Before You Market Externally, Win Over Your Own Team

I’ve spent years helping companies build bold, flashy PR campaigns that catch the media’s eye. But along the way, I’ve learned something even more valuable: You’ve got to win over your own team first, capture their trust, or else none of the other business outcomes really matter.

So many business leaders of client-facing companies devote almost all of their effort to external factors, like digital advertising, reputation building, press coverage and influencer partnerships. In doing so, they often neglect to pour energy into the people sitting right inside their walls. Your team members aren’t only your workforce; they’re your first audience. If they’re not excited and totally on board with what you’re building and doing, why would anyone else be?

Your employees can be your most powerful PR channel. Don’t let that power go to waste.

Why ‘internal PR’ is far more than just ‘HR’

I used to think internal relations and communications were sort of … well, fluffy. Filler. Unnecessary “feel-good” stuff that didn’t directly relate to my firm’s customer service. Sure, send out quarterly cheerleading memos to root your team on, meet in the break room for birthday cupcakes and send a gift for a new family arrival. But that’s about the extent of what I thought “internal PR” entailed.

The truth is, your people are your brand. And that has far-reaching consequences. They’re the ones talking to clients, the ones showing up on social, going to conferences and chatting with friends about their jobs over dinner. Whether you like it or not, they’re already telling your company’s story. Internal PR is about not only giving them the right story to tell, but inspiring them to want to tell it.

A hard-earned lesson: get staff buy-in from the start

If you follow my published writings, you’ll know that basically everything I’ve learned as an entrepreneur has been learned the hard way. Learning to appreciate my team as my most valuable PR asset is no exception.

A few years ago, we launched a big media push for a client, thinking the coverage alone would lead to tremendous success for the campaign. Instead, the campaign flopped internally with my own staff. Why? Because my employees hadn’t been brought into the “why” of the campaign from the start. They were not invested. They were not excited. In turn, no one was sharing the press hits with a larger audience beyond the client, none of my people seemed proud of our efforts.

This gut punch served as a wake-up call to me. Afterward, I started situating internal PR as the very first step of any campaign. That means that now, before any campaign parameters are cemented in place and before anything at all goes public, I hold a kickoff meeting with the project team to go over the project goals, the messaging and, most importantly, their role in the bigger picture — how each person’s individual contribution is vital to our shared mission.

The results have been phenomenal. No matter the nature of your enterprise, your company initiatives will become so much more effective when your team members are aligned with the intent. They’ll start sharing company-related posts on LinkedIn and other platforms unprompted. You’ll hear them bragging about company wins to other clients. You’ll find them pitching their own creative ideas in meetings, enriching your efforts all the more.

Related: Here’s How Employee Advocacy Benefits Brands

Practical steps to take to turn your team into your secret weapon

So what can you do, starting today, to tap into this incredible source of PR for your brand?

• Engage early and share often. Rather than informing your staff of company happenings after the fact, give them insider access to big news well before it goes public. They should feel like trusted allies in all your efforts, not just the manpower fueling your business. When they’re privy to exciting developments, they’re more likely to shout them from the rooftops.
• Turn the spotlight on your staff. Leverage your company platforms — social media, newsletters, eblasts, group gatherings — to highlight the accomplishments of your people, not just of your company. Announce team wins, promotions, behind-the-scenes teamwork, even the passion projects of your employees outside of work. Sharing personal stories makes your brand feel personal, more real, and it shows your employees that they really matter.
• Equip your team with tools. You can’t send someone in to do a job without the toolkit to accomplish it, so prepare resources your staff can use to make your brand shine: pre-drafted social copy, branded visuals, talking points they can refer to in client meetings or at events. The easier you can make it for them to serve as your ambassadors, the more willing they’ll be to actively and confidently represent you.
• Keep things fun. People like games, rewards, friendly competitions. They shouldn’t have to be off the clock to be smiling and laughing. One idea is to play “PR Bingo,” having employees fill out a card showing when they pitch a winning story idea, share a media placement online, attend a networking event or make a new company contact. Along the way, they earn points that can win them a prize.

Related: 5 Ways to Authentically Connect Your Employees to the Brand

Ride the ripple effect

When your people are genuinely pumped about your brand, the people around them can feel it. Clients can tell when your employees are honored to work for you and feel valued by you. Investors, journalists and other stakeholders pick up on that energy and want to be a part of it.

So always remember that PR starts at home — right in your own office, right with your own staff. They’re the VIP members of your audience, your biggest fans and loudest megaphones. Your success means their success and vice versa. To have their belief in you on display for all to see? That’s more powerful than any press release ever could be.

I’ve spent years helping companies build bold, flashy PR campaigns that catch the media’s eye. But along the way, I’ve learned something even more valuable: You’ve got to win over your own team first, capture their trust, or else none of the other business outcomes really matter.

So many business leaders of client-facing companies devote almost all of their effort to external factors, like digital advertising, reputation building, press coverage and influencer partnerships. In doing so, they often neglect to pour energy into the people sitting right inside their walls. Your team members aren’t only your workforce; they’re your first audience. If they’re not excited and totally on board with what you’re building and doing, why would anyone else be?

Your employees can be your most powerful PR channel. Don’t let that power go to waste.