5 Effective Internal Marketing Ideas

How to keep your team engaged in a remote working world

by Marielle Reussink

Most companies tend to focus on external marketing but internal marketing is just as important!

Employee happiness and retention depend on making people feel engaged with your company culture and connected with their co-workers. You can’t just rely on conversations around the water cooler or happy hour on Friday to create community - especially today, as remote work and hybrid work (blended work from home and in-office arrangements) have become the norm.

Companies need to find new ways to build a sense of belonging and purpose among employees to achieve their goals.

So what can you do?

If you want to build a thriving team spread out across multiple locations, there are a number of strategies you can put into play. While you might already have a trusty external marketing playbook, internal marketing tactics aren’t always as obvious. To inspire you to find an approach that works for your business, here are 5 ideas and tactics we’ve helped clients implement:

#1 Make Internal Communications part of your DNA

If you do nothing else, build communication into the DNA of your team. See it as your superpower. As with external communications, where, when and how you communicate internally matters. To ensure the right people get the right message at the right time, it helps to have a strategy in place to facilitate communications between individuals, between teams, and across the entire organization.

There are three critical aspects to internal communications: tools, expectations, and habits.

We now have many different tools to choose from to make online communication more personal, seamless and effective. Beyond email, communication tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, Loom and project management software like Trello or Click Up are all great options to give your team channels for communication. From facilitating asynchronous work to improving productivity and creating space for informal banter and personal chats, these tools have completely changed the game.

But it’s not enough to provide the tools. You also need to let everyone know how to use them, i.e. the “rules” of the game. For example, what type of question or update warrants an email and what should be shared on WhatsApp? What topics should be discussed on each of your Slack Channels? How about communication outside of business hours?

With the right tools and expectations in place, the next step is to ensure communication becomes a habit. Leading by example is a great way for managers or execs to encourage regular communication, but any person on your team should feel empowered to use your communication channels.

While it may seem like a big shift to bring your internal communications online, the payoff is huge! Communication is truly the key to a happy, productive team.

#2 Get Creative With Internal Marketing

We all know how important external marketing is to build your brand, grow your audience and make sales. How can marketing help you keep your employees motivated, informed and connected with your company?

The secret to a successful internal marketing program might be right in front of you. Many of the external marketing channels and strategies you’re already using can help to engage your team.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Social Media: use your social media to shout out employees or teams to celebrate major accomplishments, work anniversaries or other milestones. You may even want to put your employees in the spotlight by hosting Instagram takeovers that showcase a day in the life of a team member
Email: launch a monthly e-newsletter to share internal updates, recognize teams, highlight promotions, and post fun updates like photos from a recent event
Loom: get personal and share video updates from your leadership team to highlight major company news and give public recognition to teams or individuals

As with external marketing, the key to success in internal marketing is consistency. Whatever you do, commit to it!

#3 Harness The Power of Public Recognition

Don’t underestimate the value of something as simple as letting your employees know that their contributions are seen and appreciated.

A poll by Gallup found that “workplace recognition motivates, provides a sense of accomplishment and makes employees feel valued for their work. Recognition not only boosts individual employee engagement but it also has been found to increase productivity and loyalty to the company, leading to higher retention.”

That’s a lot of bang for your buck – especially considering recognition doesn’t necessarily have to be tied to monetary rewards. Something as simple as a note from the CEO or a shout out from a manager during a team meeting can go a long way.

You can build employee recognition into your company culture by empowering employees at all levels to highlight the accomplishments of their co-workers. By creating regular opportunities to give and receive recognition, you can make it easy for team members to make each other feel like their efforts are worthwhile.

#4 Plan Great Meetings, Online or In Person

While many employees prefer working remotely to going to the office, working in isolation has its downsides - both from an individual perspective and for teams. Any opportunity to bring people together, whether online or in-person can help to reduce loneliness and provide social engagement and connection.

Remote-first teams like Buffer use monthly online team meetings to create a sense of community and keep everyone on the same page, while in-person annual retreats provide opportunities to form deeper connections and some good old-fashioned fun.

Of course, not every company has the capacity or budget to bring all of its team members together in person, but fortunately video tools have come a long way. Remote teams can benefit hugely from regular virtual team meetings or town halls. Depending on the size and structure of your team, you may need to host multiple team or location-specific meetings, but company-wide meetings can be highly engaging in an online format if done right.

#5 Give Meaningful Gifts

It may seem trivial, but employee gifts really can send a strong message.

Company swag can promote a sense of pride in your company, especially if you create branded products that people are genuinely excited about. If you’ve ever worked in a corporate office you probably know how ubiquitous the company mug is. Just because your team isn’t sitting in the same office doesn’t mean they can’t have the same branded mug on their desks!

Beyond company swag, rewards like Amazon gift cards, sports tickets or a lunch out with co-workers can provide tangible incentives for hard work and recognition for accomplishments.

Test, Learn and Refine - Internal Marketing is no different!

Just like with external marketing, it pays to think outside the box and really focus on what your audience wants and needs – in this case, your team. As you experiment with different tactics, ask for feedback and be open to change.

All of the strategies we’ve discussed can be applied to companies big and small. Just because you don’t have dozens of employees spread out across time zones doesn’t mean you don’t need to worry about engaging your team. Company culture starts from day one, so set yourself on the right path and make an effort to make every employee feel proud to be a part of your organization.