In this episode, Forefront Managing Partner Eric Soderberg sits down with Account Executive Alexandra Benavides to discuss why a strong internal communications program is instrumental to any capital markets or B2B fintech firm’s success. Alex and Eric unpack how public-facing marketing is just one half of the equation, as the conversations that occur within an organization are essential to realizing the full potential of its external marketing efforts.
The conversation opens with Eric explaining that our agency spends about 80% of our time building and amplifying our clients’ public-facing brands through messaging exercises, strategic digital marketing plans, valuable content and impactful media relations. While these programs are crucial to positioning our clients as market leaders, Eric believes that strategic internal communications is an area that is historically overlooked as part of the marketing mix.
Next, Eric and Alex discuss how companies can go about setting up an internal communications program. Alex emphasizes that your firm can start simple, adopting regular practices like weekly email blasts, monthly newsletters or in-person town halls to relay relevant company news. Whether it’s a recent product enhancement, a new strategic partnership or a new office opening, your news will reach a wider audience when everyone on your team is in the loop. This is especially true for client-facing employees – arming them with up-to-date talking points and materials like sales sheets and pitch decks puts them in a better position to get your message across and, ultimately, do their jobs more effectively.
Alex and Eric also discuss the importance of sharing wider industry news with your internal team. By sending relevant headlines in real time, whether it’s a piece of competitor news or a relevant regulatory update, employees can stay on top of developments that could impact your business. Beyond simply sharing the link to media stories, internal communications can involve providing context and color around the news, or even giving a sense of how your company plans to react to it.
Alex and Eric go on to cover how internal communications can positively impact employee morale. Investing in your people can go a long way, and establishing regular touchpoints with your team can foster trust and transparency. As a personal example, Alex highlights how Forefront’s quarterly business updates, which drill into agency performance metrics and benchmarks, help boost morale and keep team members striving toward larger strategic priorities. Over time, this can make a material difference in terms of employee satisfaction and retention.
Lastly, Alex and Eric discuss how an internal communications program can strengthen and amplify your firm’s brand. When operating in a highly competitive space like B2B fintech, it can be challenging to stand out from the crowd. In addition to running multiple external marketing channels, why not turn inwards and leverage the marketing power of your employees? One of the simplest ways to go about this is to have employees amplify your company’s news and content on LinkedIn by liking, commenting and sharing. With the combined power of the team’s social networks, your news is amplified to a wider industry audience and more likely to cross paths with a potential prospect. This concept also goes beyond social media: when employees can accurately convey the latest updates from your company in passing to partners, industry influencers and the media, it can have a meaningful and lasting impact on brand visibility.
You can read Alex’s full blog on the ins and outs of internal communications here.
If you’d like to discuss how Forefront can help create a custom internal communications program for your B2B fintech or capital markets firm, click here.
See below for a breakdown of what was discussed. Happy listening!
Timestamps:
1:50 – The role of internal communications in maintaining an informed workforce
2:50 – How to build an internal communications program
6:13 – The value of sharing wider industry news with your team
8:00 – Internal communications as a way to boost morale
10:45 – How an effective internal communications program can strengthen your firm’s brand
