How Inside Advertising Helps You Construct a Sturdy Model From the Inside Out [Experts Weigh In]

As an ‘exterior’ marketer, I’ve to say that I hadn’t given a lot thought to inner advertising till I began writing this text.

My first thought was … that’s not my job. However the extra I dug into the topic, I spotted that’s not fully true.

Anytime I share a brand new content material sequence or weblog marketing campaign throughout our inner channels and encourage my colleagues to assist advertise, that’s inner advertising.

Once I lead onboarding classes for brand new hires or acknowledge my teammates for his or her nice work as a part of our efficiency evaluation course of, that counts too.

*quietly provides inner advertising to renew*

Right here’s every part else I realized about inner advertising — the advantages, the methods that specialists suggest, and some extra examples of what it seems to be like in follow.

Desk of Contents

Inside advertising and employee experience work together. Your internal marketing strategy should take into account every connection point that an employee has with your company — from onboarding to the exit interview.

Internal Marketing vs Internal Communication

Here’s how I used to simplify the difference between marketing and communication back when I was a baby marketer:

• Marketing is brand promotion.
• Communication is information sharing.

The same goes for internal communication and internal marketing. They go hand in hand, but the two aren’t an exact match.

Going back to our definition of internal marketing above, it focuses on the act of promoting a brand to employees with the goal of encouraging them to buy into the company’s culture and values.

For example, an internal marketing play could be giving employees free access to your products for personal use. That’s alone isn’t technically internal communication.

The purpose of internal communication is to keep everyone informed of company updates and aligned with core objectives.

If HR sends a company memo announcing a new process update, that’s an example of internal communication that doesn’t really fall under internal marketing.

I’m using qualifiers like ‘technically’ and ‘really’ because the reality is that these two processes work together and often blend into each other.

Internal Marketing vs External Marketing

The main difference between internal and external marketing is the audience.

Internal marketing is focused on employees, while external marketing is for prospects and customers outside of your organization.

But the concept of promoting your brand and encouraging buy-in to your products and services is true in both cases.

Why is internal marketing important?

Internal marketing is important because it directly supports employee engagement.

And data shows that prime engagement results in:

• An 18% increase in worker productiveness.
• As much as 43% much less turnover. Good.

When workers really feel linked to their work, they have a tendency to work tougher. All that further effort results in will increase in buyer satisfaction and loyalty, gross sales, and finally, profitability.

Who’s chargeable for inner advertising?

The individuals operations or human assets staff is often chargeable for managing an organization’s inner advertising technique. HR administration duties like worker relations, studying and growth, and firm tradition are all capabilities of inner advertising too.

Bear in mind how I mentioned inner advertising isn’t my job?

Effectively, technically, it isn’t. Nevertheless, I do take part in (and promote) inner advertising efforts as an worker. And it is seemingly that you just do, too.

*retains inner advertising on resume*

Advantages of Inside Advertising

I discussed worker engagement as an enormous plus for investing in inner advertising. I talked to the specialists and compiled a couple of extra causes to contemplate under.

You’re constructing a staff that (truly) cares.

Holly Andrews, managing director at KIS Finance, says one of the best inner advertising methods assist workers really feel invested within the larger image.

“An efficient inner advertising technique does greater than align individuals with firm objectives. It builds a staff that genuinely cares,” says Andrews.

“I bear in mind when a brand new rent as soon as mentioned, ‘I truly really feel like I‘m a part of one thing right here.’ That’s the purpose — ensuring everybody seems like they‘re not clocking in however connecting with the model’s story.”

You’re cultivating a way of neighborhood at work.

Mike Szczesny, proprietor and vice chairman of EDCO Awards & Specialties, shared how inner advertising permits him to attach together with his workers — and why that’s price it.

“An inner advertising technique that celebrates wins, shares behind-the-scenes tales, and highlights the influence of our work helps domesticate a vital sense of belonging,” says Szczesny.

“The advantages are quite a few — greater worker satisfaction and retention, a stronger employer model that pulls prime expertise, and a workforce that is actually invested in our success as an organization.”

He continues, “On the finish of the day, our persons are our biggest asset, and an inner advertising technique that makes them really feel valued and a part of one thing larger pays dividends.”

You’re creating larger model alignment.

For Remy Smidt, model strategist at Fazer, one of many largest advantages of inner advertising is alignment from prime to backside.

“If you happen to walked into NASA throughout the ’60s and requested what they had been as much as and why they had been there, everybody would say, ‘to place a person on the moon,’” says Smidt.

