Determine the potential of existing employee brand ambassadors
This point is perhaps one of the most explosive in the entire process: You often read that those responsible for a planned corporate influencer program should first start by getting an overview of employees who are already active on social networks. However, this can lead directly into a legal trap (see note in the box).
Fortunately, there are other ways to identify at least a few particularly active employee brand ambassadors. Voluntary participation is the most important keyword here. With the right wording, a call to employees can also be fine - but you should think carefully about whether this should be done during the audit phase or at a later point in time.
Be careful when analyzing and listing employee profiles!
In the audit phase of a corporate influencer strategy, it can seem very useful to record all accounts and profiles of employees who are already involved in social media as company employees. Their engagement can, for example, consist of mentioning their employer in their short bio or actively posting about their professional topics or introducing their bank data employer - for example by sharing their employer's posts.
But there are legal pitfalls here. Lawyer Dr. Thomas Schwenke says:
"An employer may not specifically search for information about social media accounts or activities of employees, nor may they combine them into a social media profile of the person concerned or even analyze them. Even if the profiles are easily accessible, they are essentially private activities that employers must keep a low profile about. General monitoring is permitted, for example by searching for keywords or hashtags related to the company.
It can inevitably happen that private but publicly accessible postings by employees are also recorded. However, these may only be processed further if there are indications of a breach of duty or law. This would be the case, for example, if an employee advertises for the employer and this would constitute 'surreptitious advertising' for which the employer is jointly liable. In such a case, a conversation should be sought.