That’s right, there’s nothing your company does that isn’t marketing. It’s easy to focus on external and internal communications as your most visible marketing vehicles, but whether you realize it or not, everything your company does is marketing. In this blog post inspired by the book Rework , the author writes,
“The most successful companies ensure that everyone who comes into contact with your company has a positive experience – whether it’s by talking to someone in the pub or on Twitter, calling your helpline, coming for a job interview, paying an invoice, seeing an ad, visiting your store, or reading a review. This is the new marketing, and it really does include everything.”
Really, I mean everything
Does your company have delivery vehicles? Marketing. Sending an email? Marketing. Got a poster in your break room? Marketing.
In a hyper-connected world where one action can spread to millions with the click of a mouse, you can make impressions on your customers without ever realizing it. That’s why it’s so important to be true to who you say you are in everything you do.
Even if they’re not acting in their official capacity, every employee is a representative of your brand. When your employees are engaged and share the company vision, they tell other people about it.
In this post , Jennifer Beese writes about how to turn your employees into brand ambassadors.
“Your employees represent an untapped resource that holds tremendous potential for your company to scale its marketing efforts.”
Ever spoken to somebody who works for one of those companies that goes above and beyond for their employees? Think back to how that made you feel about that brand.
On the flip side, ever talked to someone who hates their job at ABC incorporated? I bet you didn’t run out and buy their products the next day.
Realistically, you can’t manage everything
Okay, it’s impossible to manage every single thing your company does to constantly carry the most appealing marketing message imaginable. But what you can do is ensure that your internal messaging matches what you want your customer to believe. Look at your internal functions as if they were externally visible and ask yourself if you’d be proud to put them on display.
Going back to the break-room example, imagine if your customers had to wait in your employee break room instead of your lobby. How would they feel about their experience? Your employees already feel that way and they’re talking about it to their friends.
Spend the extra time to evaluate the overall impact of the little things you do and you’ll find more ways to make an impression than you ever imagined.