If you work in marketing and communications in your company, you know how important it is to get your client’s messaging right. When you’re representing a brand, you are controlling how the world understands and views companies all around the world. Everything from the branding to the promotional materials to the communication channels is important – and that directly can correlate to whether the company sinks or swims.
But did you know that this same line of thinking applies to your company? Internal marketing, in fact, can be some of the most important marketing you’ll ever do because it helps your employees understand your mission statement. Also, it empowers them to represent your company to the world.
At the end of the day, if you’re marketing your own company to your employees in an effective way, you’re creating free and effective advertising. That’s only going to help you in the long run. If you want to see your company get ahead in 2017, then follow our guide of six expert tips to push internal marketing. Here’s how you can get started right now.
What Is Internal Marketing?
Internal marketing is used within the branding and communications industry to describe a specific genre of its category, that is focused on internal employees as the target audience. This is different from the marketing one sees for big brands or clients in scope and visibility – but it is the same in concept.
By marketing the principles, mission and benefits of the company you work for to the employees who are supporting it, you help to educate them. You empower them to act as reliable, trusted, effective brand ambassadors in their spheres of influence throughout their lives.
From emails to lunch talks to presentations, you can deploy a layered internal marketing approach that helps inform your employees over time. Whether they work in customer service, are part of product fulfillment or are sales people – every person on your company staff will gain something from your internal marketing campaign.
Who Uses Internal Marketing?
The quick answer is that everyone does, but the person who deploys the plan often is in your marketing/ communications, public relations or customer service departments. Internal marketing campaigns are designed to teach your employees an overall brand strategy of your company or to inform them of a specific topic – such as a nationwide change in your policy that customers need to understand.
The staff in these departments often work with the heads of departments across a company to deploy that messaging, and they may send their communications a variety of ways including via:
- Email messages;
- Company newsletters;
- Posters;
- Brochures;
- Staff meeting presentations;
- Incentive programs.
How Can Internal Marketing Help My Business?
There are a variety of ways through internal marketing can help your business. Some of the top ones include:
- A better communication flow among the company staff and across departments;
- Employees who feel that they are empowered and more confident in representing the brand;
- A stronger brand in the market force;
- More content and loyal employees;
- Increased profits for your business;
- A strong team of cost-efficient brand ambassadors who support your company without coercion.
4 Tips for How Internal Marketing Can Help Your Company
No one can deploy an internal marketing campaign alone. You’ll need to gain the confidence of your senior administrators and the people who make the decisions in your company. From there, you can do your best work — putting marketing principles that you use for your clients to work for your company. Here are four tips to help you get started:
- Make Your Mission Clear. Launch your internal marketing campaign by telling your employees that you want to increase the communication flow among departments and give all staff the information they need to best do their jobs.
- Use Incentive Education. Make learning about your company fun by launching a training program that includes incentives such as prize giveaways over the course of the campaign.
- Learn to Trust Your Employees. When you trust your employees to communicate on your behalf, you make them happier, more loyal and more dependable.
- Test the Effectiveness at the Close of the Campaign. Close your internal marketing campaign by testing its effectiveness via internal surveys. You can give one survey before the campaign and one shortly. This way you determine how much your employees have learned and retained.
In Conclusion
Remember that internal marketing could – hands down – be the very best marketing you do for your company in 2017. When your customers truly understand the mission of your company and believe in its products and services, then they become empowered to talk about your company to everyone they come into contact with throughout their lives. They become your brand ambassadors, and you don’t have to pay them anything extra to do so.
This is good business in a variety of ways:
- Empowering: You give your employees the confidence to talk about the benefits of your company.
- Loyalty: When your employees feel valued, they’re loyal to your brand.
- Effective: When you market internally, you educate your employees so they have updated and correct information about your products and services.
Keep this quick guide handy as you develop your own internal marketing plan, and be sure to let us know what was helpful to you. Leave a comment below!
Plus: Do you have a tip you would like to add? What have you done that was effective in deploying an internal marketing campaign? Leave your tips and tricks for the community below!
Images from pixabay.com.