The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast

DSMN8 - The Employee Advocacy Platform

Empower your employees like never before and learn how to own the social share of voice in your industry. Organizations all over the world in every sector are driving strategic competitive advantage by scaling the impact of their employees' voices… and now YOU can too! As we delve beyond the why and get straight to the how so that you can put employee-driven growth at the heart of your organization. Hosted by Bradley Keenan and Lewis Gray of DSMN8.

  1. Sep 23

    Why Employee Advocacy Programs Need a Dedicated Manager | Brittney Gilbert

    Why do employee advocacy programs need a dedicated manager to succeed over time? In this episode of The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast, hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome Brittney Gilbert, Employee Advocacy Strategy & Program Lead at Global Payments. Brittney manages the 'Genius Social Club' at Global Payments, leading program strategy, user enablement, and advocate scaling across the enterprise. In this episode, listeners will learn how dedicated management transforms an advocacy initiative from an overstretched add-on into a primary marketing driver. Brittney shares how Global Payments grew their user base from zero to 400+ advocates in five months, used gamified invite mechanics to trigger internal FOMO, coached subject matter experts toward original thought leadership, and used Earned Media Value (EMV) to prove hard ROI to executives. As organic corporate reach falls on social media, dedicated human leadership is the secret to scaling trust. This episode offers a clear playbook for social leads aiming to build sustainable, executive-backed advocacy programs. Resources: SURVEY NOW LIVE: Complete The Employee Advocacy Benchmark Report Survey. Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see how you compare against your competitors. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a call⁠⁠⁠⁠ to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘⁠⁠⁠⁠Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes⁠⁠⁠⁠’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. ⁠Download 'Stop Copy-Pasting Your Employee Advocacy'⁠⁠,⁠ a study of 517,374 LinkedIn posts. Subscribe to The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Buzzsprout so you never miss an episode!

  2. Sep 9

    How Do You Change Brand Perception on Social? | Biffa's Erica Perazza

    Most brands struggle to get a single colleague to share a post. Biffa built a program that people now ask to join. Erica Perazza is Social Media Lead at Biffa, the UK waste management and sustainability business, where she owns everything from LinkedIn and TikTok to community management and employee advocacy. In under four years, she has turned a fragmented social presence into a structured advocacy program built around one goal: changing the perception that Biffa is just bins and trucks. In this episode, Erica explains why she treats employee advocacy as part of Biffa's wider social media strategy rather than a separate channel, and why the employee is the channel. She walks through organizing advocates by region instead of department, the social masterclasses that took colleagues from never using social media to posting with confidence, and the gamification and recognition that keep momentum going. She also gets practical on measurement, covering why brand perception and sentiment come first, how she reads impressions and engagement together, and how advocacy reach stacks up against the corporate page. She closes on why every program needs relaunching over time. If you are trying to prove that advocacy is worth the investment, or you are stuck at the first fifty advocates, this one is for you. Perception, trust, and credibility are hard to attribute and easy to undervalue, and Erica makes the case for measuring them properly rather than forcing everything into an ROI spreadsheet. Follow The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or wherever you listen, and connect with Erica Perazza on LinkedIn. Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see how you compare against your competitors. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Book a call⁠⁠⁠⁠ to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘⁠⁠⁠⁠Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes⁠⁠⁠⁠’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. ⁠Download 'Stop Copy-Pasting Your Employee Advocacy'⁠⁠,⁠ a study of 517,374 LinkedIn posts. DSMN8 x OUTFRONT Media ⁠Case Study⁠. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  3. Aug 26

