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Good internal marketing materials (such as reports, newsletters, email, intranet, and magazines) are vital to engage and inspire employees, and to help them understand the brand vision. However, most internal marketing materials are so bland that they have the opposite effect. Here we provide some tips on how to ensure that internal marketing efforts are not targets for ridicule or cynicism.
1. Highlight Organizational Beliefs, Not Objectives
Beliefs come directly from the essence of the brand, exposing a great deal of the heart and soul of the organization. For example, a low-cost airline might state: “We believe that by providing travelers with cheap, affordable flights, we are allowing people to see more of the world.” Organizational beliefs like these should not really change over time. Objectives are different and are associated with how the organization will achieve its business goals. For example, “Our target market will be young travelers looking to see the world on a budget.” These organizational objectives can and will change over time in line with a changing business environment. They are vital, but beliefs are much more inspiring for employees because they provide them with something to care about.
2. Don’t Preach
A major reason why employees criticize internal marketing materials is that they appear to have been developed from too high up the organizational structure, and are out of touch with the realities of day-to-day business. As a result, they can come across as patronizing. It is good practice to research the target market (i.e. the employees) thoroughly, just as an organization would for an external campaign. This research will help discover what employees’ concerns are, what they are talking about and how they are saying it. Tapping in to exactly how employees express themselves means that the internal marketing materials can be created using the everyday language that employees use and understand.
3. Create the Materials to Suit the Purpose
Internal marketing resources must be designed with a purpose in mind, otherwise they will not be as effective as they should be. If the intention is for employees to use the materials in their daily work, they should be designed to be easy to use, e.g. a small pamphlet rather than a large, unwieldy book.
4. Be Creative
It is important to try to capture the imagination and attention of employees. People get bored of seeing the same things again and again (the same presentations, memos, emails, etc.). Research from external marketing shows that people’s attention spans are reducing. Effective internal marketing materials are simple but effective. They use whatever materials are available (graphics, photographs, videos, etc.) to create hooks to inspire and motivate employees.
Use humor or style to create memorable marketing materials. It is often the case that organizations create bland, boring and self-important internal communications materials simply through a need to be accurate and thorough. Using humor and style in different media such as films or cartoons, will communicate the spirit of the organization and brand essence to employees much more effectively than any PowerPoint presentation.
5. Test-Drive the Materials
Most marketing executives will have a range of methods for test marketing. These can include interviews, focus groups or launching a product in a small selected test area.
With internal marketing communications, it is a good idea to produce mock-ups of the marketing materials and test them on selected groups of employees to gage their reaction. By putting these materials to the test, the poorly conceived elements will be spotted. Any mistakes or issues, e.g. around language, can then be rectified. These tests will also show whether or not the message is actually getting across successfully.
6. Launch and Measure
Once the materials have been distributed throughout the organization, it is important to have a way of measuring the success of these materials in increasing employee engagement and effectiveness. Some methods of measurement include customer and/or employee feedback and satisfaction; or measuring employee retention and turnover levels. These will go some way to establishing the effectiveness of the internal marketing communications.
