How to effectively plan an internal communications campaign
How do you start to plan an internal communications campaign?
Internal communicators often wear many hats and come from a variety of backgrounds; marketing, PR, HR, corporate affairs or operations. Time poor and often sharing the duties with other experts can pose challenges for those in our industry.
In fact in a Gallagher State of the Industry report 2023 on average 13% of all organisations did have an internal comms function. And what’s more surprising is that in organisations of 10,000+ 5% were found not to have an IC team – so who is looking after the communications that reach employee? Well, this article is for you. Or for juniors starting out. Or perhaps it’s for the 10% who share the function and who don’t perhaps have a background in IC.
So you’ve been asked to plan an internal communications campaign but where to begin?
Internal communications campaign objectives
Start your plan by answering the most important question – what are you trying to achieve?
Think about what you want your audience to know, think or do differently because of your communications. And define your call to action and perfect outcome. Your answers will also help you create consistent key messages to be used throughout your campaign.
Now you know what you’re aiming for, express these as ‘SMART’ objectives. Ones that are:
- Specific – you know what you’re trying to do;
- Measurable – you know when you’ve done it;
- Action-oriented – focused on activity you can take ownership of;
- Realistic – you can do it with the resources and time available to you;
- Time-bound – you start with a clear end point in sight to keep you motivated and focused.
Once you’ve set clear objectives, it will help define the approach you take and make the rest of your planning so much easier. Everything you do in your campaign should link back to your objectives. And if it doesn’t, question why you are even doing it the first place.
So what's next...
Measuring internal comms campaigns
There’s no point sending emails or creating newsletters if no one is reading them. Without measurement, you won’t know if your comms are effective.
What and how you measure should tie into your set objectives. Are you looking for improved survey scores? Increased employee sign-ups? Feedback from internal events?
Have a look at what insight and analytics are already available to you. Can you see open rates for emails or views and visits to your intranet? Do you have access to the results of a recent employee survey?
It’s a good idea to get a benchmark level of current understanding and engagement across your employees. Then use this to do a full evaluation at the end of your campaign with additional surveys, focus groups and interviews to see the impact your comms have made.
But don’t just leave measurement to when you’ve finished your campaign. You should be regularly measuring throughout, so you can adjust if something isn’t quite working or needs improving. Here’s our deep dive on measurement.
Identifying your audience
Identify your audience and figure out who needs to know what. Are you talking to all your employees or just a certain demographic? Do some teams need more information than others? Do you have a way to target different audiences?
Once you’ve defined your audience groups, think about how you can tailor the communications to each of them. Consider their current level of understanding and engagement and how your campaign will impact them.
Some of your audience may be harder to reach than others. For example, field workers and call centre agents on alternative shift patterns may not have the time or means to read through lengthy emails and attend face to face sessions. Make an effort to speak with those teams that are not your usual 9-to-5 office workers and find out what would work best for them.
Selecting the right internal comms channels
We all take in information in different ways. Someone might prefer to watch a video over reading an email, while someone else would rather be briefed in a team meeting. Use as many of your available channels as possible to reach a wider audience and suit a range of communication needs.
Think about the different messages you need to share and what channel would be most appropriate for each of them. If you’re mainly telling employees about something and trying to raise awareness then things like emails, videos, intranet articles, posters, digital screens and platforms will work well. However, if you’re trying to change attitudes and behaviours and need more two-way engagement, then think about using face to face sessions, conference calls, blogs and focus groups.
And don’t forget that line managers are an important communication channel. They can help translate your comms into what it means for their team members and their day-to-day roles. Make sure they’re prepared to share your key messages by equipping them with pre-briefing sessions, FAQs and other tools in advance.
Internal comms campaign timelines
Once you know who you’re communicating to and how, it’s time to plan out when.
The key is to provide the right message at the right time without overwhelming your audience with information. Start by plotting the major dates and deadlines for your campaign, together with the schedule for your chosen channels onto a timeline. If you’re planning to use something like a regular newsletter or a slot in an employee conference, find out when the final content needs to be submitted by and factor this into your plan.
A steady stream of communications will keep your campaign at the forefront of people’s minds. So, keep providing regular updates even when you don’t have any new news to share.
We all know how difficult it can be trying to squeeze in a last-minute meeting in our busy diaries. Bear this mind when scheduling any conference calls or face-to-face sessions and give plenty of notice when sending out invitations. The same goes when asking for suggestions or feedback. Giving people enough time to share their thoughts will give you better results.
And factor in public holidays and busy company periods too. Launching a new super duper employee benefit on the day you break up for Christmas isn’t going to hit the mark no matter how fantastic it is.
Flexibility is key
Finally, as much as you can organise a campaign, you should also prepare for things not to go to plan. A huge part of internal communications is flexibility. When the inevitable last minute edits from leadership or new information from HR are received then we just need to find ways to incorporate any updates or delays.
Regardless, the above should give you some food for thought to kick start your campaign. If you’d like to speak to one of our specialists about a campaign you’re working on, get in touch via talktous@handhcomms.co.uk.
Insights and Resources
Want to keep your finger on the pulse of the hottest topics in IC and EE? Check out some of our blogs and industry insights.
The power of music to amplify internal comms
An innovative approach to leadership communication
Summer Series ’24 – Trust the process
New structure. New strategy. A new future for 10,000 people. It was time to talk
Jardine International Motors
