As a sports manager, you know the importance of having a clear and consistent brand message that reflects your organization's values, vision, and goals. But how can you make sure that your internal communication aligns with your brand message and creates a positive culture among your staff, coaches, and athletes? Here are some tips to help you achieve this.
The first step is to define your brand message and communicate it to your internal stakeholders. Your brand message should capture what your organization stands for, what makes it unique, and what benefits it offers to your fans, sponsors, and community. You can use tools such as a mission statement, a vision statement, a tagline, and a logo to express your brand message. Make sure that your brand message is clear, concise, and consistent across all your channels and platforms.
I’d add to this that you must ensure you have the buy-in and support on the messaging from internal teams and partners. Only if all internal stakeholders are fully vested in the brand message is it time to go out in the wider world and spread it. All communications start at home…
The next step is to align your internal communication goals with your brand message. Your internal communication goals should support your organization's strategic objectives and help you achieve your desired outcomes. For example, if your brand message is about excellence, innovation, and teamwork, your internal communication goals could be to foster a culture of continuous improvement, encourage creative problem-solving, and promote collaboration and feedback. You can use SMART criteria to set your internal communication goals and measure your progress.
The third step is to choose your internal communication channels that best suit your brand message and your internal communication goals. You should consider the purpose, audience, frequency, and format of your internal communication and select the channels that are most effective and appropriate for each. For example, you can use email, newsletters, intranet, or social media for general updates and announcements, video calls, webinars, or podcasts for training and education, and chat apps, forums, or surveys for feedback and engagement. You should also ensure that your internal communication channels are accessible, reliable, and secure.
Ensure employees are empowered and equipped to become your brand’s biggest allies. Do not muzzle them and force them to share legal-approved messages that are not authentic and in their own voice. They will either not share it, or their audiences (big or small) will quickly identify the message as “not authentic” - and this will damage your brand. So ensure your team members are media trained (here you can bring legal in for input and guidance!), well-versed in the brand and what it stands for, and then let them go out and talk with pride about the work they do and the company that employs them!
I agree with your perspective on the importance of chosen media. The company's employees are also clients. Just as you make strategic choices for external communication, internal communication is equally crucial. Reliability in information, ease of tools to make information more accessible and appealing – all carry the risk of losing employee engagement. In conclusion, internal communication is a powerful and strategic lever for employee retention!
The fourth step is to create your internal communication content that reflects your brand message and supports your internal communication goals. Your internal communication content should be relevant, engaging, and informative for your internal audience and convey your brand personality and tone. You can use storytelling, visuals, data, and examples to make your internal communication content more appealing and memorable. You should also follow the best practices of writing for the web, such as using headings, bullet points, short sentences, and clear calls to action.
The final step is to monitor and evaluate your internal communication and see how it aligns with your brand message and impacts your organization's performance. You should collect and analyze data and feedback from your internal stakeholders and measure the effectiveness of your internal communication. You can use metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, views, likes, comments, shares, satisfaction scores, and retention rates to assess your internal communication. You should also use qualitative methods such as interviews, focus groups, or testimonials to gain insights into your internal communication. You should use the results to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your internal communication and make improvements accordingly.