What Does Branding Have To Do with Internal Communications?
Your brand is how people perceive your company, online and in real life. Beyond your logo, colors and visuals it’s ultimately about who you are and how you show up. And while we often think about brand and an external presence, it is equally important for your employees.
Your internal brand is about aligning your employees with your external brand promise through consistent internal communications and messaging.
Why Internal Communications is the Foundation of Your Brand
Your employees are your strongest brand ambassadors. They interact with customers every day. How they feel about your company bleeds into how they communicate with each other and your customers. Outside of the workplace, they also share where they work (and what they think of it) to friends, family and strangers. Plus, in a world where search engines and AI models look for consistent signals to define your brand, these daily interactions are the building blocks of strong SEO and GEO strategies.
Your brand, and how you communicate it, influences your employees and sets the tone for company culture, engagement and retention. Brand isn’t separate from your internal communications, it’s the foundation.
However, as a former internal communicator, I know that ensuring your brand aligns with internal goals, strategic plans and communications often falls to the bottom of the priority list. You’re often juggling multiple projects, multiple roles and too many competing priorities. The result? A stream of communications that often leave you and the rest of the company, feeling like a cog in the corporate wheel.
Just pushing out message, after message can lead to
- Important messages getting lost because of competing communications
- Departments aren’t aligned or have competing goals
- Messaging becomes fragmented across teams
- Employees deliver inconsistent customer experiences
Establishing your brand internally and aligning your internal strategy brings clarity because everyone can clearly express your brand with confidence. Defining who you are, what you do and why it matters—and consistently reinforcing that with your internal communications—helps empower employees to do their best work.
How Do I Know if My Brand is Consistent Internally and Externally?
This is exactly the question BCRA asked us last year. After a few years of change within the company, they wanted to know if the values and goals they promote internally are also how their clients feel.
The goal was not to reinvent their brand but to clarify and align it to make it easier to express consistently and confidently. We looked at their existing brand, messaging and visual identity to see how their brand and values show up across channels. Next, we conducted interviews, surveys and a workshop with employees and clients. We also looked at how BCRA compares to peers and aspirational firms in the market. This gave us a clear picture of culture, communication and context.
One thing became clear, BCRA’s strong collaborative, relationship-driven culture wasn’t consistently articulated. The opportunity lies in closing the gap between what employees and clients experience in real life and how they showcase it on digital platforms, in proposals and internal newsletters.
How to Align Internal & External Brand Messaging
BCRA isn’t alone, many companies find their internal and external messaging are misaligned. As a leader or communicator within your organization you have the power to create a more engaging environment for your employees. By effectively reinforcing your brand through emails, leadership messages, department meetings and newsletters, you empower your employees to do their best work. And when they do their best work, you create better relationships with your customers.
Take the time to assess your brand position with your employees as well as your customers. The beginning of the year is a perfect time to set yourself up for success. Here are some areas to think about when assessing your brand internally and externally:
- Review your communication strategy and the channels you use to communicate
- Talk to your employees and customers through interviews, surveys or focus groups
- Identify your successes, pain points and opportunities
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Want to assess your brand, but don’t know where to start? We can help. Reach out to our team today.
