INTERNAL MARKETING AND TREATING EVERY EMPLOYEE AS A MARKETER

Whose job is it to market a company? Marketing a company to who and why?

Many of us are familiar with the Marketing Department that is responsible for the 4Ps, that is, Products (Services), Promotion, Pricing, and Place (Distribution). This function is externally focused and coupled with the Sales function they generate revenue for the company. The opposite of external marketing is internal marketing. Very few companies deliberately focus on internal marketing. There is no clear responsibility as to who or which function is accountable for internal marketing. By default some Human Resources practitioners would assume some of the responsibilities under employee engagement. A few companies that make an effort to promote the Employer Brand focus on recruitment process with a view to attract and retain talent. Other companies focus on product knowledge training for employees to understand and be aware of the company’s product offering. Internal marketing entails a concerted and consistent development and implementation of a plan to promote the employer brand to employees. Consequently internal marketing increases employee engagement and brand advocacy.

I would like to hypothesize that internal marketing is as important as external marketing as the former targets internal customers (employees) whilst the latter targets external customers. Therefore, internal and external marketing require people who have the skills for dealing with people and understanding what they require. Do Human Resources practitioners have marketing skills? Do communications people have marketing skills? There should be a dedicated role for internal marketing and it should report to the rightful executive championing the people agenda.

If well executed, internal marketing transforms employees to become employer brand ambassadors winning the hearts and minds of customers and talented personnel. I know some companies with the policy that the Chief Executive Officer is the only spokesperson for the company. Is this policy effective in this day and age of social media and ‘cellphone’ journalism? Agility to engage and respond to issues becomes a must. This cannot be a preserve of one person in the company. With the internet becoming a major player in marketing, a company benefits from the services of Social Media tools and services. Employees need to be trained and empowered to responsibly use social media to promote employer brand and spread the positive vibe about the company. Companies should invest in intranets, interactive websites, and other social media tools and services for use by employees. Should these tools and services be grade and position based?

I often hear company leaders saying they want to create customer centric culture. Many times efforts are focused on making the personnel in the Marketing department more savvy and ‘streetwise’ in out-competing competitors. Their rationale is justified because the marketing department has a major responsibility of making a business viable and profitable. However, there is value in making every employee a marketer and this calls for dedicated effort on internal marketing. A company creates awareness, engages and empowers employees to be brand ambassadors. Have you heard stories of employees who direct customers to competitors and even advise customers where to get value for money products? There are employees who are shy to wear branded apparel of their employers but quick to wear other companies’ branded apparel. Internal marketing addresses these shortcomings by making employees identify with the company and its products. The marketing department should create a channel of communication with all the other departments and familiarize all employees with the marketing skills and techniques. Together with internal marketing they can conduct workshops, training sessions and talks or presentation regarding customer handling and brand awareness.

Sometimes the company’s structure inhibits smooth flow of information as ‘silo’ mentality and ‘territory’ marking cripple execution of internal marketing. Human Resources function claims dominion over people. Marketing function claims dominion over products and services. Communication function claims dominion over corporate communications. For internal marketing to be effective there should be cross-functional synergies in content generation, sharing, and usage.

Reality is that employees are trusted source of truth about how a company works. New recruits consult current and former employees of companies so as to understand company’s culture and inform their perception about the company as an employer. Do you conduct exit interviews? Do you action feedback from employees?

Some tips on how internal marketing turns employees into brand ambassadors:-

1.     Be employee-centric and passionate about employees. Make their lives better every day.  

2.     Create awareness of company vision, mission, values, and goals. Allow employees to own the vision, mission and live the company values. Both formal and informal channels of communication should carry the same positive message.

3.     Brand every aspect of the work experience so that employees live the brand.

4.     Identify employees and alumni who are influencers to connect with current, new and prospective employees. Offer recognition for the influencers. 

5.     Employer branding should not be an optional activity under Human Resources function. Provide clear guidelines and tools for use by all employees.