While most organizations focus exclusively on carefully crafted corporate messaging, forward-thinking companies are empowering employees to create authentic content that resonates with audiences on a deeper level.
Employee-shared content generates 8x more engagement than content shared from a brand’s official page. That’s not just an impressive statistic—it’s a wake-up call for marketing professionals who haven’t yet tapped into their most valuable content creators: their team members. This approach, known as employee-generated content (EGC), is transforming how brands connect with their audiences in 2025 and beyond.
There’s a simple reason why employee-generated content is so successful: consumers like seeing a face to represent a brand. Employee-generated content is also more authentic and is better at building trust than a similar post from a spokesperson, brand ambassador, or influencer.
Here’s your employee-generated content guide and how to use this strategy to unlock more engagement and trust among your audience.
Key Takeaways
- Employee-generated content drives 8x more engagement than content shared from a brand’s official page, making it a powerful tool for expanding reach and building authentic connections with audiences.
- Authenticity builds trust with consumers as 76% of people trust content shared by individuals (employees) more than branded content from companies, providing a critical competitive advantage.
- Successful EGC programs require a supportive culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences, along with clear guidelines that provide structure without stifling creativity.
- Employee-generated content delivers multiple benefits, including enhanced brand authenticity, expanded reach, diverse perspectives, improved employee engagement, and cost-effective content creation.
- Real-world success stories demonstrate EGC’s impact across industries, with companies like Papa John’s achieving 183 million views on a single employee video and Fleet Feet seeing a 305% increase in engagement through structured EGC initiatives.
What Is Employee-Generated Content?
Employee-generated content (EGC) refers to any brand-related content created and shared by employees. This can include social media posts, videos, blog articles, testimonials, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and thought leadership pieces that showcase both company culture and individual expertise. Your employees can post this content on the business marketing channels or their own social media.
Unlike traditional corporate content that often feels impersonal, EGC brings authentic voices and perspectives to the forefront. It transforms employees from mere representatives into genuine brand ambassadors who share their real experiences and insights.
The key distinction between EGC and other content types lies in their authenticity. For example, while user-generated content strategies focus on customer advocacy, employee-generated content leverages the unique position of team members who have insider knowledge and authentic connections to the brand.
The Power of Employee-Generated Content: By the Numbers
People trust people, more so than a polished corporate ad. The impact of employee-generated content is supported by this compelling data, which demonstrates its effectiveness:
- Engagements: Corporate content often generates less engagement than personal posts. Companies that share EGC report 27% higher online engagement rates. This dramatic difference stems from social media algorithms that favor person-to-person content and the natural trust people place in individuals over institutions.
- Adoption rate: Organizations are increasingly recognizing the value of authentic employee voices. Research from DSMN8 reveals that 50% of organizations encourage authentic employee-generated content, moving away from templated or pre-approved posts. This shift reflects a growing understanding that audiences crave genuine human connections.
- Internal engagement: The success of EGC initiatives depends on employee participation. Encouragingly, 73% of social media managers say that over half of their employees regularly engage with branded content, according to GaggleAMP. This high level of internal engagement indicates that employees are not just content creators but also active participants in promoting the brand.
- Social sharing: One of the most powerful benefits of EGC is its ability to extend a brand’s reach. The Impression Digital Team found that employee posts are reshared up to 24 times more frequently than brand posts. This allows brands to reach new audiences through their employees’ networks, often accessing communities that might be skeptical of traditional advertising.
- Trust and credibility: Perhaps most significantly, EGC builds trust in ways corporate content cannot. According to Speakap, 76% of people trust content shared by individuals (employees) more than branded content from companies. This human element provides a critical competitive advantage.
Benefits of Employee-Generated Content
Beyond the impressive statistics, employee-generated content delivers multiple strategic benefits for organizations. EGC resonates deeply with employees and consumers, and it can also strengthen company culture. Here’s why.
Enhanced Brand Authenticity
There’s a reason why EGC is more trustworthy: consumers don’t just prefer authenticity—it’s expected. When they see a face with your branding, your audience connects to your company on a personal level.
Employee-generated content offers an unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at your organization that resonates more than polished corporate messaging. When employees share their genuine experiences, they humanize your brand and build connections that feel real and relatable.
Expanded Reach and Visibility
There are many reasons why EGC can expand your reach. Your employees collectively have networks that far exceed your brand’s direct audience. They can showcase your company’s branding through social media posts, merchandise, events, and more.
