Let's Talk Internal Branding
When most people talk about branding, they focus on logos, graphics, and copy--things that reach the target customer. We call this external branding, and while it is essential, there’s an often quieter, more pervasive type of branding that hits much closer to home--internal branding. It's the way your employees see your company, and often we see the worst PR nightmares from larger companies when internal branding gets overlooked.
An easy way to check if a company's internal branding is consistent with their external is to check their responses to online reviews. It's also one of the reasons why internal branding is SO important. Say your company pride’s itself on being leaders in digital technologies, but your employees openly joke about your products breaking and take no pride in what you sell. That’s going to trickle down through every step of your business from product development (where they may not care to design quality products) right through to customer service (who might try to appease angry customers if they have no faith or pride that your products should work). If you feel that internal branding is not a priority as long as your employees are “getting the job done,” then you are sorely mistaken. Your customers are drastically more likely to trust the word of your employees than they are of a CEO, a PR team, or even your most elaborate marketing campaign. In fact, companies with higher rates of employee engagement are 233% more likely to have loyal customers than those without. Then we ask, WHY are only 40% of employees able to confidently describe their company’s purpose, goals, or strategies?
…See the gap here?
Internal branding is CRUCIAL to ensuring your employees take pride in their work. Creating an environment in which your employees feel valued and proud of their company will only improve your business.
The bottom line is that companies that engage their employees receive 2.5X more revenue than those who don’t.
Try creating a company culture that encourages the leadership and workers to care about each other. Internal branding encompasses your internal communication (how does leadership communicate to employees--is their open dialogue?) and culture. How are your company values being enacted on an everyday basis?
Internal branding is your brand in practice by the people who make your business happen. Give your employees a purpose and create a company that engages employees with your brand. Not only does this protect the integrity of your external brand, but it also improves the work life of your employees. Make sure you take that external brand you’ve worked so hard on and reinforce it on every level of your company. This internal engagement strategy is integral to your business, and yet only 25% of business leaders actually have an engagement strategy in place.
Don’t be the other 75%
Have your company leadership strengthen their employee engagement strategy with an internal branding consultation with us and watch that attitude trickle down. Trust us; your employees will thank you.