    How to Build Employee Advocacy in Cybersecurity with Ashleigh Perissi

    How do you build a global employee advocacy program in a high-stakes, highly competitive industry like cybersecurity? In this episode of The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast, hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome Ashleigh Perissi, Employer Brand & Social Media Strategist. Ashleigh brings a decade of experience building talent brands across defense, healthcare, pharma, technology, financial services, and cybersecurity.  In this episode, listeners will learn how to leverage employee advocacy as a core talent acquisition strategy that cuts ad spend and attracts passive candidates. Ashleigh shares actionable tactics on empowering recruiters with ready-to-share content, establishing brand safety guardrails against unauthorized AI graphics, navigating regional privacy cultures during a global rollout, and structuring rewards so every participant feels recognized. In competitive talent markets, candidates trust real employees far more than corporate ads. This episode provides employer brand leads and marketers with a blueprint for turning their workforce into their ultimate recruiting advantage. Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? ⁠⁠⁠Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check⁠⁠⁠ and see how you compare against your competitors. ⁠⁠⁠Book a call⁠⁠⁠ to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘⁠⁠⁠Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes⁠⁠⁠’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. ⁠⁠Download 'Stop Copy-Pasting Your Employee Advocacy'⁠⁠, a study of 517,374 LinkedIn posts. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  4. Aug 12

    How Employee Advocacy Outperformed Corporate LinkedIn by 13x | Camilla Erika Campbell

    How do you turn a 33,000-person enterprise into an active network of brand advocates? In this episode of The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast, hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome Camilla Erika Campbell, Social Media Lead at Wood. Camilla oversees social strategy and employee advocacy at Wood, a global leader in consulting, engineering, and operations across the energy and materials markets.  In this episode, listeners will learn how to transition an advocacy program from a basic content distribution add-on into a primary, high-performing strategic marketing channel. Camilla shares how focusing on advocate education and post personalization allowed Wood's employee network to deliver 82% of total campaign web traffic, outperforming their main corporate page by 13x. You'll gain actionable strategies on using UTM tracking to prove real ROI, balancing niche industry content with corporate priorities, and re-engaging inactive advocates through direct, human-centric communication.  As corporate page reach continues to decline on LinkedIn, marketing and comms leaders need reliable ways to drive authentic reach. This episode provides the exact roadmap to harness your workforce to build trust, boost traffic, and scale employee advocacy.  Subscribe to The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast so you never miss an episode! Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? ⁠⁠Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check⁠⁠ and see how you compare against your competitors. ⁠⁠Book a call⁠⁠ to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘⁠⁠Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes⁠⁠’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. ⁠Download 'Stop Copy-Pasting Your Employee Advocacy'⁠, a study of 517,374 LinkedIn posts. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  5. Jul 29

    How Philip Morris International Scaled Employee Advocacy with DSMN8

    How do you build a thriving global employee advocacy program in one of the most tightly regulated industries in the world?  In this episode of The Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast, hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome Verena Camesasca, Digital Creative Content Lead at Philip Morris International (PMI). Verena was instrumental in orchestrating the complete rebrand, relaunch, and global scaling of PMI's employee advocacy program, "InsideOut."  By tuning into this conversation, you'll discover how to transition from low participation to widespread advocacy across global teams. Verena breaks down how creating legally compliant content hubs, securing executive backing, leveraging live event activations with branded merch, and eliminating login friction via Single Sign-On (SSO) enabled PMI to generate millions in organic reach. You'll also learn practical strategies for scaling non-English content and keeping long-term engagement high.  Whether you're facing strict compliance barriers, platform migration headaches, or struggling to maintain user activity after launch, this episode provides a proven roadmap to turn employees into authentic brand storytellers.  Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check and see how you compare against your competitors. Book a call to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. Download The World's Biggest Employee Advocacy Study. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  6. Jul 16