How can you use EGC to your advantage? Empower employees to share your content and tap into their expanded networks. When you encourage staff members to use your merchandise, you benefit from the endorsement that comes with it. This organic reach often extends to audiences who value relevant content and might be resistant to traditional advertising.
Diverse Perspectives and Fresh Ideas
While your marketing team might develop a consistent style, employees across departments bring diverse perspectives and creative approaches. From engineers explaining technical concepts to customer service representatives sharing success stories, this diversity of voices creates a multi-dimensional brand image. This keeps your content ideas fresh and appealing to new audience segments. As a result, brands will see a boost in brand awareness and overall growth.
Improved Employee Engagement and Retention
EGC can also improve recruitment and employee retention. When employees contribute to your brand’s narrative, they develop a stronger sense of ownership and pride in the organization. Recognition for their content contributions can boost morale and engagement while fostering a sense of community among staff members. According to research on employee advocacy, team members who actively participate in content creation report higher job satisfaction and more substantial alignment with company values.
Cost-Effective Content Creation
Developing high-quality content at scale is a persistent challenge for marketing teams. Employee-generated content provides an affordable solution. Instead of relying on content creators, brands can expand their marketing capabilities across the organization. This approach not only reduces production costs but often results in more engaging content than what could be produced through traditional means.
Real-World Success Stories
Social Media Engagement through Employee-Generated Content
Case Study: Papa John’s
Challenge: Papa John’s faced a highly competitive quick-service pizza market and needed to stand out by creating authentic connections with its audience.
Solution: The company empowered pizza chefs to produce and share behind-the-scenes TikTok content showcasing unique skills like dough-spinning while using trending hashtags and sounds.
Results: This employee-generated content strategy achieved massive engagement with creators recording over 183 million views on a single video and collectively generating hundreds of millions of views and over 150 million likes on TikTok.
Key Takeaway: Authentic employee content can drive unprecedented social media engagement even in highly competitive markets.
Retail Employee Advocacy Driving Consistent Brand Messaging
Case Study: Fleet Feet
Challenge: Fleet Feet needed to boost organic reach and maintain consistent brand messaging across multiple store locations.
Solution: The company deployed a comprehensive employee-generated (store-generated) content strategy with structured processes, opt-in participation, and clear brand guidelines.
Results: Fleet Feet achieved a 38% year-over-year increase in employee-generated content production, which accounted for 25% of total Instagram posts, along with a 192% increase in organic impressions and a 305% increase in engagements.
Key Takeaway: Structured employee-generated content initiatives can drastically amplify organic reach and engagement in retail.
Building an Effective Employee-Generated Content Strategy
Creating a successful employee-generated content program requires thoughtful planning and a positive company culture. Here’s how to develop a strategy that drives results.
Create a Supportive Culture
The foundation of effective EGC is a workplace culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences and perspectives. Leadership must demonstrate commitment by:
- Participating in content creation themselves
- Recognizing and celebrating employee contributions
- Creating space for authentic expression
- Emphasizing that perfection isn’t required
A culture of trust encourages employees to share their thoughts without fear of criticism or negative consequences.
Establish Clear Guidelines and Processes
While authenticity is crucial, structure helps employees create content that aligns with brand values. Plus, marketers can collaborate on the best content types and topics to ensure the posts achieve business goals. Develop:
- Brand voice guidelines that define boundaries while allowing personal expression
- Legal and compliance frameworks to protect sensitive information
- Simple approval processes that don’t stifle creativity
- Content themes and prompts to inspire ideas
The best guidelines provide helpful guardrails without micromanaging the creative process. For example, experienced employees could have more autonomy while newer team members should receive additional guidance.
Provide Training and Resources
Not every employee is a natural content creator. Support your team with:
- Workshops on effective content creation for different platforms
- Templates and examples of successful employee content
- Technical training on tools and platforms
- Access to simple recording and editing equipment
Remember that training should focus on empowering employees rather than imposing rigid standards or corporate speak.
Recognition and Incentives
Sustained participation requires ongoing motivation, and employees want to be compensated for their hard work. From a simple shoutout to fun incentives, there are many ways to celebrate an employee’s content success. Consider:
- Featuring top creators in company communications
- Creating friendly competition with leaderboards
- Offering tangible rewards for exceptional content
- Connecting content creation to professional development goals
The most effective incentives align with your company culture and emphasize values beyond mere metrics.
