 218% higher income per employee​, 59% of workers say training improve their performance​ , and 94% would stay longer when development resources are easily provided​.

Pro tip: Consider implementing a peer-review system where team members can provide constructive feedback on each other's work before it goes live. This improves the quality of the content and builds a collaborative environment that encourages learning and innovation.

7. Encourage Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Cross-departmental collaboration brings fresh ideas into your employee-generated content efforts.

Invite employees from sales teams, customer success teams, and marketing to brainstorm content topics together.

Encourage guest posts from departments that usually stay behind the scenes.

This approach makes your content marketing activities more dynamic and brings more authentic voices into your marketing channel mix.

Pro tip: Set up monthly creative sessions where different departments pitch blog posts, social posts, or video ideas.

Employee-Generated Content Case Studies and Examples

To better understand the impact of employee-generated content, let’s take a look at real-world examples and case studies:

1. Ken Sakata: How Organic Content Fueled Front Office’s Growth

Ken Sakata, creative director at Front Office, organically built his own advocate channel by sharing in-depth design breakdowns on Instagram and TikTok. He’s now grown a combined following of 780,000 across both platforms.

On top of that, he sends out weekly Substack issues to over 15,000 subscribers.

His posts pull back the curtain on garment development, driving traffic sources to frontoffice.co and sparking conversations in niche menswear communities.

By positioning himself as a genuine expert, Ken’s employee-shared content has extended Front Office’s reach and fueled steady customer growth, proving that authentic voices resonate more than polished ads.

2. Papa John's: Showcasing Culinary Passion Through Employee Content

@bartoli

Hey hi helloooo

♬ Hello - Martin Solveig & Dragonette

Papa John's, a renowned pizza chain, has used EGC by highlighting its employees' skills and passion on social media platforms.

Employees share videos demonstrating pizza-making techniques, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the kitchen, and personal anecdotes about their roles.

This content not only entertains but also educates the audience about the brand's commitment to quality and craftsmanship.

3. ComplyAdvantage: Empowering Employees to Share Insights

ComplyAdvantage, a company specializing in AI-driven risk detection, launched an initiative to amplify its social media presence through employee advocacy.

By using the Oktopost platform, they enabled employees across various departments to share personalized content about their roles and experiences.

This strategy allowed for a diverse range of voices to represent the brand, offering authentic insights into the company's culture and operations.

Employees shared stories about their day-to-day tasks, challenges, and achievements, providing a transparent view of the organization.

This approach not only enhanced the company's online visibility but also fostered a sense of community and pride among staff members.

Supercharge Your Marketing ROI with Employee Voices

Employee-generated content is not a trend.

It is a high-performing strategy that pushes your marketing ROI without burning extra budget.

Employees are already plugged into networks that brands often struggle to reach. And their voices carry a level of trust that no corporate channel can match.

The right EGC program turns that trust into measurable performance, from higher online engagement to real sales lifts.

You now have seven tactics that remove guesswork and show you how to encourage real participation, keep messaging on point, and measure impact without burying your team under extra processes.

Employee-generated content will not replace your marketing team.

It will supercharge it.

P.S. Ready to put these tactics into action? Partner with inBeat Agency to build an employee-generated content program that drives real results without adding work to your internal team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is employee-generated content, and how does it boost marketing ROI?

EGC refers to posts, videos, testimonials, or blogs created by employees that reflect their experiences with your company. It boosts marketing ROI by driving significantly higher engagement than traditional brand posts, expanding organic reach, and building trust with audiences.

Why should companies use employee-generated content in their marketing strategy?

Companies should use EGC because it connects brands with authentic, larger audiences in a more credible way than corporate messaging. Employees typically have 10 times more followers than company profiles, and their content resonates more deeply, resulting in stronger engagement rates. EGC also helps improve internal communication, employee pride, and overall marketing performance.

How can I encourage employees to create and share content on social media?

You can encourage employees by identifying strong content creators, offering clear incentives like bonuses or public recognition, and simplifying the content creation process with templates and easy approval workflows. Hosting short training sessions and spotlighting employee posts across company channels also motivates participation and sustains momentum.

What tools help manage and track employee-generated content campaigns?

Platforms like EnTribe, Sociabble, and Oktopost help manage EGC by centralizing content submission, curation, rights management, and publishing. Integrating EGC hubs into daily tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams can streamline access. You can also use Google Analytics to measure campaign impacts such as reach, engagement, and conversion rates.

Are there legal risks to using employee-generated content for marketing?

Yes, there are risks if proper rights management is not handled. Companies must obtain clear permission from employees before using their content publicly and ensure that posts align with brand guidelines. Having clear content policies and approval processes in place minimizes risks related to misrepresentation or unauthorized use.