    Why is Executive Visibility Vital for B2B Trust? | Lori Grey

    How do you get time-poor senior leaders and partners to actively advocate for your brand online? In this episode, we dive into the exact strategies needed to shift corporate social media from an afterthought into a powerhouse business development channel. Hosts Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley welcome corporate communications expert Lori Grey, founder of Greydient Communications. Having managed internal and executive communications for big four institutions like KPMG and Deloitte, Lori brings nearly 25 years of corporate expertise to the table, including firsthand experience scaling an in-house advocacy initiative to thousands of global participants. This conversation uncovers how to build an employee advocacy framework centered entirely around commercial outcomes rather than vanity metrics. Summarizing the primary lessons from scaling global programs, Lori explains why you must move beyond spreadsheets to specialized software, how to map executive LinkedIn profiles to your target ideal client profile (ICP), and the best methods for partnering with cross-departmental teams to prove hard-dollar ROI to your CFO. By framing social sharing as an essential form of business development, this episode helps marketing leaders solve the ongoing challenge of executive adoption, turning internal expertise into an un-invasive, continuous touchpoint for prospective buyers. Stop fighting the uphill battle of manual tracking and leadership skepticism. Hit play to learn how to transition your brand from corporate broadcasting to trust-driven human influence. Don't forget to follow and rate the show on Spotify or your favorite podcast app! Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check and see how you compare against your competitors. Book a call to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. Download The World's Biggest Employee Advocacy Study. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  7. Jun 17

    How Does Employee Advocacy Impact AI Search and AEO? | HubSpot's Gabrielle Herrera

    Answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) rely heavily on brand recommendations, mentions, and citations within AI-generated answers. Employee advocacy directly feeds these artificial intelligence models by distributing highly trusted, human-sounding employee-generated content (EGC) across social channels and communities like LinkedIn and Reddit. We are joined by Gabrielle Herrera, Leader of Community Growth at HubSpot, who details her fascinating journey taking HubSpot’s employee advocacy initiative from a 12-person pilot program to a global framework accessible to over 9,000 employees. Gabrielle shares how her extensive experience at the intersection of customer marketing, scaling growth, and global email strategy helped her design a sustainable roadmap for widespread workforce adoption. Throughout our chat, Gabrielle outlines why traditional SEO is evolving into Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), making decentralized community conversations across LinkedIn and Reddit vital for brand survival. She offers a masterclass on why customer success teams make the ultimate pilot testing ground, how to provide actionable content structure without destroying employee authenticity, and the continuous battle between deep-link attribution tracking and social algorithm health. Listeners will walk away with an exact understanding of how to move past uniform "lazy copy" and create an enablement framework that fosters intrinsic creator motivation, driving real enterprise growth. Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check and see how you compare against your competitors. Book a call to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. Download The World's Biggest Employee Advocacy Study. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

  8. Jun 4

    How G2 Drives LinkedIn Engagement with Employee Advocacy | Jenny Gardynski

    Ever wonder how G2 employees manage to completely dominate your LinkedIn feed with high-value content? In this episode, Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley sit down with Jenny Gardynski, Senior Director of Content and Communications at G2. With over 13 years of PR agency experience representing fast-growing B2B tech giants, Jenny knows exactly how to build authentic brand awareness from the inside out. Listeners will dive into the exact mechanics behind G2's manual advocacy program, learning how their communications team builds high-performing social kits, launches tactical Slack engagement loops, and embeds custom LinkedIn branding into new-hire onboarding. Jenny shares strategies on why workforce personalization outpaces corporate channels by 5x, how to execute strategic quarterly contests that prompt passive employees to start posting, and how to effectively build custom GPT structures to scale executive voices while completely eliminating robotic "AI-isms". If you're currently struggling to prove a proof of concept with a manual social pilot, or if your employees are hesitant to share content because they are afraid of sounding unauthentic, this episode provides a realistic blueprint. Resources: Want to know how your employee advocacy strategy really stacks up? Grab your FREE Employee Advocacy Health Check and see how you compare against your competitors. Book a call to discover how employee advocacy can benefit your team. Ready to elevate your employee advocacy? Get a free copy of Bradley Keenan’s essential book, ‘Employee Advocacy: 101 Cheat Codes’ for deeper insights and actionable strategies. Download The World's Biggest Employee Advocacy Study. Subscribe to the Employee Advocacy & Influence Podcast on Spotify or your favorite platform to never miss an episode.

About

Empower your employees like never before and learn how to own the social share of voice in your industry. Organizations all over the world in every sector are driving strategic competitive advantage by scaling the impact of their employees' voices… and now YOU can too! As we delve beyond the why and get straight to the how so that you can put employee-driven growth at the heart of your organization. Hosted by Bradley Keenan and Lewis Gray of DSMN8.