Rallying the Troops: 5 Tips for Effective Internal Communications

The phrase “internal communications” can mean a lot of things – from keeping everyone in a company up-to-date on operational changes to effective project management. However, here at Off Madison Ave, we focus on internal communications as a way to align each individual in your organization behind your brand and marketing strategy. We like to say that “marketing is a three-legged chair” because it’s not simply enough for the marketing team to have a clearly-defined brand; both operations and customer experience must be committed to living out this brand through how they choose to approach product development, customer service, partnerships and more. Internal communications can help you achieve this alignment and cohesive direction by clearly communicating your brand positioning, target audiences, competitive differentiators and marketing plan.

Once you’ve identified that an internal communications plan is appropriate for your organization, how do you ensure that your outreach to your own teams is effective? Here are our top five tips for memorable internal communications that will have a lasting impact and create alignment within your four walls:

1. Make it personal. The best way to create long-term investment in your brand is to get your employees to understand – and care – about how they contribute to the bigger picture, but also individually benefit from an aligned organization. When first rolling out your brand positioning, for example, pass out index cards with your brand dimensions already filled in; for each brand dimension, each employee has to write a one-sentence commitment. For example, if one of your dimensions is “empowering innovation,” an employee in accounting could write “I will look for ways to use technology to streamline monthly billing for me and my co-workers.”

2. Use environment to remind and inspire. One-time emails or roll-out meetings won’t stick – and aren’t particularly motivational. Instead, create visual reminders of your brand or upcoming campaigns. When we worked with our client, Future Foam, to reinforce core value propositions and the StepAhead brand, we created posters to put in all their break-rooms and other employee gathering places. Another high-impact idea is to use a flat-screen TV in a high-traffic area and rotate through slides with upcoming events, your brand pillars, client success stories – even employee photos.

3. Make it fun. Consider a brand launch (or re-launch) event where you demonstrate what makes your organization special and set the stage for future marketing efforts. When Off Madison Ave was going through our own re-branding exercise, a few of us hosted a New York-themed party where everything – from the OMA-themed cocktails (of course, apples were a key ingredient!) to the green screen photography – tied back to our unique brand. We even got inspired by the Food Network show “Chopped” and challenged different groups to use random craft “ingredients” (think newspaper and gum) to create something inspired by one of our brand pillars. 

4. Reward those who live out the brand – and call out those who don’t. The beauty of a clearly-articulated brand that all of management buys into is that it serves as guidelines for how employees behave – to each other and to your customers. Consider modifying your quarterly and annual review process to evaluate employees on the basis of their commitment to your brand dimensions; you could even do a monthly award that recognizes an individual who embodies what your organization is all about.

5. Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. Internal communications is the opposite of cramming for an exam – simply overwhelming your employees with a one-time information dump will guarantee that they don’t retain anything. There are a variety of ways you can keep your brand top-of-mind with your employees; here are just a few:

• Monthly quizzes about your brand, marketing plan or organizational strategy
• Employee roundtables where you share stories about client successes
• Leadership embodiment of the brand (what better way to be inspired than seeing your boss live out words on paper)
• See #1, #2, #3, and #4!

About the Author: Christine Olivas

As an Account Executive for Off Madison Ave, Christine Olivas is the main point of contact for client accounts, simultaneously managing the nuts and bolts of campaign execution and representing each client’s broader brand strategy. Prior to joining Off Madison Ave, Christine held several B2B marketing positions for technology and media companies and got a dual Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies and Italian. She loves marketing because it allows her to exercise both the creative and process-driven sides of her brain, and in her spare time, she likes to box and sing karaoke.

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