In an era of digital information overload, it is easy for the audience to miss important communications – simply, because it did not catch their eye or the message didn’t engage their minds or hearts. If your role involves driving internal communications, here is a quick list of tips to give it that “boost” that will get the message across to your intended audience effectively.
B – Brevity
Is the overall content simple, easy and crisp that can be read or understood fast? A poster for example, should get its message across in a few seconds. A document for example, can be kept within a single scroll. While there are varying guidelines on optimal statistics on duration of video messages (depending on context, objectives, type, etc), various industry experts state that videos between 15 seconds to 2 minutes have shown higher audience traffic.
O – Organise
Ensure your message is organised into a Title, Body and Call for Action. Titles should be pithy and catchy. That’s the key to getting the message read. Long and wordy titles are best avoided. The main body of the content, preferably should be in bullet points with key areas highlighted for easy reference. Infographics or animations work excellently when you want to condense important facts and data into visually appealing ‘at-a-glance’ format. A Call For Action or CTA is important if you expect a specific action from your audience on reading the message. Good CTAs use strong command verbs denoting enthusiasm and emotion, and make it easy for the reader to act on the message with the use of one-click action buttons.
O – Optimise
Use catchy visuals that captures the essence of the message elegantly. Keep the visual design ‘clutter-free’. White spaces actually enhance the visual appeal of designs. Go for colours that are pleasing to the eye and use images that can be effectively viewed well on any screen size. Keep file sizes small so that the images load fast and add to the overall viewing experience.
S – Surround Effect
Go social. Go omni-channel. Use multiple audience platforms available internally to amplify the original message, as this will further create brand recall, E.g. intranet, email, internal TV screens, community radio channels, bulletin boards (both electronic and physical), enterprise social networks, enterprise messaging tools, community groups, internal newsletter, etc. In addition, you can also combine townhalls, video broadcasts, podcasts, and in-person cascades using the visual tools to further the message.
T – Track Impact
As with any initiative, measurement is key. Look for multiple ways to track and measure the success of your internal communications. It could be a combination of metrics such as: audience traffic and hits, response rates on the CTA, feedback through formal surveys and informal check-ins, employee advocacy rates on that specific campaign, platform analytics (e.g. intranet vs email vs messaging vs internal social tools, and so on), community metrics (if the campaign included participation of various groups), etc.
In summary, internal communications, if crafted well, can create the right reach and impact across the organisation very effectively.
Certified in digital marketing and business management, she is an alumna of IIM Bangalore and Columbia Business School, and a published author.
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