How to create an internal comms strategy which ensures comms are always noticed
The benefits of a good internal comms strategy are endless. You have more engaged, and informed salespeople, all of your sales associates are more productive, and workplace satisfaction goes up along with conversions. Why is this?
Because when a sales associate feels like they are in the loop, it makes them feel like they are a valued partner in your business. When they feel more respected and recognised, it makes them want to engage more because they have a purpose.
They don’t just feel like a number in a huge corporate machine. They know why their efforts are crucial for business success and how their actions impact the overall success of the business. Of course, this only happens if you have a great internal comms strategy where your content never goes unnoticed.
So why are so many internal comms teams getting it wrong?
57% of employees report not being given clear directions, and 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees.
What’s even more staggering is that only 5.9% of companies communicate their goals daily.
So before we get started, it’s important to find out:
What makes a poor internal comms strategy and why does your content go unnoticed
#1 You’re not consistent with your comms – When you don’t have a consistent posting schedule, it makes it hard for employees to keep up with what you’re saying. Perhaps one week, you send out five articles, and then the next two weeks, your employees hear nothing from you. This lack of timely posting will dramatically decline your engagement levels because, as humans, we like consistency because it means we know what to expect.
#2 You’re not clear on who you’re talking to – Of course, you know that you’re writing for your team, but you’ve lost sight of who they are, what they like, what they dislike and what motivates them. As a result, your comms lack compelling content, which keeps them interested in what you have to say.
#3 You don’t measure anything – You publish your comms and hope for the best. You’re not looking at what’s working and what’s not, so you can’t refine your strategy. When you’re constantly tweaking your comms and repeating what works best, you can expect maximum engagement.
#4 You don’t listen to your sales associates – You publish your internal comms without getting feedback from your employees. Let’s use an example here, perhaps you release a piece of content about your new returns policy. A great way to tweak and refine it would be to ask your employees to comment on what they did, and didn’t find helpful and what they would like to see more of. This let’s them know that they have permission to ask questions and give feedback. And as a result, it makes them feel more engaged with what you have to say. Having two-way communication is essential to boost readership.
#5 You’re not clear on your company’s vision or mission – If you’re not crystal clear on the vision and the mission of your company, then you’re going to struggle to write consistent and coherent comms which impacts the overarching goal of your company. This can lead to random, messy-looking comms, which repels your readers because they’re confused.
#6 You're not incentivising your staff - Your sales associates are busy, and reading your comms is the last task on their to-do list. Encourage them to stay engaged with virtual recognition. Our platform allows you to send digital Kudos and trophies to reward and recognise employees for their engagement and commitment to staying in the loop.
# You’re not personalising your comms - You’re sending out blanket messages to everyone in your organisation without thinking about whether the message is useful or relevant to them. If you continue to do this, employees will gradually stop reading your comms because they will always assume that the message isn’t for them. To overcome this, we’d suggest using a platform such as Ocasta Engage. Used by the likes of Virgin Media O2 and Next; Engage only sends targeted and relevant content to your employees, so their newsfeed is always tailored to them and their role.
Now that you’ve got a clear picture of why your internal comms might go unnoticed, let's start looking at how to create comms your employees never miss.
Steps to create an engaging internal comms strategy where your content never goes unnoticed
1. Think about the day in the life of your audience before you post content
By this, we mean deciding what format to publish your content to fit with the needs of the reader. For example, if your sales associates are busy all day, they’ll never spend time reading a long-form text post. So why not post it in a video format?
If your news is specifically for delivery drivers, then it would be a good idea to post your news as a podcast which they can listen to on their drive.
Rather than defaulting to text comms all the time, think about how to repurpose it in different formats for maximum engagement.
2. Send out your content regularly and have a plan in place for when employees miss your news
If your employees know when to expect updates from you, they will be more likely to engage with them because they don’t have to guess when they should be looking.
Work out when it is best to send your comms and how regularly you will send them. For example, you will send out AT LEAST one internal comms post every Monday. If you have more news, increase it to two posts to be sent every Monday and Friday and send recaps and summaries on the following Wednesday.
Recaps are great for employees who have been away the previous week so they can easily catch up. Our platform has a personalised feed, making it easy for employees to see what news they have missed, so no update goes unnoticed.
3. Give employees a way to give you feedback
As mentioned previously, a good internal comms strategy factors in the need for employees to have a voice. Ensure you have a way for your staff to let you know what they think.
You can do this with digital internal comms apps such as Engage, which allow employees to like, dislike or comment on any post you publish.
If you don’t have an internal comms app, you could have an online forum where employees can discuss your latest announcements. These should be closely monitored by an internal comms professional or an ambassador. They will also need to initiate the conversation to try and get people talking. Or you could even create a channel on your instant chat tool such as slack, where employees can share their thoughts on your latest article.
Not everyone will want to share their opinions, but a few people might, and it shows that you respect and value the thoughts of all employees, not just senior leaders. It is always good to let employees know when you have put their ideas into action.
4. Don’t go overboard on your internal comms
A perfect internal comms strategy understands the need to get your message out there, but it MUST NOT be pushy or aggressive. If it is, your comms will become annoying, and your staff will go out of their way to avoid what you are saying. Perfect examples can be seen on glass door where employees state that they feel hounded by their employer because of the number of Whatsapp messages, emails and calls they receive.
Choose your content wisely and think about what’s worth posting and what doesn’t need to be published. Ask yourself if the content supports your overall objectives; if it doesn’t, then don’t send it.
5. Repeat important messages
Now, as we mentioned above, you shouldn’t go overboard on your internal comms by sending out unnecessary information, however, if there is something you really need your staff to know then we would recommend repeating your point in different ways.
Repurpose what you have said for different content. For example, if your manager has clarified that all employees need to be updated on the new GDPR policy, just sending out a text article probably won’t do the job. We’d recommend doing the following steps:
Sending out a text article
Repurposing the information in a video
Sending out a quiz based on your text article
Sending out an alert reminding your employees to update themselves on the policy.
Never assume that your employees are going to read what you put out the first time and always think of ways you can remind them. Our clients can do this quickly and easily with Engage. Any piece of content they post can be repurposed into a quick microlearning quiz and alerts can be targeted to the employees who need to be notified. It also allows internal comms managers to create banners on the dash of the app which can click through to the relevant article. Guiding employees to where they need to go then becomes incredibly easy.
6. Get employees to acknowledge that they have read and understood your articles
Stop posting your content and hoping for the best, and start getting proof that employees have read and understood what you have to say.
This is especially crucial for content which is concerned with compliance and regulations.
If you have an app like Ocasta Engage getting employees to comply is quick and easy and they can confirm their understanding in a matter of seconds.
If you don’t have access to a feature like this, simply ask your employees to respond to let you know they have read and understood what you are saying. Sometimes you just have to ask and make yourself sound more authoritative to get the attention that you need.
7. Make your comms more exciting
Sometimes your comms go unnoticed because they’re just not that exciting! If you need help improving your communications, read the tried and tested tips in our latest article.
Make it easy to create comms which are always noticed and read
Our clients chose to work with us because they were tired of wasting time on comms when nobody reads them. They wanted a platform with all the features they needed to ensure their comms were never missed.
If this sounds like you, book a demo below and we’ll quickly take you through the platform and let you know how it can work for you.
