When you’re focusing on achieving business success, there are many demands on your attention—products, customers, external marketing, and sales figures, to name just a few. These are all essential and worthy of your time. However, it’s important not to forget about another key ingredient for success: your employees.
Companies thrive when their workers are committed and motivated. Uniting staff behind your company vision and ethos is integral to cultivating such a workplace, and that’s where internal marketing comes in. We’re going to explain all the ways that internal marketing can have an impact on your employees—but first up, let’s discuss internal marketing in a bit more detail.
What is Internal Marketing?
Whether your business provides legal services or sells AI call center software, it has a unique culture, vision, and set of values. Internal marketing is the means by which you communicate all of this to your employees, with the goal of getting them fully on board.
Sometimes called internal branding, it’s a strategy that covers all communications between leadership and the rest of the organization. Everything from company-wide announcements to virtual team meetings is an opportunity for internal marketing.
The goal is to positively influence how employees perceive and engage with your organization to create a workplace where everyone is committed to the company ethos and mission. Individual goals are aligned with wider organizational goals, and every employee is present and dedicated.
Higher Employee Engagement
Employee engagement can have a wide-ranging effect on your business. Alongside coaching and mentoring, internal marketing is one of the most powerful tools to get your workforce connected, engaged, and motivated.
It can make the difference between employees who are just showing up and going through the motions and a team that’s passionately united behind the same vision.
Using a strategy that is tailored to your company’s goals and culture, you can create an environment where employees feel a real sense of belonging—one where they see their own beliefs and ambitions fit in with organizational values and goals. This is an atmosphere where employee engagement can skyrocket.
Fostering a Positive Company Culture
Company culture isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the very fabric of your organization. But without an internal marketing strategy, the company culture you are nurturing may not be the kind you intended. Every communication has an impact on that culture, sometimes in unexpected ways.
With a careful approach to internal marketing, you can create a culture where all employees feel they are valued, respected, and supported. When you empower your employees in this way, they, in turn, become ambassadors for your company’s culture.
They bring the company’s values and mission into every aspect of their job roles and play a part in convincing other team members to do the same.
Tailored Training and Development
Investing in your employees’ growth is an investment in your company’s future. A strong internal marketing plan should incorporate many initiatives for training and career advancement.
These schemes can deal with anything, such as technical support for everyday things like how to transfer calls from landline to cell phone or how to use virtual meeting software.
Or, they could be on a larger scale, like in-depth workshops on the latest industry trends or expert guest speakers at a company-wide event. Each individual benefits from additional learning and growth, and the company profits from a more skilled workforce.
Improved Communication Channels
Communication is the backbone of any good relationship. The same holds true for the employer-employee dynamic. Internal marketing opens up free-flowing communication between leadership and the rest of the company.
This is because regular team meetings and feedback sessions are a core part of an internal marketing strategy, ensuring that every voice in the company has a chance to be heard.
This helps to develop transparency and trust, and in this environment, collaboration thrives. Employees know that their opinions matter, and a greater sense of unity is established.
Internal marketing serves to make your messaging clear and exciting so every person in the company is aligned with the company objectives.
This doesn’t just mean an awareness of the organization’s goals. All employees should feel a personal stake in achieving them. This unity helps everyone work together towards success.
Motivation and Productivity Boost
Motivation fuels productivity, and internal marketing, when done right, ignites motivation. Your strategy should include regularly recognizing and cheering on employee achievements. They don’t have to be big achievements. Even celebrating small milestones can have a big impact.
What this does is create a workplace that values continuous improvement in the most positive way. Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to go above and beyond.
They will be motivated to take full ownership of their role, which naturally leads to greater productivity and higher-quality work.
Retention of Valuable Talent
Following “The Great Resignation,” a time that saw an abnormal number of people quitting their roles, companies must still take measures to retain top talent against the backdrop of a difficult job market.
This is where internal marketing shines. By promoting the company brand to employees and listening to their voices, internal marketing cultivates loyalty and connection to the organization.
When employees are engaged and fulfilled in their roles, they’re less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere. Turnover rates are therefore lower, so you can spend less time and money on expensive recruitment drives. And with only 25% of employees confident about the future of their careers in their current organization, now is the time to tackle employee retention.
Recognition and Rewards Systems
Acknowledging outstanding performance is a big part of internal marketing—doubling the number of employees who feel their achievements are recognized can lead to a 9% increase in productivity. But this should go further than just the occasional nod of recognition.
You should have a structured and comprehensive employee recognition and reward system in place so everyone is recognized fairly and nothing ever gets missed.
Alongside an actionable employee benefits program, this is the most tangible way you can give your team the recognition and rewards that they deserve.
This doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Even gestures with lower-monetary value can go a long way to making people feel appreciated. Think about what you want to reward employees for and create a clear and consistent reward scheme so your team knows their contributions are valued.
Feedback-Driven Improvement
Listening to your employees should not just be a box-ticking exercise. What you learn from their input can help to inform changes that benefit the workforce and the whole company.
Internal marketing uses surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gather valuable feedback from staff. This input will clearly demonstrate common concerns, problems, and areas of the business that can be improved.
Armed with that information, you can make changes to create a better working environment for your team.
Cultivation of Employee Well-Being
Employees are your most valuable asset, and their well-being should be a top priority. Internal marketing also comes into play in this area because it includes the promotion of good work-life balance, mental health support, and a caring work environment.
A crucial part of this is making sure that all staff members are aware of what information or support is available to them—don’t take it for granted that they do.
You may have employees Googling “what is HRIS” before they can even take advantage of the employee experience tools it provides. Supported employees will be able to show up at their best, so you have a happier, healthier workforce.
Continuous Evaluation and Adaptation
The world of business is constantly evolving, and so too should your internal marketing strategies. Regular evaluation and adjustment are vital. Keep coming back to your internal marketing strategy and assessing its impact.
The feedback loop from staff should also be continuous so you can see how their views change over time and what you need to adapt. New concerns may come to light that hadn’t been there before.
For example, you discover a popular sentiment that there should be more internal opportunities for career paths in organizational leadership or a growing need for flexible working arrangements. Keeping in touch with employees’ perspectives will help keep your internal marketing efforts relevant and impactful.
Internal Marketing Is a Smart Investment
Internal marketing keeps employees engaged, creates a positive company culture, and helps your business to succeed. Every communication that leadership and HR instigate is an opportunity to cultivate a better working environment.
Defining your business goals and desired company culture is only the first step. To make them a reality, you need your workforce to share in the company vision and to take it on as their own.
When internal marketing succeeds, it transforms employees from unengaged workers to committed advocates for the company and its mission. By understanding the impact internal marketing has on your employees, you can comprehend what a lucrative investment it is.
An engaged, happy, dedicated workforce is more motivated and productive—bringing you closer to your business goals, growth, and prosperity.
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