The right blend of internal resource and external expertise. That’s the model I’ve always preached to clients when it comes to building a team to use social media successfully. Each business does it differently, and there’s a cyclical nature to how much work is outsourced, but the mix is all important. However, the rise of employee generated content (EGC) has added a new ingredient to consider.
A definition of EGC
When I talk about EGC, I’m thinking about content created by employees and used on their company’s social media feeds. The employees themselves may have their own social media footprint (and might be aspiring influencers) but that’s not what we’re looking at here. We’re interested in them creating content for the business to use instead of it being outsourced to an agency. It’s also important to consider the style of content – a lower production, authentic style. We’re not talking about an employee who works in the design team creating beautiful graphics in Adobe InDesign.
Much of this content is likely to actually feature an employee. How they appear depends on the product or service, but essentially they’re acting as models for an internal shoot. It’s just a shoot that’s purposefully designed to feel lo-fi and filmed on a phone.
What’s the shift?
Throughout 2025 there definitely seems to be a growing interest in sourcing this sort of content, particularly in the business-to-consumer sector and especially retail where there is plenty of product to feature.
The likes of TikTok increasingly showcase ‘scrappy’ content which encourages the use of native fonts, trending music and video/imagery that isn’t (traditionally) beautifully crafted. We know content creators have understood this for a while, but it feels like larger organisations are now seeing the numbers stack up for this approach.
The immediate logic seems clear…
- We can see that EGC style content works well
- We have employees with the expertise to produce this sort of content
- We can create it in a timely manner
- We can save on cost by cutting out the agency
But is it as easy as all that?
Considerations for an EGC shift
Introducing a stream of EGC style content feels appropriate for many types of business, but before handing over your Insta login details and sitting back to relax, there are plenty of considerations for governance and operational planners…
1. When does EGC content fit
The nature of your business will influence how good a fit EGC is for connecting with your audience. Perhaps there are certain streams of activity which can be entirely EGC-focused, while others continue with a more traditional, design-led focus. An entirely EGC approach is quite bold!
2. The role of (larger) influencers
Working with larger external influencers brings a wide range of benefits, notably the reach and credibility they command. The style of content they create may look similar to your EGC, but it’s serving quite a different purpose. With an external influencer, the audience is focusing on the fact that this is a third party, not an employee – employees can give their view (e.g. their pick of the week) but they still work for the business in the eyes of the customer.
3. The role of smaller external content creators
I’ve posted about different types of external expert, including smaller content creators who are chosen for the content they create, not the size of their following. In some cases their content is only used on the company feed and never posted to their own. This is the group which feels most ‘at risk’ from a shift to EGC.
If we’re working with external creators only for their content, and we can get employees to create content that works just as well, then why work with an outside party? This is where a subjective call of “does it really work as well” (brand) and an objective view on performance (conversion) must come into play.
4. The social media quarterback
I’ve used this phrase for over a decade, although funnily enough I’ve only just got into American Football! I use it to describe the person at the hub of your social media operation – they are the one with a view across everything.
With a shift to EGC, there’s a real danger that demand on the ‘quarterback’ becomes unmanageable. “Just get some of the employees to create some posts” does not appreciate the logistics, planning and quality control requirements of making EGC work well. Who is deciding what to post about? Who is identifying the latest trending sounds or creative styles to incorporate?
This isn’t to say it can’t be managed internally, but the right structure, processes, training and ways of working need to be set in place and bought into by everyone.
Working with an external agency involves a cost of course, but the volume of small tasks to take creator content from ‘draft’ to ‘ready to publish’ is easy to underestimate. You can’t simply cut out the supporting work an agency does and expect your social media manager to pick up the slack.
5. EGC is more timely
This is a strong argument for EGC. Agency support, especially if they are contracting influencers to create content, will always require more planning and briefing time than doing it internally. However, with the right ways of working and contractual setup, external content creators can still deliver content with a swift turnaround.
This is where it gets really interesting from an agency model perspective… do we contract creators, do we hire creators on a rolling contract to be available when needed, do we hire creators as full time staff, do we hire creators and implant them with our clients…
The final option here has many merits – balancing agency support and guidance with the flexibility and reactiveness of the individual being right there in the office. In-sourcing isn’t a new concept of course – the likes of Oliver have used that approach for years.
The model for 2026
How far we see businesses move into EGC in 2026 will be fascinating, although somewhat tricky to evaluate from an external perspective – the ‘talent’ we see in lo-fi content could quite easily be an external content creator or an employee.
There’s no doubt that EGC can play an effective part in an organisation’s social media content mix, but keeping in mind the supporting structure that sits around it and the nature of what you’re trying to communicate will remain key.
Right, time to film myself saying something witty about slp consulting…