I’ve been posting on internal marketing communication for more than a week now.

If you missed my prior posts on this series, you can access them below:

Internal Marketing Communication: Introduction and Definition

Internal Marketing Communication: Collaborative Responsibility

Internal Marketing Communication: Marketing Principles

You may also want to check out my quiz on internal communications in order to evaluate yours. You can link to it below:

Internal Communications Quiz To Improve Marketing

Today’s post concludes this series on internal marketing communication with tips on implementation, a summary and a conclusion.

Internal Marketing Communication:

Implementation

You can implement Internal marketing communication much less expensively than you can external marketing communication.

Internal Marketing Communication: Implementation Leads To Success

You don’t need to use advertising to reach your employees. Usually internal newsletters will do the job. Internal publications don’t have to be as elaborate or expensive as external marketing publications.

In fact, expensive publications will be than likely be counter productive. Many employees will consider expensive publications a waste of money. They’d rather that you put that money into programs that more directly support them.

Most employees had just as soon get email newsletters. It costs nothing to do an email blast to your employees. You provide their email so you have free mailing lists for them. Furthermore, it’s quicker, enabling you to keep employees better informed. It’s easy for them to respond to requests and questions. So it’s more interactive.

But the best internal marketing communication is still face-to-face. You can call a meeting to discuss what affects all your employees, and you can walk to an employee’s office or cubicle to request assistance on activities.

Don’t wait until there is a problem with an employee to meet individually. Sometimes just taking a few minutes to express appreciation for an employee or to ask an opinion or favor can accomplish more than any group meeting or newsletter.

These suggestions apply to any internal communication, including internal marketing communication.

Internal Marketing
Communication
Summary

This series of posts has defined internal marketing communication and covered why it is a business responsibility that should be shared collaboratively across functions.

It’s dealt with employees as your first market, and explained why marketing principles don’t always apply to internal marketing communication. It’s also covered relationship marketing and made suggestions for implementation.

Internal Marketing
Communication
Conclusion

If you use internal marketing communication effectively, you will increase employee engagement in marketing related activities. You will enhance employee recognition of the effect of their actions on marketing and sales.

Good internal marketing communication, like all good internal communications motivate employees to perform in their, your business’s and your customers’ best interests. In the process you may even increase employee retention.

You can read more about communications from the link below:

Effective Communication Skills And Public Relations, Part 1

If your primary responsibility is employees, you have to check out  Employee Performance Review: Tips, Templates & Tactics. It includes  an e-manual and 8 bonus training MP3s to teach you how to conduct performance appraisals.

If you like this series and want to get a heads-up about my other series, you can register for my weekly email summaries by completing the form below:

Posted 12-17-08:
Internal Marketing Communication:
Implementation

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Internal marketing communication differs from other types of marketing in that it affects your entire business. So it requires a collaborative approach across all parts of your business.

You can read prior posts on internal marketing communication by clicking on the link below. It will take you to the introduction post to this series.
Internal Marketing Communication: Introduction and Definition

Internal Marketing Communication
Marketing Principles

The necessity for a collaborative approach means that internal marketing communication can’t be managed by your marketing staff alone.

Furthermore, you can’t let marketers force your internal marketing communication program to comply with marketing principles. Some internal marketing experts contend that utilizing general marketing principles is inappropriate and ineffective for internal marketing communication.

Of course you need to do market research like market segmentation for all your marketing campaigns. You also need to implement strategies and tactics to meet marketing goals and objectives.

However, internal marketing communication differs from external marketing. It is long term rather than short term. It’s goal is not to sell directly, but to prepare all your employees to support your marketing and sales functions.

Thus, many marketing principles won’t fit well within your internal marketing communication program.

Internal Marketing Communication
Relationship Marketing

One marketing principle that does fit internal marketing communication is relationship marketing.

Like internal marketing communication, relationship marketing is long term. It’s purpose it to create relationships rather than quick one-time sales. It communicates information that market members want and need, and it focuses on two-way rather than one-way communications. So it transfers well to internal marketing.

In addition, participating in relationship marketing as recipients prepares your employees to participate as your business representatives in external relationship marketing tactics. By modeling the best approach to relationship marketing for your employees, you better prepare them to maintain good customer service.

This in turn increases customer satisfaction, customer retention, and improves customer relationship management.

