10 Internal Marketing Tactics to Try This Summer
Struggling to boost employee engagement and foster good company culture? You’re not alone. Now more than ever, companies are finding it difficult to retain great employees.
There are a variety of reasons for this – lack of growth opportunities, toxic company culture and poor salary or benefits are all popular reasons for job hopping.
If you are worried about employee retainment or want to be more purposeful in your morale-boosting efforts, consider a few of these internal marketing strategies. Your employees will thank you.
First Things First, What Is Internal Marketing?
Most of us hear the word “marketing” and think of customers, but did you know there is a type of marketing that focuses on your employees?
Internal marketing is how you communicate information to employees, such as your company’s values, mission, leadership changes and project news. When done right, internal marketing encourages good company culture, boosting productivity and retention. Internal marketing can even augment external marketing endeavors.
1. Adopt Hybrid or Remote Work Policies
14% of employed adults work fully remote, and 41% are on a hybrid setup. More and more companies are adopting work from home policies to have a competitive edge and encourage a work-life balance. If your company doesn’t already have some sort of hybrid setup in place, consider adopting one.
2. Find Your POV
Many marketers make the mistake of simply informing their audience, rather than adopting a point of view. Abstract and objective communication can make it hard for employees to care or to see their individual impact. Say interesting things and take interesting stances within your industry.
3. Emphasize Employee Recognition
Recognizing someone’s hard work goes a long way. Whether it’s through an end-of-the-year bonus, a Starbucks gift card or a handwritten thank you note, there are endless ways to make your employees feel valued.
4. Schedule Employee Bonding Activities
We all need to kick back once in a while. There are many ways to bond with your team, including scheduling regular happy hours or taking everyone bowling during work hours. Letting your team get to know each other in a less formal setting can also boost morale and teamwork.
5. Foster Clear Communication
When leaders don’t value transparency, team members can feel frustrated and disengaged. Establish a centralized hub outside of email where employees can communicate, and be up front about both your team’s wins and their losses.
6. Support Professional Development Opportunities
A whopping 40% of employees who receive poor training leave their company within the first year. Today’s workers care not only about on-the-job training, but lifelong learning opportunities. Consider setting aside a portion of each week for employees to take professional development courses. It helps them to stay productive while getting their minds off work for a bit.
7. Request Employee Feedback
Something as simple as a quarterly survey can provide incredible insight into your company’s blind spots and what is going well. Keep surveys anonymous so that employees feel they can share their honest opinions. Don’t wait until the exit interview to ask them how they feel – by then it will be too late.
8. Provide Great Compensation and Benefits
The jury is out: employees don’t want a pizza party, they want better pay, benefits and more vacation time. Ask your employees what rewards are meaningful to them, then work with your leadership team to make improvements. Can’t make better pay or benefits happen? Flexible work hours, tuition assistance and day care services are all highly-requested alternatives.
9. Set Clear Goals
Company-wide goals can help employees feel motivated and focused at work. They are also chances to reward employees when those goals are achieved. Create company goals that are measurable, relevant and timely, such as selling a certain number of products each quarter or boosting employee productivity by 25%.
10. Encourage Friendly Competition
Want an easy way to boost morale and productivity? Gamify the workplace. Whether that means setting up an employee scoreboard to track sales or awarding badges based on achievements, a little lighthearted competition never hurt anybody.
Bullseye: Marketing Tactics That Get Results
At Bullseye, our internal marketing helps employees feel valued and heard. Employee recognition initiatives, company-wide goals and professional development opportunities are just a few of the many ways we find and retain great employees.
Want more ways to foster good company culture this summer? Reach out now to schedule a conversation.