The Ultimate Guide to Employee-generated Content (EGC) 

Picture yourself scrolling through LinkedIn, TikTok, or Instagram.

How long until you come across a behind-the-scenes clip of a team celebrating a milestone, a recording of an employee sharing their daily work experiences, or someone channeling their inner Michael Scott in a workplace skit?

If your answer is “very little”, it’s likely due to one of the hottest social media trends of 2024: Employee-generated content.

These glimpses into the workplace are part of a trend that heavily influences how companies connect with their audiences.

And today, we’re going to share all you must know about this topic, including:

• An encompassing definition of employee-generated content.
• The brief and not-at-all boring history of EGC.
• Types of employee-generated content.
• Examples of employee-generated content.
• Current trends fueling the rise of EGC.
• How to measure the success of EGC.

And for the last part of our article, answers to pressing questions that people who are getting started with employee-generated content have:

• Should you compensate employees for creating content?
• Do you need to start adding “content creation” to every job description you post?

Let’s dive right in.

What is employee-generated content?

Employee-generated content (EGC) refers to any form of content created and shared by employees of a company, showcasing their experiences, insights, and perspectives.

This content can range from social media posts and blog articles to videos, photos, and comments.

EGC is characterized by its authenticity and relatability. However, it’s important not to confuse these traits with organicity.

While employee-generated content can be organic (i.e. spontaneously created by any employee), in reality, it’s often scripted, acted, and edited to yield that authentic feel.

Goals-wise, EGC is leveraged by companies for many purposes, such as building trust with their audience, humanizing their brand image, and nurturing a motivated workforce.

In short, EGC amplifies marketing efforts and is a powerful tool for branding and communications, transforming employees into brand ambassadors and helping create a more trustworthy online presence.

This is great because such an approach aligns with modern marketing’s emphasis on transparency and personal connection.

A brief history of employee-generated content

EGC is not a new concept, but its role and significance have evolved considerably over the past couple of decades.

The roots can be traced back to the early days of the internet in corporate culture, where employee newsletters and internal communication platforms served as mediums for employees to share their stories and achievements.

For instance, here’s an early sample of employee-generated content – a video showing a day in the life of Microsoft employees during the 1990s:

These forms of EGC were primarily internal, and aimed at fostering a sense of community and engagement within the organization.

It wasn’t until the rise of social media in the mid to late-2000s that EGC gained more relevancy. Platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn provided employees with spaces to share their professional experiences and company-related content.

As a result, companies began to recognize the potential of social media for amplifying their brand message through their employees’ networks, although full investment in EGC was still not quite a thing.

This changed in the years that followed, as companies widely adopted blogs, videos, and other digital formats to reach their audiences.

We’re reaching the mid-2010s, and a common example of EGC by now is a guest blog written by a company member, or a corporate video featuring employee testimonials.

Yes, back then it was a lot cringier than today. Check this Amazon clip from 2014 – this is what EGC looked like back then:

By the end of the 2010s, consumers became more skeptical of traditional advertising, and the value of authentic, relatable content grew. At this point, influencer culture helped turn EGC more relaxed, further propelling it.

Currently, EGC is an integral part of many companies’ marketing strategies.

Employees are now seen as potential micro-influencers who can build trust and credibility for the brand, and companies are formally creating programs and guidelines to encourage and support employee content creation.

With a solid understanding of its evolution, let’s explore the various forms EGC can take today.

Types of employee-generated content

EGC comes in various forms, each with its unique benefits and applications. As history shows, the relevance and popularity of each type shifts over time – what’s popular today, might not be tomorrow.

Common types of employee-generated content include:

• Social media posts: The most extended and impactful type of EGC due to reach and immediacy.
• Blog posts and articles: Long-form stories with insights and experiences, published on the company’s website, and in some cases, on other platforms supporting articles, such as LinkedIn, Substack, and Medium.
• Videos: Ranging from behind-the-scenes glimpses to the more formal recruitment and instructional, videos are among the best types of EGC you can strive for.
• Reviews and testimonials: Professional communities like Glassdoor and Blind are a treasure trove of employee-generated content, adopting the form of honest (and sometimes brutal) testimonials and reviews covering companies and their culture.
• Photos: Taken by employees at work events and during everyday tasks, pics are highly-rewarded content, particularly on social media.
• Internal newsletters: Employees contribute stories, updates, and highlights to internal newsletters. Usually good to keep everyone informed and engaged.
• Podcasts: Employees sharing their perspectives in podcasts these days are not a rare sight (or listen), discussing industry topics and their experience in a certain field or type of work. The resulting content can be repurposed into short clips for social media too!
• Memes: Competing for the #1 spot of the most common employee-generated content, memes are often shared internally, but can (and will) make their way into social media when they’re good enough.
• Employee takeovers: In the past couple of years, there’s been an observable trend where employees take over the company’s social media accounts to share their daily work life, experiences, and insights. This can be done for a day or a specific event.
• DIY and how-to guides: These are most commonly spotted in B2B companies, particularly in those who offer SaaS products. These guides are often produced in video format, and uploaded to YouTube, providing practical advice related to the company’s products or industry.
• Community content: Either by creating posts or commenting on existing ones, community content created by employees is incredibly valuable, as it addresses topics that range from customer support to what it is like to work in the company.

Examples of employee-generated content

Now that we have gone through the types, let’s bring the concept to life with some real-world, 2024 examples of employee-generated content.

