Post Performance Report: Brands who highlight their employees’ POV

It’s time for another edition of the Post Performance Report (PPR), a series where we showcase social media posts and campaigns inspiring us, and explore what makes them so genius. We unpack how your brand can use these examples to spark your own scroll-stopping ideas—while maximizing your budget and doing more with less.

We recently asked over 1,600 consumers who they wanted to see reflected more in brands’ social content. Their top answer: frontline employees. Not executive leadership, other customers or even social teams. According to Sprout Q4 2023 Pulse Survey data, 48% of respondents want to see the people behind businesses, not just those who run the brand account.

Let’s dive into our lineup of brands who shine the spotlight on their frontline employees, and how you can follow their lead.

Air Canada: Employees bring customer experience to new heights

Air Canada knows their employees are at the heart of every great customer experience. From flight crews who deliver above-and-beyond service to maintenance engineers who guarantee passenger safety, the airline relies on those on the frontlines to be ambassadors for their brand.

On social, they frequently shout out members of their team. Like in this post, where they thank those “behind the wings” who guarantee the safety of their passengers and the airline’s positive reputation.

Or this post celebrating National Flight Attendant Day.

Another social franchise, “With Class and Care,” features customer experience specialists, flight attendants and more who provide first-class service. In the videos, passengers who were especially grateful for their experiences thank the Air Canada employees who made them possible. Warning: These videos are absolute tear-jerkers, so watch them with care.

These touching posts are ‌among the brand’s top performers. The “With Class and Care” videos ‌garnered over 10 million views, out-performing other recent top-viewed posts by millions. Comments on the posts were overwhelmingly positive, with customers sharing their own memorable Air Canada experiences.

The play: By making meet the team posts a regular part of your strategy—or even developing a unique franchise like Air Canada—you can improve your overall social performance, boost brand awareness and encourage customer advocacy.

Mayo Clinic: Boosting essential workers

As one of the top-ranked medical centers in the US, Mayo Clinic employs 75,000+ essential workers with a wide range of specialties and functions. In their social content, the hospital system puts these employees in front of the camera and explains the day-to-day responsibilities of their many different roles.

Like in this TikTok, where interventional radiology technologists take part in the “I’m a _____, of course I ______” trend. The video gained almost 50,000 views and over 3,000 likes, with one user commenting: “You should do more videos like this to help people figure out if they would like to do this career.”

Mayo Clinic even has a Nursing TikTok account, where nurses share day in the life posts like this one.

This LinkedIn post explains how NICU transfer nurses play an essential role in caring for preterm babies.

Social content like this highlights the excellent care Mayo’s employees provide and the care and expertise they offer. Attracting new patients and recruiting more best-in-class healthcare professionals to their team.

The play: Does your audience understand what your frontline employees actually do? Use social to show them. Doing so will increase recognition of your employees’ contributions to customer experience and company success, while underscoring your employer brand and culture. Take a cue from Mayo Clinic and align your posts with the trends and tone of each platform. You can also consider spinning off new profiles to create even deeper connections between your people and audience.

UPS: Delivering the UGC content we need

UPS, the global shipping company, has a long-standing strategy of featuring frontline employees in their content. We even featured them in our January edition of PPR for doing just that. This time, we’re showcasing how they’ve mastered the art of incorporating user-generated content—created by frontline employees and happy customers alike—into their editorial calendar.

At a time when other brands are chastising (or even firing) employees who make positive social content, UPS is a shining example of what to do instead. Like in these TikToks of employees explaining why they love their jobs so much and how proud they are to work for UPS.

Or this TikTok of a happy customer explaining the bond she has with her UPS carrier, and how she always gives him samples of her small business’ products.

While this content racks up impressions and engagements, it also helps UPS create a competitive advantage on social. According to Sprout Listening data from June 9 to July 9, 2024, UPS has a higher sentiment than their top two competitors while also maintaining 93% share of voice.

The play: Reward your employees for creating positive UGC by reposting it on your channels (with their permission). Not only will your audience find your brand more trustworthy, it will also help you engage employees internally.

