Copywriting for internal communications
As a copywriter, you must decide what you want to say before you start writing.
Obviously, that applies to anything that involves copywriting communications sent out into the marketplace, but it also applies to communications sent internally.
Internal communications can make the difference between whether employees are on board with a new programme or event, are simply confused by the message and don’t know what action to take.
So lets check through this often overlooked area.
Start by thinking about your objectives
Jot down what you want to achieve by your internal communication. Here’s an example of an objective list. As this is a fictitious example, the objectives are in no particular order.
- To announce a new way of team working
- To obtain employee agreement to the new way of team working
- To announce a series of team training sessions, which will be on-the job, rather than after-hours
- To let people know that the team leaders will be chosen by the team members
- To let people know that the new teams will posted on notice boards, later in the day
Once you have your objective list, choose one that best expresses your overall objective. In this case, it should probably be the first in the list, ‘To announce a new way of team working’.
Make your objectives achievable
Your internal communication objectives must always be:
- within the capabilities of your target audience, in terms of management skills, sales skills, and technical ability
- possible to achieve within the time-frame you set
- possible to achieve with the resources available. That means there must be enough materials, enough equipment, enough transport, enough personnel, enough managers, enough promotional material and so on.
Keep it tight
Research has shown that most people can only take on board four different messages, at any one time. The rest they forget.
Don’t write in corporate-speak. Use conversational language that everyone can understand.
Keep it short and sweet. If you can’t say it a page or less, a meeting may be the more appropriate choice.
Don’t obscure the message with statistics or spreadsheets.
Allow employees the opportunity to provide feedback on intranet and social media channels. This provides information you can use to improve the effectiveness of future communications.
Always remember, that, despite your best efforts, the human condition means that some communication will be totally ignored.
Sad example
For two years, I was commissioned as a copywriter to write a monthly newsletter featuring specific sales incentive schemes for a field sales force of around 350 people. It was very successful. But whatever I wrote, about 10 per cent of the sales force never showed any improvement in their sales figures.
When the Marketing Department asked them why their sales never increased like the other 90 per cent, most said they never read anything that came from head office!
That’s despite headlines saying things like, ‘An easy way to double your commission next month!’