Key takeaways:
- Begin with a defined strategy and measurable objectives that align advocacy efforts with organizational priorities—not just generic goals like brand awareness.
- Select advocates based on their ability to represent your mission and connect with target audiences, not solely on existing social media activity.
- Maintain long-term engagement by recognizing contributors, showcasing their impact, and scaling programs gradually to ensure sustained momentum and quality.
Creating an employee advocacy program in healthcare that actually works requires more than purchasing a platform and hoping employees participate.
Recent discussions among hospital and healthcare systems social media leaders reveal that success depends on answering fundamental questions before launching: Why are we doing this? Who should participate? And how do we keep momentum going?
We’ll examine how SocialMedia.org Health members are setting up employee advocacy programs for success to improve community involvement and brand reputation.
1. Start with “Why” to Align Advocacy with Real Business Goals
Healthcare organizations launching advocacy programs often struggle to articulate clear objectives beyond vague goals like “increased brand awareness.” The most successful programs start with specific, measurable purposes that align with organizational priorities.
At one major hospital system, their advocacy initiative stems from a community perception challenge. “We’ve heard feedback that we were perceived as an elitist type of hospital, which is really discouraging to hear,” their social media lead noted.
Their response: showcase diverse employees across all roles — not just clinical staff, but researchers, educators, facilities management, and administrators — to demonstrate that “we care about everybody” who walks through their doors.
Recruitment is a common use case too — and partnerships with HR teams are common. But one healthcare system is exploring a different approach, driven by major infrastructure projects. With new hospitals being built, they’re seeking advocates who live in the city to help spread messages about community commitments and construction progress.
The lesson is clear: successful advocacy programs solve specific organizational challenges rather than pursuing generic social media goals.
2. Identify Advocates Strategically, Not Just Socially
The conventional wisdom suggests starting with employees who are already active on social media. While this makes logical sense, healthcare organizations are discovering more strategic approaches to advocate identification.
At a major research hospital, their focus drives advocate selection toward scientists who can humanize complex work. “Our end goal is recruitment 5-10 years out for our younger audience in college and high school,” their social media leader explained. They’re specifically highlighting women scientists to show that “a scientist looks like me” for prospective talent.
Agata Smieciuszewski, Senior Social Media Strategist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, did acknowledge that participation for their organization has been slowed by compliance requirements like vetting, training, and getting the necessary signed agreements in order.
“But once people are in, they stay engaged,” she said. “We’ve also had success using incentives like offering VIP tickets to a Dodgers game, which helped boost participation in the early stages.”
Another hospital took a needs-based approach, identifying departments that frequently request social media support and demonstrate engagement desire. Their pilot included talent acquisition, child life specialists, physician relations, population health, and government affairs — an “interesting grab bag” that reflected organizational priorities rather than individual social media activity levels.
Another member found success with their DEI team. “They were very excited to jump in” — a reminder that passionate employee groups often make excellent advocates regardless of their current social media presence.
We’ve also had success using incentives like offering VIP tickets to a Dodgers game, which helped boost participation in the early stages.
Agata Smieciuszewski, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
3. Focus on Strategy Before Tools
Multiple organizations mentioned Sprout Social’s employee advocacy platform, suggesting significant market penetration in healthcare. However, the discussion revealed that tool selection often becomes a distraction from strategy development.
One member demonstrated this with their low- tech but effective approach: using Airtable for content planning with tags identifying content appropriate for executive sharing, plus pre-written copy that leaders can copy and paste. “Probably 75% of the ones that we have suggested usually get reposted with our copy suggestions,” they reported.
Another senior leader’s experience reinforced this point. Between platform transitions, they used email — “It was definitely different than other platforms we used before and not like a social listening tool. But just emailing the copy to our coworkers who were interested made it easy for them to copy and paste.”
The takeaway here is clear: successful advocacy depends more on content strategy and relationship building than platform sophistication. (But good tools definitely help.)
4. Keep Advocates Engaged with Recognition, Not Just Rewards
Perhaps the most practical question raised was about incentives. “How do you keep people interested in doing it besides just maybe they just love working here?” asked one leader preparing to launch their program.
One leader revealed surprising findings about motivation: “I’ve actually been surprised at how competitive people are to rack up points just for bragging rights.” They create monthly branded leaderboards featuring participant photos and names, shared through the platform’s email system.
However, they also discovered a downside to gamification: their talent acquisition team found ways to game the point system, requiring ongoing adjustments to maintain program integrity.
This highlights how important and effective recognition can be over prizes or payouts. Creating leaderboards, highlighting advocate contributions, and providing regular acknowledgment can drive participation even without significant budget allocation.
5. Launch Small, Then Scale with Intention
Several organizations emphasized starting small pilots before promoting. A phased approach allows teams to refine content, prove value, and grow sustainably.
One healthcare system began with 15 advocates in talent acquisition, later expanding to 40–50 across marketing and communications, before targeting service lines with executive sponsors. Their goal of reaching 250 participants by year’s end reflects intentional, controlled growth.
This approach mitigates risk and ensures programs maintain quality and energy over time. As one leader put it: “My biggest fear is that we’re going to get six months into this, and it’s just going to kind of peter out.”
Charlotte Featherston, Social Media and Content Manager at AdventHealth, said she has always stressed the value of testing programs before scaling.
“Start with an initial pilot group when kicking off your employee advocacy program,” she told us. “This allows for a testing and learning period for your resources, training, and platforms that you are utilizing.”
The pilot groups, she added, give her team room to adapt, when necessary.
Start with an initial pilot group when kicking off your employee advocacy program. This allows for a testing and learning period for your resources, training, and platforms that you are utilizing.
Charlotte Featherston, AdventHealth
6. Move Beyond Experimentation to Long-Term Impact
For healthcare leaders exploring employee advocacy, the path to success begins long before launching. The key questions to answer are:
- What organizational challenges will advocacy address?
- Which employees can best represent your mission?
- How will you keep them inspired and engaged?
Organizations that invest in strategy first will be best positioned to build sustainable, impactful advocacy programs that strengthen reputation, drive recruitment, and enhance community trust.
Join the top healthcare marketers and social media leaders in SocialMedia.org Health — our private, vendor-free community for social media leaders at the nation’s largest hospitals and healthcare systems. In our community, you’ll gain actionable insights and solutions to building effective employee advocacy from your peers who know what it takes and understand the challenges you face.
