Most internal communications still behave like a noticeboard.
Information is posted, messages are pushed, and updates are delivered. But the problem is simple: people don’t engage with noticeboards anymore.
Netflix not only streams content – it designs an experience people want to come back to.
What if internal comms did the same?
1. Start with the audience, not the message
Netflix doesn’t start with: “What content do we want to show?”
It starts with: “What do people want to watch?”
Internal comms often works the other way round.
Leaders ask:
- “Can you send this out?”
- “Can you publish this update?”
- “Can you push this message?”
But Netflix would ask first:
- Who is this for?
- What do they care about?
- When are they most likely to engage?
Great internal comms begins with people, not information.
2. Personalisation beats broadcast
Netflix gives everyone a different homepage – and even when it’s promoting the same show or film, the cover image you see might be different from the one someone else sees. Because people are different.
Internal comms often assumes:
- one email
- one message
- one audience
But organisations contain many realities:
- frontline teams
- remote workers
- specialists
- leaders
Instead of one broadcast message, think:
- tailored content streams
- role-based messaging
- targeted stories
The future of internal comms is relevance, not reach.
3. Great content keeps people coming back
Netflix never relies on one blockbuster. We all know that it builds a library of engaging content.
Internal comms often relies on:
- the CEO message
- the quarterly update
- the big campaign
But engagement comes from consistent storytelling.
That might include:
- short employee stories
- team successes
- behind-the-scenes insights
- practical tips
- community updates
Content should do more than inform people – it should make them curious to come back tomorrow.
4. Make it easy to consume
Netflix knows attention is precious.
So, it designs for:
- short content
- visual storytelling
- mobile viewing
- instant access
Internal comms often does the opposite.
We produce:
- long emails
- dense documents
- complicated portals
The clear lesson here is that we must design communications for how people actually behave, not how we wish they behaved.
Think:
- shorter
- clearer
- more visual
- easier to navigate
5. Measure what people actually engage with
Netflix constantly learns from behaviour:
- what people start watching
- what they finish
- what they abandon
Internal comms often measures distribution, not engagement.
For example:
- email open rates
- page views
- message reach
But the real question is:
Did it matter?
Better measures might include:
- conversations started
- ideas generated
- behaviour changed
- pride and belonging
Netflix measures attention and satisfaction, not just delivery. Internal comms should too.
Final thought
Netflix succeeds because it understands human attention. Internal communications has the same challenge.
People are busy, their attention is limited, and their expectations are high.
If we want people to engage with internal communications, we need to stop focusing only on sending messages and start thinking about the experience people have when they receive them.
Want to implement some of this thinking into your organisation?
Ping us an email, and let’s create something people actually want to come back to.
