Welcome back, listeners! Get ready to dive into the exciting world of internal marketing in today’s blog post. In our recent episode featuring the incredible Kerry-Ann Stimpson, we explored the often overlooked yet pivotal role that internal marketing plays in building a successful B2B brand. By focusing not only on external customer-facing efforts but also on empowering and engaging our own employees, we can unlock a whole new level of brand advocacy and success.
Kerry-Ann delves into the importance of employee engagement and how it directly impacts a company’s ability to deliver on its brand promise. From financial services to B2B tech spaces, every industry can benefit from employees who act as passionate brand advocates both internally and externally. So, join us as we uncover the strategies, tools, and insights that can supercharge your internal marketing efforts and drive predictable B2B success.
Let’s get started!
Watch the episode
About Kerry-Ann Stimpson
Kerry-Ann Stimpson is a marketer in the financial services industry who has become deeply interested in the concept of internal marketing. While traditional marketing focuses on customers, Kerry-Ann recognizes the importance of employees and their role in building a brand and driving growth.
As someone in the intangible service industry, Kerry-Ann understands that interpersonal interactions are crucial in serving customers and selling products. She believes that employees play a vital role in delivering on the brand promise and can be the best advocates for the company. Inspired by this belief, Kerry-Ann launched a podcast to explore and discuss this topic further. She is excited to share her knowledge and insights with others.
Unleashing the Power of Internal Marketing: Insights from Kerry-Ann Stimpson
In the world of B2B success, internal marketing often takes a backseat to external efforts. But what if we told you that the key to building a strong brand lies within your organization?
I spoke with Kerry-Ann Stimpson to dive deep into the world of internal marketing. Stimpson, a seasoned marketing professional, shared her insights on why internal marketing is often overlooked, how to empower employees to be brand advocates, and its impact on the bottom line.
1. The Importance of Internal Marketing:
Traditional marketing focuses on customer acquisition and retention, but Stimpson stressed that it’s equally important to consider employees’ role in building a brand. Internal marketing aims to motivate and empower employees to advocate for the brand, ensuring that they are aligned with its purpose, values, and unique value proposition.
2. Employee Engagement and Advocacy:
Stimpson emphasized that employee engagement and advocacy play a vital role in delivering on the brand promise. In the financial services industry, where offerings are intangible, interpersonal interactions with customers are crucial. Employees, being the face of the brand, are the ones who can best advocate for it. Companies should involve employees in marketing and provide them with the tools and training to become effective brand ambassadors.
3. Overcoming Challenges and Building a Strong Internal Product:
Just like with external marketing, it is essential to have a strong internal product before marketing it internally. This means addressing any issues related to trust, transparency, or employee satisfaction within the organization. Employee buy-in is only possible if they feel the internal product is strong and effective. Stimpson recommends conducting internal marketing surveys, focusing on areas such as culture, leadership, and employee experiences to gain insights.
4. Empowering Employees to Build Personal Brands:
Empowering employees to build strong personal brands benefits individuals and the company. In the B2B tech space, employee advocacy is crucial for building personal brands, driving conversations, and cultivating customer relationships. Muzzling employees and preventing them from sharing content on platforms like LinkedIn only hinders the decision-making process for customers. Allowing employees, including those in middle and back-office roles, to build their personal brands on social media can significantly impact the overall brand reach and engagement.
5. Tracking Metrics and Measuring Internal Marketing Success:
Stimpson emphasized the importance of tracking metrics related to the organization’s desired outcomes. If internal marketing is successful, employees should feel motivated and empowered to speak positively about the brand externally, leading to increased advocacy. Metrics such as employee satisfaction, engagement levels, and advocacy measurement can provide insights into the effectiveness of internal marketing efforts.
6. Utilizing Technology for Internal Marketing and Employee Advocacy:
Technology plays a crucial role in both internal marketing and employee advocacy. Stimpson discussed using platforms like Workshop, which allows for designing and sharing campaigns and messages across various internal channels. Similarly, employee advocacy platforms enable sharing of branded content with employee ambassadors who can then repurpose and share it on their personal channels. These tools create a communication framework that empowers employees to represent the brand effectively.
7. Audience Analysis and Crafting Effective Internal Communication:
Conducting audience analysis is essential to ensure that employees understand the company’s unique value proposition and can advocate for the brand. Traditional employee satisfaction and engagement surveys can provide valuable insights, and focus groups can help understand employees’ level of engagement with the brand. Crafting internal communication messaging that empowers employees to represent the brand externally is crucial for successful internal marketing.