My next post in this series covers specific tactics you can use to improve your internal marketing communication. You can access it below:

Internal Marketing Communication: Implementation

If your primary responsibility is employees, you have to check out  Employee Performance Review: Tips, Templates & Tactics. It includes  an e-manual and 8 bonus training MP3s to teach you how to conduct performance appraisals.

To be sure you don’t miss it, you can register to receive weekly email summaries of my posts by completing the form below:

Posted 12-15-08:
Internal Marketing Communication
Marketing Principles

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Internal marketing communication is the topic of this series of posts. The first post introduced and defined internal marketing communication. If you missed it, you can access it from the link below:

Internal Marketing Communication: Introduction and Definition

This second post on internal marketing communication notes its importance to your business and the need to take a collaborative approach across business functions.

Internal Marketing Communication
Your Business Responsibility

Internal marketing communication helps you to achieve your business goals. So it’s your business responsibility to assure that it’s effective communication.

Like all strategic communication, internal marketing communication requires good planning, timing and implementation. It deserves as much attention as any marketing communication. Don’t consider it marginally important just because it’s employee communications.

Sometimes marketing personnel do consider internal marketing communication as unimportant. They don’t understand how it can influence external marketing and sales. That’s why a collaborative approach is required.

Internal Marketing Communication
Collaborative Approach

All functions related to marketing, communications, and personnel should play substantive roles within your internal marketing communication program. They should plan and implement it together, with each function contributing what it does best through an organization-wide approach.

This collaborative approach will help to assure that your internal marketing communication program fits with your marketing philosophy, organizational culture, management style, and human resource goals.

If any one function dictates your internal marketing communication strategy and tactics, this collaborative approach is jeopardized.

The next post in this series will explain further why internal marketing communication should not be left to your marketing staff. It will also include the marketing principles required by a successful internal marketing communication program, and its influence on successful relationship marketing.

To read the next post in this series, click the link below:
Internal Marketing Communication: Marketing Principles

If you need help with managing employees, see Employee Performance Review: Tips, Templates & Tactics. It includes  an e-manual and 8 bonus training MP3s to teach managers how to conduct performance appraisals.

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Posted 12-12-08:
Internal Marketing Communication
Collaborative Responsibility

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Internal marketing communication combines internal communication and internal marketing concepts. My last post provided 17 questions to help you improve your internal communications. If you missed it, you can access it below:

Internal Communications Quiz

This post begins a series on internal marketing communication. It sets the stage for the series by providing an introduction and definition. It also covers why your business internal market is often considered your “first market”.

Internal Marketing Communication
Introduction

Internal marketing communication includes more than internal communications and more than internal marketing. It represents a subset of each and should be included in your business plan with both.

Many business owners include internal marketing communication in their marketing plans, internal communications plans, and integrated marketing communication plans.

As a blend or internal marketing and internal communications, internal marketing communication includes basic business communication strategies and requires communications skills training.

It also includes basic marketing principles as applied across all your business functions. It is not limited to marketing, but includes human resource (hr) management, public relations, and communications.

Internal Marketing Communication
Definition

Internal marketing communication is internal communication with a marketing objective. It’s more than regular internal marketing, more than hr management and more than applying marketing principles to an internal market.

It’s communications designed to win and keep support of employees. It’s marketing designed not to sell, but to demonstrate how employees’ actions affect your business’ ability to sell.

Some marketing experts contend that it’s the first step in marketing.

Internal Marketing Communication
First Market

Internal marketing communication is designed to win employee buy-in, commitment, and trust for marketing goals and strategies. When your employees’ support your marketing efforts, they become more effective.

When your employees experience good internal marketing communication, they better understand what your marketing attempts to accomplish and why; they better understand good external marketing communication, and their influence on marketing success.

In addition, internal marketing communication is inexpensive and interactive. It provides a great test for marketing communication that can later be distributed externally.

The next post in this series covers internal marketing communication as a business responsibility that requires a collaborative approach. You can access it by clicking the link below:

Internal Marketing Communication: Collaborative Responsibility

If your primary responsibility is employees, you have to check out  Employee Performance Review: Tips, Templates & Tactics. It includes  an e-manual and 8 bonus training MP3s to teach you how to conduct performance appraisals.

You can get weekly email reminders of each of the post in this and future series by completing the form below:

Posted 12-10-08:
Internal Marketing Communication
Introduction and Definition

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