If you’ve followed my content for any length of time, you know I’m a broken record when it comes to how important I think founder visibility is.
I genuinely believe it’s one of the biggest competitive advantages a business can build right now that isn’t just a better product or a bigger marketing budget. It’s a founder with a strong reputation who consistently shows up, shares their perspective, and becomes someone people trust long before they ever become a customer.
I could go on and on…
But there’s something I’ve found myself thinking about more and more lately that I believe is connected to this idea.
Not only is founder visibility a massive difference maker and differentiator for a business, but so is employee visibility, aka employee-generated content.
While it’s talked about as a marketing trend, I think it’s actually much more. Every employee doesn’t need to become an influencer, but the data (and my own experiences with it) continually show that it’s one of the most authentic ways to connect with your audience and build trust with potential customers.
Now imagine putting these two ideas together…a dynamic duo of authentic marketing potential.
Prospects want something real, more than ever before.
One of the reasons I’m so passionate about both founder visibility and employee-generated content is that they solve the same problem.
People don’t trust logos at the SMB level. They trust actual humans with a POV. Whether that’s through content they consume, reviews they read, or referrals they get.
I’ve seen this over and over again with my own eyes, but it’s also backed by years of research.
- 92% of consumers trust recommendations from individuals over brands. (Nielsen)
- Employee-generated content reaches audiences up to 10x larger than company pages on average. (LinkedIn)
- Leads generated through employee advocacy convert 7x more often than other types of leads. (IBM)
- 79% of consumers say user-generated content influences their purchasing decisions. (Stackla)
Do you see the pattern? The companies earning the most trust aren’t creating more polished marketing, but are leveraging the humans and unique points of view they have.
Founder visibility opens the door, and employee visibility reinforces it.
I think founder visibility is where every company should start.
The founder sets the vision, establishes credibility, and becomes someone people recognize, learn from, and eventually trust.
Now, combine that approach with showing off the people in your organization who have valuable perspectives and stories and who understand customer frustrations better than anyone.
It’s the customer success team that sees transformation happening every day.
It’s the designers, engineers, consultants, technicians, and account managers who all have lessons they’ve learned that your audience would probably find incredibly valuable.
Those perspectives shouldn’t stay hidden.
When people begin seeing expertise from every level of your organization, they stop seeing your business as a choice, and they start seeing you as THE choice.
This is the biggest mistake I see companies make with EGC.
Most companies approach employee-generated content the wrong way.
Leadership decides they want employees posting online, so they send everyone the same copy-and-paste LinkedIn post, or they tell people, “Just post something,” or even worse, control everything they want to say.
None of these approaches work because they…
- Feel fake
- Give the employee zero guidance
- Aren’t authentic
When I talk to owners about this, they tend to get nervous about letting their employees be totally free in how they approach their online presence and the content they produce. But that’s exactly how you create the authenticity we’re after to create differentiation.
Now I’m not saying there are guidelines or guardrails. We just can’t control EGC if we want it to actually work for our companies.
Make sure employees understand your company’s mission, values, and the conversations you want to be known for. Then encourage them to talk about those topics through the lens of their own experience.
Don’t write posts for them. Give them prompts and encouragement towards what you know want to be known for. Ask questions like…
- What’s something you’ve learned from working with clients recently?
- What’s a problem you solve every week that most people don’t realize exists?
- What’s one lesson you’ve learned in your role this month?
- What’s an industry misconception you wish more people understood?
Even though you’re asking everyone the same question, it will still create authentic content because the answers are unique to each person.
If you want employees to do this, you have to encourage a culture that values it.
One thing we’ve done at Breezy that I’ve really enjoyed is hosting optional brainstorming sessions for team members who want to build their own online presence and personal brand.
These aren’t formal training sessions or a meeting where I tell everyone what to do, but collaborative conversations.
People bring rough ideas, half-written posts, interesting client stories, or questions they aren’t sure how to communicate. Together, we help shape those thoughts into content that feels authentic to them while still supporting our overall mission.
It’s become one of my favorite parts of our content process because it reminds people that they already have valuable things to say.
My team didn’t lack experience or things to say, just the confidence to put themselves out there. This has made a huge difference.
I also put my money where my mouth is. We create an employee affiliate program, and every time a current employee (those specifically not in sales) drives a new client through their presence, content, or a conversation, we reward them financially.
The combination of resourcing + real incentive is how you can start building this kind of culture, too.
Your employees shouldn’t sound like your marketing team.
One of the biggest misconceptions about employee-generated content is that everyone should sound like the brand, and I actually think the opposite is true.
Your people shouldn’t be carbon copies of your company voice.
The entire point is for them to be themselves.
When someone shares a lesson they learned from a difficult client conversation, celebrates a successful project, reflects on a leadership lesson, or offers a perspective from years in the industry, it feels real.
That authenticity builds trust for both the individual and the company. It’s a win for everyone involved.
The businesses that stand out right now have one thing in common.
They feel more human.
As AI continues making it easier for everyone to create content (not necessarily good or valuable content, though), human perspectives become infinitely more valuable.
That’s why I don’t see employee-generated content as another marketing tactic. I see it as a leadership strategy.
Founders build trust by showing up consistently.
+
Employees reinforce that trust by proving the company is filled with knowledgeable, thoughtful people who genuinely care about what they do.
=
Something that’s incredibly difficult for competitors to copy.
Because your biggest differentiator has never been your logo. It’s your people. The more your audience gets to know them, the more they’ll trust your business. When they trust you, they choose you.