Empowering Employees: The Hidden Power of Internal Marketing
In a world where traditional marketing often focuses solely on customers, the concept of internal marketing and its significance often goes overlooked.
As the Chief Marketing Officer of a financial services group, Stimpson shared insightful perspectives on how employee engagement and advocacy play an essential role in delivering on the brand promise. Let’s now delve into the main takeaways from the episode and provide actionable steps to implement internal marketing effectively.
Importance of Internal Marketing:
1. Employee Engagement and Advocacy:
Stimpson made it clear that employees are the strongest advocates for a brand. Businesses leverage their internal network to drive customer interactions and strengthen relationships by engaging and empowering team members. Interpersonal interactions are crucial in industries like financial services, where offerings are intangible.
2. Overlooking Internal Marketing:
Internal marketing is an often overlooked and under-discussed area. Stimpson stressed that businesses should have a dedicated internal marketing strategy in addition to marketing, HR, and internal communications teams working in tandem.
Actionable Takeaways:
1. Assess the Internal Product:
Before implementing internal marketing strategies, evaluate the strength of the internal product. Address issues related to culture, leadership, trust, and transparency, as these can impact employee engagement and empowerment.
2. Alignment with Brand Story and Purpose:
Ensure employees understand the brand’s story and purpose to drive culture effectively. Communicate the problem the business aims to solve for customers and empower employees to make informed decisions.
3. Employee Advocacy on Social Media:
Encourage employees to build their personal brands on social media and be advocates for the company brand. This approach provides a cost-effective way to reach a broader audience and generate leads.
4. Employer Branding:
Empowered and engaged employees talking positively about the organization on social media and review sites like Glassdoor contribute to building a strong employer brand. This attracts top talent in competitive job markets.
5. Internal Marketing Surveys:
Conduct surveys to gauge employee engagement, brand awareness, and alignment with the company’s values. Address areas of concern that may impact engagement, such as culture, leadership, or the work environment.
6. Communication Strategies and Training:
Develop promotional strategies that effectively communicate the brand story and value proposition, ensuring employees feel motivated and empowered to advocate for the brand externally. Provide training for social media and personal branding to enable employees to represent the brand positively.
7. Utilize Internal Marketing Platforms:
Explore internal marketing platforms like Workshop to design and share campaigns and messages across various internal channels. These platforms facilitate effective communication and collaboration, enhancing employee advocacy.
8. Employee Advocacy Tools:
Consider employee advocacy platforms that allow employees to share content externally. Research tools that best align with your organization’s objectives and communication framework.
9. Metrics to Track:
Measure the success of internal marketing by tracking metrics that align with desired outcomes, such as employee advocacy and external brand representation. Ultimately, employees should be motivated and empowered to speak positively about the brand externally.
Conclusion:
Internal marketing is a powerful tool that enables businesses to harness the potential of their employees as brand advocates. Companies can create a positive customer experience and achieve financial success by prioritizing employee engagement, empowerment, and advocacy. The insights shared by Kerry-Ann Stimpson on the Predictable B2B Success podcast highlight the relevance of internal marketing in today’s business landscape. Implementing the actionable takeaways mentioned above will help organizations unlock the hidden power of internal marketing and drive predictable B2B success.
Some areas we explore in this episode include:
- Importance of internal marketing and its role in brand building
- Emphasizing employee engagement and advocacy in delivering on the brand promise
- The significance of interpersonal interactions in the financial services industry
- Including employees in the marketing process to advocate for the brand
- Launching a podcast on internal marketing
- Difference between internal communications and internal marketing
- Collaboration between marketing, HR, and internal communications teams for internal marketing strategy
- The importance of employee advocacy in the B2B tech space
- Empowering employees to build personal brands on social media
- Addressing internal product issues before successful internal marketing efforts can be implemented.
- And much, much more.
Listen to the episode
Related links and resources
- Check out the Internal Marketing podcast
- Check out the JMMB group
- Learn from Simon Mainwaring – Collaborative Leadership: How to Lead With We to Drive Sustainable Growth
- Learn more from Francis Brero – How to Improve Your B2B Marketing Funnel Output by Leveraging Data
- Learn from Wayne Mullins – Evangelism Marketing: What is it And How to Use it to Drive Growth
- Discover more with Pamela Wilson – How to Invest in Content Creation to Find ROI And Drive Growth
- Check out the article – 20+ Powerful Marketing Strategies You Should Copy to Grow Your Company Fast
- Check out the article – How to Create a Social Media Marketing Content Strategy That is Proven to Work For Your Business
- Check out the article – 14 Powerful Ways to Boost Humor in Marketing
Connect with Kerry-Ann
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