Borrowing tactics from external marketing can help internal communicators achieve the results that matter to them.
Michael DesRochers is the founder and managing director of PoliteMail Software.
Everyone is familiar with external marketing. It’s TV commercials, event sponsorships and product placements in popular films. The goal: Convince consumers to buy goods or services.
What’s less common is the concept of internal marketing. This involves applying principles and strategies found in external marketing to internal corporate communications. It’s bringing the best of what happens outside of a business — raising brand awareness and boosting likability — inside. It’s marketing internally.
In a sense, every professional internal communicator is already practicing internal marketing — even if they don’t think of it that way. They’re asking their colleagues to read announcements and attend training sessions. They’re reminding staff members to submit expense reports before the deadline. They’re trying to get people to pay attention and act.
Borrowing tactics from external marketing can help internal communicators achieve the results that matter to them — and, by extension, to the company as a whole.
Internal vs. external marketing
To define the term in more detail, below are three key ways internal marketing differs from external marketing.
- Audience:
External marketing speaks to the public. It’s aimed at customers, both current and potential. Internal marketing, however, is meant for employees.
The two audiences may overlap in some aspects — age, location, income level — but remain distinct groups with a different relationship to the company.
- Objective:
As noted earlier, the goal of external marketing is to generate more revenue for the business, whether that’s through more sales or subscriptions.
Internal marketing, on the other hand, strives to establish a healthy flow of information between employees and departments. It seeks to keep workers informed about where the company is going and their role in getting it there. It’s about building trust through transparency.
- Responsibility:
While the marketing team, together with outside PR and advertising agencies, tends to handle a company’s external marketing, it’s less clear who’s responsible for managing internal marketing.
Is the HR department in charge? Should the marketing team lend its expertise on certain projects? Is there a dedicated team of internal communicators who can lead the initiative?
The answer, of course, depends on the individual organization.
Internal marketing examples
Many forms of internal marketing exist. Regardless of a company’s size or resources, below are four ways any professional communicator can start applying internal marketing techniques today.
- Research:
As the saying goes, know your audience. Marketers are focused on understanding everything they can about their customers. Their hopes, fears, desires and motivations.
In the same way, internal communicators should seek to understand their colleagues. What are their challenges? How are they feeling about the new vacation policy? What would make them happier at work?
The more professional communicators know about their audience, the better they’ll be able to speak to them in a way that resonates.
- Branding:
Although internal communicators don’t need to go as far as creating a new logo for their department, they should incorporate the power of branding in everything they do.
This means picking a certain style of presenting information and sticking with it. Examples include a unique color palette, a series of recurring images or introducing signature charts to help make sense of complicated data.
Strong branding signals to readers you’re serious. You care about the details. You’re a professional. You’re reliable.
- Tone of Voice:
Similar to branding, external marketers aim to establish a specific tone of voice in their messaging to stand out from the crowd. Internal communicators should do the same.
Rather than shifting from formal one week to casual the next, it’s best to settle on a manner of writing that remains consistent.
Over time, this will build familiarity and shape expectations, making communication with readers more effective.
- Selecting the Right Channels:
Every good marketer knows some mediums are better at reaching some consumer segments than others. If they want to engage younger people, video games or TikTok are good bets. For older people, however, traditional TV or a print magazine might do the trick.
Internal communicators should ask themselves the same question. Depending on their organization’s workforce, is it time to start a podcast? What about a weekly newsletter or in-person Q&A with a company executive every other Friday?
On the flip side, which channels are losing their luster? What means of communication should come to an end? Constant evaluation of how you’re fostering dialogue will keep conversations feeling fresh and vital.
The benefits of adopting an internal marketing mindset
The advantages of embracing the mindset of an external marketer are many.
If employees are reading company updates, responding to feedback, and generally keeping in the loop, they’re better prepared to pivot if necessary. This could mean taking advantage of a new opportunity or solving a problem that requires everyone’s input.
Well-informed employees operating in a healthy work environment are also more likely to understand the company’s mission and feel valued for their contribution. This leads to more productivity, higher satisfaction and lower turnover. It has a way of attracting more high-quality talent, too.
Adopting an internal marketing mindset doesn’t just make internal communications more engaging, it transforms the way employees experience and interact with the company. By applying the principles of research, branding, tone and channel selection, communicators can ensure their messages are not only seen but understood, remembered and acted upon. When employees are informed, motivated and aligned with the organization’s goals, the ripple effects touch every part of the business: productivity rises, collaboration improves and the overall workplace culture strengthens. Ultimately, thinking like a marketer internally isn’t just a communications strategy, it’s a strategy for organizational success.
The post Why internal marketing is essential for internal communications appeared first on PR Daily.
