The programme launches, forty people reshare the launch post, and by week three it is eight people, all of them from marketing. This happens so consistently that it deserves an explanation rather than another reminder email.
It is the same content, from an account with a smaller following, appearing to people who mostly follow the company anyway. The reach overlap is enormous. Platforms also discount identical content, so the ceiling is low before anybody loses enthusiasm.
Do this: Measure unique reach across all reshares, not the sum. The number is usually a fraction of what the dashboard implies.
The advocacy that works is somebody writing about a problem they solved this week. It sounds like them, it carries detail nobody in marketing has, and it reaches people who followed them for that. It also cannot be scheduled.
Do this: Ask five people to write one post about something they fixed recently. No template, no approval queue.
Tell us members, posters and who answers. We reply with the stage you are at and the one thing to change first.
The tool licence is the cheap part. The expensive part is people needing an hour to write, and needing to be genuinely sure they will not be told off for saying something slightly off-message. Most programmes buy the tool and skip both.
Do this: Before buying anything, write down what somebody is allowed to say without approval. If the answer is nothing specific, the programme will fail whatever you buy.
The clearest documented return on employee posting shows up in recruiting: candidates who arrive knowing what the work is like. That is easier to attribute than pipeline and it is usually the honest justification.
Do this: Ask new hires where they first heard of you. If a colleague post appears, that is your programme working.
This is teaching material and our own reading of standard practice, not advice for your specific community. Check anything important with your own specialist before you act on it.
How many members, how many post, who answers questions. We reply with the stage you are at and the one thing to change. No call, no pitch.