The underside line is that everybody is aware of what the enterprise is working towards, is engaged and excited in regards to the mission, and understands their half in making it occur. That’s the results of good inner advertising.

Inside Advertising Methods

I additionally talked to the specialists to tease out a couple of inner advertising methods that they use at their very own corporations. Listed here are 5 of my favorites.

1. Personalize the onboarding course of.

Every new rent has a distinct studying fashion and set of duties, so make certain your onboarding process reflects that.

As Hnatiuk notes, promoting your mission and culture code during onboarding is also a great way to get employee buy-in from the start.

As an incoming marketer at HubSpot, I completed a general get-to-know-the-company onboarding track and a team-specific blog and marketing onboarding track. The format was a mix of videos, live sessions, and independent research.

It was comprehensive, engaging, and just what I needed to feel invested as a new employee.

2. Use storytelling to engage employees.

Employees want to understand their role in your brand’s story as you progress through each chapter together.

Sounds corny, I know. But I’ve left jobs in the past because I didn’t feel like I was actually contributing to the end goal.

I couldn’t understand why the work I was doing was worth it (and nobody was telling me why, either), so I disengaged.

Building your brand’s story into your internal marketing strategy and reminding employees what you’re working toward builds transparency and trust.

Speaking of …

3. Create transparent communication channels.

Here’s where internal communication meets internal marketing.

Keeping your employees well-informed is a special yet indirect form of promotion that inspires your employees to become your biggest ambassadors.

Your internal marketing strategy should clearly outline your communication channels and outreach process to allow you to easily share timely and relevant updates with your teams.

And don’t forget that communication is a two-way street. Be sure to create ways for employees to reach out about problems and issues or with feedback and suggestions.

As Glaser said, transparency builds trust. And the first step is effective communication.

4. Integrate values into daily actions.

I love this one.

Sharing your company values during onboarding is great, but it shouldn’t be the only touch point. As Stelle says, all of your internal marketing messages and materials should reinforce your mission, beliefs, and North Star.

Employees can easily advocate for your brand if they know what they’re advocating for and why.

5. Send regular employee surveys.

I’m a big fan of asking people what they want instead of trying to guess. I’m willing to bet big money that the companies who give their employees pizza parties instead of tangible benefits aren’t asking the right questions.

Send employee feedback surveys often and ask specific questions about your internal marketing activities. What do they like? What do they want to see more of? What isn’t resonating with them?

Then, use these insights to refine and improve your strategy.

Internal Marketing Examples

OK, onto the fun part. I’m giving you a peek behind the curtain at some of my favorite internal marketing plays as a HubSpotter.

The Culture Code

This one’s probably a given, but HubSpot’s Culture Code is SO good. It started out as an internal document and, in the true spirit of transparency, has been publicly available for years.

Our tradition code has additionally been identified to draw new workers, which seems like each an inner and exterior advertising win.

Product Studying Hours

Every month, our Product Advertising staff hosts a ‘Product Studying Hour’ which is a coaching session for the whole advertising staff on the shoppers, merchandise, and use circumstances for HubSpot’s buyer platform.

From product demos to continued studying, these classes guarantee everyone seems to be aligned on our messaging. This helps us do our jobs higher as exterior entrepreneurs.

Facet observe: I additionally co-led a studying and growth program particularly for the HubSpot Weblog staff. We centered our curriculum on subjects our friends had been invested in probably the most, like technical web optimization, networking, and time administration.

Right here’s one of many actions we did:

Simply one other instance of inner advertising in motion (and try #3 of me making the case to incorporate inner advertising on my resume).

Peer Recognition Packages

I 🧡 my friends, so I’m all the time searching for alternatives to sing their praises.

At HubSpot, we’ve a number of choices to supply peer suggestions together with the extra formal submit-through-the-portal suggestions loop that filters into efficiency critiques.

However certainly one of my favorites is our weekly ‘Friday Props’ roundup on Slack.

Each Friday, people throughout our media org have the choice to tag somebody they’re grateful for that week and share a phrase or two about what makes them particular.

Right here’s one somebody left for me some time again:

“I’m giving my peer reward to Alana Chinn, one of many hardest-working and most versatile individuals on this staff. If you happen to’re on the Weblog Group, you know the way a lot of a drive she is.”

BRB, crying.

Let Your Firm Tradition Promote Itself

Good inner advertising begins with an funding in your workers.

While you construct a method that evokes model advocacy at each degree, you’ll be capable to put a few of the onerous promoting on autopilot when you give attention to delighting your workers, prospects, and clients.

And then you definitely, too, can add inner advertising to your resume.