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A lesson in marketing – what IC pros can learn from their glamorous communication cousins 

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A lesson in marketing – what IC pros can learn from their glamorous communication cousins 

There’s a great quote that goes “Don’t envy what people have, emulate what they did to have it”. Never a truer word spoken, especially when it comes to internal communicators, who often find themselves in the shadow of their more glamorous marketing colleagues. So, rather than covet their bigger budgets, should we be uncovering the secrets of their success?

That’s not to say we’re not doing a brilliant job, but it can’t have escaped most IC pro’s attention that marketing teams have bigger budgets, they’re involved at the very beginning of new initiatives and you don’t often see them having to explain for the umpteenth time, what exactly it is that they do. So, let’s take a closer look at our communication cousins to see what we can learn…

Have a head for figures

In our industry the words ‘measurement’ and ‘holy grail’ are becoming synonymous with one another. But that’s set to change as the lines between internal and external begin to blur.

Marketing have always had the advantage of being able to link their work to increased business, sales and profits. And now internal comms can too. With the rise of social media, employees have a voice for the first time and many are using it to share with the world exactly what it’s like to work in their companies, and businesses are sitting up and taking notice.

Not only does this (hopefully) mean more investment in internal communication, but it also provides more meaningful measurement.

As employees become ambassadors for organisations, we will be able to measure the impact of our internal communications by correlating them to external initiatives where employees have repeated, shared or acted upon our messaging. Ultimately, we will be able to demonstrate the value we add to the business.

Obviously, what we do is about far more than increasing profits, but by being able to prove that, will help us secure budgets, influencers and respect that will help us engage with employees across the business far more effectively.

Shout a little louder

The nature of what we do often sees us stay behind the scenes and make others look good, especially as we try to empower others to take responsibility for communication. You could argue that as the lines between internal and external begin to blur, marketing will also become less about big bang campaigns and more about employee advocacy. But right now, marketing teams are very good at doing their own PR in a way that we’re not.

Not only do we not shout loud enough about our successes, but we don’t often communicate about how we communicate. So, it is any surprise that people then don’t understand quite what it is we do?

It’s time to take our own advice and set an example of what good communication looks like. Tell people what your remit is, what you’re working on, and the rhythm of communication in the business. And make yourself visible, get out and talk to people, hot desk so you sit with a different team every week, write a regular blog about the comms team. Practise what you preach.

Raise the bar

Credibility is absolutely essential to any profession, and marketing may have the edge on internal communicators due to their commitment to accreditation and professional development. Marketing degrees and diplomas are common place, positioning them as a respected profession that holds itself to a high standard.

And while I don’t believe that you need to be degree educated to be a good communicator, being able to demonstrate that you have industry-recognised knowledge, skills and experience, is extremely powerful.

Internal communications are catching up with some fantastic qualifications and professional development programmes available, so at your next PDP why not consider how this would help you develop further as a practitioner and what it would say to the wider world about our industry if we all held ourselves to the same standard.

Embrace failure

It’s easy to accuse marketing of having style over substance, but when it comes to making an impact, they are the masters. And they have to be. It’s a crowded marketplace where it’s easy to get lost in the noise, but it’s also a very public arena where there’s a lot to lose. With boldness and creativity comes the potential for failure.

If we want to encourage employees to share learnings and experiences to provide a better service for clients and customers, we need to set the example.

In comparison, internal communications campaigns are often more conservative, whether that’s due to budget restrictions, or a stronger focus on strategy and messaging. However, creativity doesn’t have to be expensive and it can help convey your important messages more effectively – as long as you aren’t afraid to fail.

After all, isn’t experience just another word for failure?

Consider your content

Have you noticed that blogs and insights shared by organisations online are increasingly in the form of lists (13 top tips…), tell personal stories, and encourage comments and discussion? Marketing teams have understood how their audiences receive information in their personal lives and reflect it in their marketing content.

While this approach may not work for all audiences, it’s always worth reviewing your approach to internal content and seeing if there are opportunities to convey messages in more engaging ways. Investing time in creating a content strategy where you’re clear on the types of content you’ll communicate, where and why, and what style they’ll be in. Be creative with your headlines, break content into digestible chunks using sub headings, keep it short, be authentic, tell stories and make sure you answer the question ‘what’s in it for me’.

While there is plenty to emulate, let’s not forget that there’s a lot marketing can learn from us too. And following an eventful 2016, I predict 2017 to continue to challenge us in interesting ways that will see internal communications and marketing working closer together. Pooling our knowledge and experience can only make us stronger and ready to face the future whatever it may bring.

By Helen Deverell for Alive

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Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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