Internal Marketing: Are We Forgetting Something?

Before we dive into the details, I wanted to include a couple of lines about myself and to advise you on what to expect from this column.

Yours truly has lived in three different continents, with the last nine years of them in Asia. I am tech savvy, I love sports (although I should do more), I have three children that were born and raised in HK, and a loving wife that supports me (most of the time). Since 2010 I’ve lead the emarsys operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

My column will focus on professional tips and tricks, personal thoughts and perspectives from myself and my team, in the areas of “email” and related topics.

I am hoping to hear from you with your thoughts, as well as feedback about my column and areas you’d like me to cover. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

This column focuses on people. Yes, people. Well, it’s more about staff. Why it is relevant you may ask? People are the most important resource of any company. Products, prices, packaging, and all the rest will not translate into profits if there aren’t good people behind the company.

There are many ways to communicate with employees and staff in order to motivate them, empower them, and ensure they’re aligned with the company goals. This overall process is called internal marketing. You can read more here.

So, as I have mentioned there are many different ways to communicate with staff – Facebook, Wikis, intranets, social CRMs, and more. All of these are being used by our group. But when it comes down to simplicity, speed, and the most utilized channel to reach out to employees of the group, email is the best way forward.

In our group we have monthly email newsletters that are sent to every employee in our group. From sales, clients services, tech, HR, marketing, juniors, seniors, and spanning all continents. This monthly email is very much anticipated by everyone. Why? Simply because it connects us to the group and ensures us that we know and are being informed about the news updates across the organization we work in and puts our future in.

When you’re looking at internal marketing, I’d recommend covering the following topics in an organized fashion:

New employees:

• If you are working under a group/across several offices, include an update on newcomers with their roles and titles. The same applies to large corporations with many people in one location.
• Share photos, achievements, and rewards of employees.
• Ensure you’re incorporating the personal stories of staff in their personal lives. E.g., volunteering, personal achievements, etc.

Products and services:

A special section should be always dedicated to the products and services of your organization. Among others, this section should include:

• New products launched
• Availability of services to clients
• Product upgrades and changes
• If you have new training documents, manuals/brochures, or videos -link them in.

Company development:

Staff always love knowing in which direction the ship is heading; here you can elaborate on:

• New office launches
• Restructuring
• Appointment of management
• In case of public companies, stock information, and reviews from financial houses on the stock, or plans to go public may be shared.
• Photos from team building or company events

Client wins:

This area is potentially the most important. We all like to show off and wave around the logos of our best customers. It shows that as a company you are successful in what you do and that well-known brands trust you with their business. Emphasize:

• New client wins
• Testimonials
• Case studies
• Penetration into new verticals served
• Customers in new geographical territories

Upcoming business events:

For dessert, sum it up with the events your company will run/attend. Visually, you can display a calendar of events: from exhibitions, conferences, internal company events, celebrations, etc.

Ah, and I almost forgot – be social!

• Link names and photos of people to their social networks (naturally ask for their consent)
• Share photos from events of individuals on your Facebook page, Flicker, Pinterest, etc.
• Allow the users to share the information from the newsletter into social networks – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Sina/QQ Weibo, Kaixin001, and RenRen.

That’s all for now. In my next column I will visit some more commercial issues, such as driving ROI, mobile, and many other exciting topics.

Stay tuned, Ohad.