Internal communications

When we think about stakeholders in a brand, it’s easy to forget that one of your most important audience segments is right under your nose: your colleagues.

Used effectively, internal communications can transform employees into brand ambassadors, powering up your sales and boosting your bottom line. That’s why we work to ensure that internal and external communications operate in tandem, supporting and amplifying each other.

Starting with a solid strategy is essential, and we can work with your HR team and directors to devise, research and implement this, from conducting a communications audit to informal interviews with colleagues from across your business.

From there, we create a bespoke response that will allow you to open up your internal communications channels and see them flourish: from effective e-marketing campaigns, colleague newsletters, making the most of your intranet systems, or colleague awards and rewards schemes.

And don’t forget to get your colleagues’ buy-in on external messaging too: with the right encouragement, your team can become brilliant advocates on social channels such as LinkedIn, amplifying your posts and increasing reach. Consider investing in training, and including the wider team in marketing activity, to help empower them even further.

Switching on the internal comms megaphone

If you’re kick-starting an internal comms campaign for the first time, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are three questions to ask about your internal communications from the very beginning:

  1. Is your internal comms channel one-way only?
    If so, consider opening up a feedback channel so you can receive input from a broad range of perspectives, and truly understand what your team wants from internal comms. That way, you can maximise engagement by focusing on what works best.
  2. Are you reaching all of your audience?
    In the construction sector, a significant proportion of your colleagues are likely not desk-based, so you will need to adopt a multi-channel, multimedia approach to internal comms, with a mix of written content, visual media like video or animation, and physical collateral such as posters and handouts as well.
  3. Are you factoring your external comms messaging into internal comms, and vice versa?
    It’s highly likely that your colleagues are active on one or more social media channels, and may read industry news or see marketing collateral in branches or stores. The last thing you want is for external messaging to contradict your internal comms, so it’s essential that you keep messaging consistent between the two. If you have separate teams or individuals overseeing these two areas, working with the same agency for both can be a bonus, as your agency is the guardian of your brand, for internal and external audiences alike.

How to know when your internal comms is running smoothly

As part of any internal comms strategy, we would encourage our clients to implement a feedback mechanism, so people across the business can get in touch with their thoughts. That way, you know what needs to be adjusted, or what you should do more of.

You’ll be able to tell if your audience is engaged through e-marketing open and click-through rates, as well as an increase in engagement from your colleagues on social media channels – but it’s also worth keeping an ear out for anecdotal feedback, and spotting whether more people are participating in company initiatives too.

If engagement with your internal comms is low, or you simply don’t know how to start with internal comms for construction companies, it might be time to bring in an expert to help you get on the right footing.

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