In our hyper-connected world, social media is becoming an essential tool for advocacy. However, social media efforts need to be controlled, well thought out, and regulated. To accomplish this, employees must be trained, which not only ensures a common voice across social media platforms, but also makes those efforts more powerful. On average, employees trained in social media strategy are three times more likely to start sharing brand content in the first place, double the amount of that content, yield three times as many impressions, and generate 50 percent more clicks than untrained employees. This is mostly because well-trained employees have spent time building a quality network and understand the importance of relevant content. Trained employees are more credible and retain that credibility through engagement and active participation. “People are so fearful of getting out there in social media, but once they do it, and they get comfortable, it’s amazing the pivot they make,” says Nolan Carleton at AT&T. “Make sure whatever materials you have about your program are fun and engaging. Don’t make your program any scarier than it needs to be.”