How Internal Comms Can Support PR Strategies

A content factory sits right across the aisle from external communications.

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If you trust your internal communications team to support a business initiative internally, then you can use the content they create to support your communications strategy externally.

In any given business cycle, there are a few business goals external communications must support. They could be commercial priorities, like increasing sales of Product X, or reputational priorities, like promoting the company’s sustainability practices.

One tactic for promoting these objectives is to publish content (interviews, profiles, videos, etc.) to a company blog or news site. The material can then be promoted using the usual channels, like social media, newsletters, and email blasts.

Feeding the Beast

Often public relations teams are charged with managing the company news site. This means that, on top of regular duties, overwhelmed PR folks must find time to feed the content beast. This involves:

1. Commissioning/creating content

2. Reviewing and editing material

3. Getting approvals from internal stakeholders

4. Stylizing the post with photos, layouts, fonts, etc.

5. Publishing (keeping SEO in mind)

6. Promoting the heck out of the content

The struggle is real. But it doesn’t need to be.

What if I told you there was a way to eliminate steps 1–4, so that you could concentrate on what you do best — the promotional part in step 6?

Look Inside

Look no further than the other side of the aisle to the internal communications team for help. Internal comms is a content factory that specializes in creating and publishing content that supports your PR goals.

After all, even though the immediate audiences may differ (employees v. outside world), both teams are supporting the company’s strategic goals. With just a tweak or two, PR can take readymade internal content and feed the external beast without breaking a sweat.

Content Factory

Photo by Bill Oxford

A good editorial strategy for internal comms has five components that naturally support corporate comms’ strategy. Those five parts are: