How Internal Marketing Can Help Your Business

Internal marketing is something that doesn’t get addressed at much as it should. Marketing your business is important, of course, but if you are missing out on internal marketing opportunities then your business will surely suffer the consequences. Are you having a difficult time retaining employees? Is there lackluster in your office? Do you need that extra push in your word of mouth marketing to help get your name out? All of these problems can be solved with internal branding, and we’ll show you how.

What is internal marketing?

Internal marketing, or internal branding, is exactly what it sounds like: an internal use of your marketing strategies. It is meant to keep your employees loyal to your brand much in the same way customers have brand loyalty. This also involves creating work spaces that employees enjoy being in, as well as merchandise that they can use and potentially share with their friends/family.

Enplug, a digital signage software, has a great description in this article:

Internal branding is a “continuous process in place by which you ensure your employees understand the ‘who’ and ‘why’ behind your business proposition” (Businessweek). Internal branding rarely gets the attention of external branding, yet it plays a crucial role in business success.

Internal branding can help you translate the elements of your brand into physical employee behaviors. If done correctly, it creates a virtuous cycle: Attract employees who love your brand, and those employees will communicate that brand to your partners and customers, thereby strengthening the brand and attracting even better employees. Southwest Airlines is a great example of this cycle: LUV attracts LUV, and everyone benefits.

How can it help?

Here is some of the best advice about internal marketing that we’ve found, starting with an insight from Electrum Branding, a business focused on helping you with branding:

Internal Marketing leads to happy employees, happier customers, stronger brand reputation and greater trust.

According to a study by the MSL Group, brand messages reached 561% further when shared by employees versus the same messages shared via official brand social channels. Social Media Today also discovered that content shared by employees receives 8x more engagement than content shared by brand channels.

Employees should be encouraged to share on social media, this improves customer relations and encourages potential customers to trust the company more by valuing the insights employees are sharing. Staff who believe in the brand give it a human voice and become brand ambassadors who can vouch for the company’s products and services on and off the clock. A Nielson Study showed that 84% of people trust recommendations from friends, family and colleagues over other forms of marketing.

When employees are engaged in a brand they will generally be motivated by their work and are more loyal to the company. If employees are unaware of a company’s objectives, there can be a disconnect with customers and prospects. Internal Marketing goes beyond HR and communication initiatives, with the growth of social media it’s important to have employees included.

Scikey Talent Commerce, a business that connects job seekers with employers, also has a great article on internal marketing. They do an interesting case study on the subject:

Case Study 1

Marketing Matters a 3-year-old marketing agency with about 50 people in the team. They have leased a villa at one of the most happening areas in the city and transformed that villa into a charming and modern office. They curated an engaging website, painted the office with company colors and created defined departments and cubicles for each of them. To keep their team happy, they offer fresh and lively vibe through-out the office with a casual attire and an inspiring wall of fame to motivate the team. This type of exciting office culture attracted the kind of candidates that company founders wanted and with the team, their business is soaring.

Case Study 2

Zola Entertainment, another 3-year-old advertisement agency made up of a team of 32 people using a rented 3BHK apartment for office in Delhi. The “office” is divided into random sections- the biggest room is occupied by the company owner, room two filled with tables and chairs is allocated to interns and 10 employees work in room three while the rest of the team is seated in the living room area of the office. Instead of covering the walls with brand colors, they opted for the most basic infrastructure with white walls and fluorescent tube lights. The company didn’t bother to even create a website for their own marketing and like medieval times, all important files and documents were stacked in the corner.  

Most importantly, the advertisement agency puts in no effort to make the team feel excited. Naturally, a lot of quality candidates ended up quitting the organization in less than 6 months, leaving the company with a very high attrition rate. Company in chaos and continuously changing team have cost the company many clients and ultimately a negative growth.

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If you were looking for a job, would you like to work at Marketing Matters or Zola Entertainment?  

To read more of this article, click here.

Now that you see the benefits of internal marketing, you should get started on planning the methods you want to use to achieve it. Internal marketing is just as important as external marketing, and the benefits are too good to resist.

Recap

Internal marketing:

-Helps grown your business

-Increases productivity

-Reduces attrition

-Brings in better talent

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