Leverage Technology
Here are examples of technology that can streamline your EGC program and make participation easier:
- Employee advocacy platforms that simplify content sharing
- Content management systems for submission and approval
- Analytics tools to track performance and recognize contributors
- Mobile apps that reduce friction in content creation
The right technology reduces administrative burden while providing valuable insights into what resonates with audiences.
Overcoming Common Challenges
Even well-designed employee-generated content programs face obstacles. Here’s how to address the most common challenges.
Maintaining Consistency While Preserving Authenticity
Challenge: Finding the balance between brand consistency and personal takes.
Solution:
- Focus guidelines on core brand values rather than specific wording
- Create templates that allow for personalization
- Use examples to illustrate boundaries rather than strict rules
- Implement light-touch approval processes that focus on significant issues
Sustaining Employee Participation
Challenge: Keeping employees engaged with content creation long-term.
Solution:
- Regularly refresh prompts and themes
- Celebrate and showcase successful content
- Make EGC a part of your marketing plan
- Connect content creation to career development
- Make participation as frictionless as possible
- Share performance metrics so creators see their impact
Managing Legal and Compliance Considerations
Challenge: Protecting sensitive information while enabling authentic sharing.
Solution:
- Provide clear training on confidentiality boundaries
- Create pre-approved content libraries for regulated industries
- Implement simple approval processes for sensitive topics
- Develop decision trees to help employees determine what requires review
Measuring and Demonstrating ROI
Challenge: Connecting employee-generated content to business outcomes.
Solution:
- Set clear KPIs aligned with business objectives
- Track both engagement metrics and conversion data
- Use UTM parameters to attribute traffic and leads
- Compare the performance between EGC and traditional content
- Calculate cost savings from reduced production expenses
Future Trends in Employee-Generated Content
As employee-generated content continues to evolve, several emerging trends will shape its future development. Here are some of the biggest trends.
- Integration with employee experience initiatives: Forward-thinking companies are connecting their EGC programs with broader employee experience strategies. They treat content creation as an extension of culture building. These organizations create virtuous cycles where positive experiences drive authentic content, which in turn attracts like-minded talent.
- Platform-specific strategies: Different platforms require tailored approaches to EGC. While LinkedIn remains valuable for thought leadership, platforms like TikTok and Instagram are generating more spontaneous and creative employee content. Successful programs will develop platform-specific strategies that leverage each channel’s strengths, rather than using one-size-fits-all approaches.
- AI-enhanced content creation: Artificial intelligence tools are making content creation more accessible to employees without specialized skills. From writing assistance to video editing, these tools reduce barriers to participation while maintaining authenticity. The key will be using AI to enhance human creativity rather than replacing the personal touch that makes EGC effective.
- Integration with customer-generated content: The lines between employee and customer content are blurring, particularly in organizations where employees are also users of the product or service. Innovative brands are creating integrated approaches that combine employee expertise with customer experiences to develop multi-dimensional narratives around their offerings.
Getting Started With Employee-Generated Content
Ready to harness the power of your team’s authentic voices? Fortunately, implementing an EGC strategy is easy. Here are practical steps to launch your employee-generated content initiative:
- Audit your current landscape: Identify existing employee content creators and organic advocacy.
- Define clear objectives: Determine what success looks like for your organization.
- Start small with pilot groups: Begin with engaged employees in communication-oriented roles.
- Create simple guidelines: Focus on empowerment rather than restrictions.
- Provide basic training: Offer platform-specific tips and content ideas.
- Celebrate early wins: Recognize participants and share successful content.
- Gather feedback: Continuously refine your approach based on employee input.
- Scale thoughtfully: Expand your program as you develop best practices.
Remember that successful EGC programs evolve. Start with foundations that can grow and adapt as you learn what works for your specific organization and culture.
Use Employee-Generated Content to Boost Trust and Authenticity
Employee-generated content is more authentic than traditional marketing tactics. EGC offers a powerful opportunity for organizations to build trust, expand reach, and create genuine connections with their audience. The most successful organizations view employee-generated content not just as a marketing tactic, but as an extension of their company culture. Offer the right frameworks, training, and recognition so that you can transform your team into powerful brand storytellers.
Have you tried EGC, but it’s still not expanding your reach? Work with the leading content marketing agency that understands how to integrate employee voices into your broader content strategy.