And since we like to drink our champagne, we’ll start with a homegrown example: Our Instagram account.

You’ll find several examples of employee-generated content in it.

Our remote-first work policy allows for great content made by people worldwide, including testimonials, interviews, industry insights, and oh-so-many-jokes.

For our next example, let’s look at a brand we know well: HubSpot.

Their social channels are filled with employee-generated content, which is also combined with other hot trends like employee takeovers and IYKYK content.

LinkedIn is fertile land for employee-generated content (as it should be), and a few brands are taking full advantage of the platform.

Among them, ClickUp is worth the mention. Their brand of employee-generated content is often humorous, taking cringe to unsuspected levels that make people interact (and laugh) like crazy.

To conclude, an example of a common type of video, but done extremely well: A day in the life of a software engineer at TikTok.

What makes this example good? In our view, two aspects:

• Authenticity: The employee clarifies that this is his own doing, not his employer’s. Many of these vids, when produced by employers, feel too stiff.
• Production value: Timestamps, sections, descriptions, and even some effects like a time-lapse turn the video into an easy watch.

The audience agrees as the video has garnered over a million views on YouTube since being published in 2023.

Current trends fueling employee-generated content

Employee-generated content is rising because of a clear need and the right context.

Nowadays, audiences won’t settle for the canned, tired legacy formulas inherited from the mass media era. Instead, we’re always looking for content that looks and feels new, spontaneous, original, authentic, real.

Even if there’s a huge amount of production behind the content, it must feel like we’re facing reality.

Then there’s the context, which favors the creation of this type of content.

First, because production technology is widely available and affordable (phones, cameras, lights, editing software, distribution platforms), and second because younger people are more camera-friendly than the preceding generations, and this results in more EGC being produced.

Because of these two factors, many companies are developing structured employee advocacy programs to encourage and guide EGC.

These programs provide employees with the resources and incentives needed to create content that aligns with the company’s brand.

Research shows that results have been consistently good – a survey by Hinge Research Institute found that 86% of employees involved in a formal advocacy program say it has positively impacted their careers, further motivating participation.

Measuring employee-generated content: Metrics and KPIs

To analyze the impact of employee-generated content and the engagement it drives you can rely on the following metrics – some of which you’re surely familiar with:

• • Engagement metrics: Likes, shares, and comments across social media platforms. Also, don’t forget to calculate the engagement rate (total and by channel) by dividing the total engagement (likes, comments, shares) by the total reach or number of followers.
  • Reach: The total number of unique users who have seen the content.
  • Impressions: The total number of times the content is displayed, regardless of whether it is clicked or not. This will allow you to get a sense of how often the content is being viewed.
  • Traffic metrics: Monitor the amount of traffic directed to the company’s website from EGC.
  • Brand mentions: The number of times the brand is mentioned in connection with EGC across social media and other platforms. Tools like Brandwatch can help track these mentions.
  • Sentiment analysis: The tone and sentiment of the comments and feedback on EGC. Positive sentiment indicates that the content is enhancing the brand’s reputation. Negative sentiment indicates the opposite (an example in the comments of this video).
  • Employee participation and satisfaction: Measure the percentage of employees actively contributing to EGC initiatives, and collect feedback from employees about their experience creating and sharing content. Surveys and informal check-ins can provide insights into the program’s effectiveness and areas for improvement.

You can also track other metrics (like conversions from EGC), but these represent the core of what needs to be reviewed.

How to compensate employees for employee-generated content?

Compensating employees for their content is a nuanced issue.

On one hand, recognizing and rewarding employees for their efforts can motivate them and enhance their sense of value within the company. O

On the other hand, some companies view EGC as part of an employee’s natural engagement and commitment to the brand.

If a company decides to compensate employees for their content, there are several methods to consider, categorized into financial and non-financial rewards.

Financial compensations include cash bonuses, gift cards, and profit-sharing schemes.

Non-financial compensation, which is also a possibility, includes public recognition of the employee, career advancement opportunities, and benefits like extra vacation days or PTO.

Do you need to add “content creation” to job descriptions?

It’s natural to ask yourself this question if you’re an employer hiring in the era of employee-generated content.

Our take is simple: You can add “content creation” to a job description if you want, but the more abstract “extra duties as assigned” is perhaps more adequate, as you can’t tell whether any given hire will be creating content or not.

Some will make it part of their jobs, and some will stay away from it, so we don’t believe there’s a real need to clarify unless you effectively plan to assign such duties to a new employee.

Conclusion: Embracing Employees as Creators

As traditional corporate culture dies out, employees have emerged as creators and brand ambassadors.

As such, employee-generated content not only amplifies a company’s reach but also provides authenticity to increase brand awareness and recall.

It’s important to explore different ways to approach EGC. Sure, you can let it happen organically, but providing a framework and guidelines can enhance its benefits while reducing risks.

It’s also vital to note that having as many employees as possible creating content isn’t necessarily the goal.

Instead, the focus should be on quality and alignment with the company’s values and messaging.

A smaller group of passionate and skilled content creators can often be more effective than a larger, less enthusiastic one.

The key is to nurture and support those who are genuinely interested in contributing, ensuring they have the tools and guidance needed to produce high-quality content.

This is where employee advocacy and executive social media strategy programs come into play – and of course, something we can help with.