Many companies neglect internal branding in their brand strategy in favor of more externally focused efforts, despite the fact that committed, knowledgeable employees perform better overall and provide higher customer satisfaction. In fact, recent research demonstrates a link between internal branding, employee engagement, behavior and financial performance. Investing in internal branding audits is helpful in learning what employees think in comparison to what the target audience thinks, which benefits both internal and external communications. Today, we’ll examine the role of regular employee surveys in internal branding, and why strong internal branding can improve external KPIs as well.
At Movéo, the most common method we use to assess internal branding is working with our clients to administer biannual surveys of their employees, which are particularly useful when constructing new brand strategies. Well-conducted employee surveys can give perspective, showing gaps between internal and external perceptions of a brand. We ask employees to decide how well their brand fits certain attributes in order to clearly understand the differences between the perspectives and objectives of leadership, customers and employees. Dubbed the “three-gap analysis”, analyzing the opinions of these three groups together enables us to understand the wants and needs of each audience and then identify gaps that may exist.
Aligning internal and external branding is particularly effective in large organizations that have multiple locations, as each location’s culture and unique workforce can influence brand perception. Branding data gathered from internal surveys aids marketers in revising the brand and implementing change. When employees are well-informed and supportive of upcoming changes, brands can be revised more easily and quickly. Changes informed by these data insights are also more robust and enduring, saving businesses time and money. Aligning external and internal branding can even lift brand equity, customer focus, and shareholder value over time.
Your internal brand is the foundation for your external brand – when it’s strong, the possibilities are endless, but even the strongest external brand can falter on a weak internal base. We feel that the combination of both are a key component of organizational success. To learn more, read our thoughts on how branding is driving business growth in 2016.
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