Milwaukee Public Library: Employees define the institution’s next chapter

In case you missed it, libraries and, more importantly, librarians are having a well-deserved moment on social. Members of all generations are finding comfort in these “third spaces” thanks to the librarians and other library personnel who champion the institutions on social.

The Milwaukee Public Library is an excellent example of that. In their content, they feature staff members explaining all of the things you can learn in the library in the most endearing (and relevant) way possible. Like this video of an archivist explaining how Milwaukee has changed over time through cemetery maps, transit maps and more. It received hundreds of thousands of likes and hundreds of positive comments. One user commented, “We’ve fallen in love with yet another member of the Milwaukee Public Library.”

Or this video of a library visitor spotting their favorite librarian.

The library’s content featuring their employees has helped them earn critical acclaim. In April 2024, Milwaukee Public Library was nominated for a prestigious Peabody Award for its social media presence. The Peabody committee wrote that Milwaukee Public Library “uses TikTok and Instagram to educate their community on what libraries offer and get young people excited about books at a time when book bans are increasing across the country. Using memes, trending music, and pop culture references, the library’s accounts highlight real library users, librarians and library features in fresh and fun ways.”

The play: Highlighting your frontline employees can reach people’s hearts and minds far beyond your community. And it can certainly reinforce why your institution matters and what it offers to your constituents—even if it is in a light-hearted way.

Shedd Aquarium: Celebrating aquatic allies

While it’s difficult to imagine anything cuter than Wellington the penguin, Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium keeps wholesome vibes alive by delighting audiences with content featuring their animal care teams and volunteers.

Like these photo-ops and selfies illustrate, there are many people responsible for the care of the animals and the maintenance of the aquarium.

In this video, Shedd volunteers explain their roles and responsibilities, and give viewers a look behind the scenes as they feed animals, conduct research and interact with guests.

The aquarium relies on volunteers in almost every aspect—including at the aquarium itself and in their conservation efforts. By giving social users a peek “backstage,” it entices more people to volunteer, and enables the program to continue flourishing.

The play: Your current employees and volunteers hold the keys to creating compelling recruitment content. By allowing them to explain in their own words what they do and why they enjoy it, you will create more buzz around your open positions and opportunities.

Media spotlight: Shameless Media’s “Sh-Office”

When you think of “frontline employees” you probably don’t think of media companies. But technically employees who aren’t on-air or in front of the camera still count. Or at least they do in our book for the sake of sharing this example.

Melbourne-based Shameless Media’s “The Sh-Office” is a documentary-style series featuring all of the women who work in the company’s office, including those who typically prefer being off mic. The format of the videos takes inspiration from the legendary show “The Office,” complete with the theme song, contradictory interviews and a bit of satire.

Like in episode 1, where there seems to be a discrepancy about who caused the egregious stain on the new rug.

The media company also frequently shares tiny mic interviews with their staff. Content featuring their team has become a fan favorite, with one user commenting: “I want to binge a full season [of The Sh-Office].” Another added: “If I was going to work in an office, I’d want it to be this one.”

The play: Frontline employee content doesn’t have to be serious. Have fun with it. Put the unique culture of your organization on full display.

Go live from the frontlines

That concludes this month’s installment of the PPR. Stay tuned for next month’s edition, where we’ll feature our lineup of our favorite B2B brands on social right now. In the meantime, remember these key takeaways:

Post Performance Report Takeaways

• Make content featuring frontline employees a regular part of your content strategy. Don’t forget that this can include UGC.
• Your followers want to see what your employees actually do day-to-day. Showing them can improve your recruitment efforts.
• The best frontline employee content showcases the culture of your brand and the personality of your employees. The more human the better.

Looking for more ways to leverage your employees on social? Check out our guide to creating an employee advocacy influencer plan.

And if you see a social post or campaign that deserves to be highlighted, tag us @sproutsocial and use #PostPerformanceReport to have your idea included in a future article.