Effective communication is crucial for any business, including communication between the company and its employees. Developing an effective communication strategy is essential for improving employee engagement. Engaged employees tend to be more productive, aware of customer needs, and less likely to miss work. Where this is not the case, businesses are losing US$350 billion per year in the United States alone, according to a report by Gallup. 

Some companies use endomarketing, or internal marketing, to prevent disengaged employees. By focusing on communication and marketing to employees within a business, the company can effectively ‘sell’ itself to its employees and reinforce its identity, which has a domino effect on engagement, productivity, and revenue.

But how do you market your business to your employees? This is where content marketing comes into play. In today’s multi-generational workforce, it is essential to tailor endomarketing efforts to each generation’s communication preferences and styles to maximize effectiveness.  

Understanding Generational Differences

There are four different generations in the workforce today: baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z. Each generation has its traits that can affect how they like to communicate and how they do it. To effectively communicate with each generation and reap the rewards of a fully-engaged workforce, it is crucial to understand the different communication preferences and styles and adapt your internal content marketing strategy accordingly. 

The same message can be delivered in different ways, with different content formats and distribution channels, not only appealing to the varying preferences of the team but also allowing you to convey the same message in four different ways, potentially quadrupling its effectiveness.

• Generation # 1 - Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) prefer face-to-face communication and phone calls.
• Generation # 2 - Gen X (born 1965-1981) values transparency and authenticity in communication, preferably emails, followed by face-to-face or text.
• Generation # 3 - Millennials (born 1982-1996) prefer digital communication channels like social media, chat, and intranet software.
• Generation # 4 - Gen Z (born 1997-2013): their preference for digital communication involves video and images.

Companies can improve employee engagement and retention by tailoring communication to each generation.

Creating Relevant and Engaging Content

Creating relevant and engaging content for employees is essential for successful endomarketing; companies can improve employee morale and retention. Considering creating content tailored to the preferred communication styles to market to employees is recommended because:

1. Improved Engagement: Employees are more likely to engage with it. They will feel that the content speaks directly to them and is relevant to their needs and interests.
2. Better Understanding: Employees are more likely to understand the message being communicated when content is personalized. By understanding the message, they can more effectively implement any changes or improvements suggested.
3. Increased Productivity: Personalized content can help employees be more productive, as they will be more motivated to engage with relevant and engaging content. This can lead to increased job satisfaction and overall productivity.
4. Improved Retention: Personalized content is more memorable than generic content, and employees are more likely to remember the message communicated. This can help improve retention rates and ensure that the information provided is more effectively implemented.

The content you create for your employees can vary from industry to industry, but here is a set of industry-agnostic ideas and how you can splice them according to generational communication preferences:

1. The Idea: Employee Spotlight

The Concept: Showcasing one employee’s journey within the company

How and why it works: Conducting employee interviews to capture their personal experiences and insights is valuable for creating relevant content that enhances endomarketing efforts. This content can be video-recorded sessions where employees are asked questions encouraging positive responses, such as recalling memorable moments, discussing personal growth and learning opportunities within the organization, or sharing reasons why they would recommend the company to potential candidates.

By showcasing employees in this way, organizations can create engaging content that resonates with other employees, inspiring them to emulate positive behaviors and foster a sense of community.  Moreover, such content can be leveraged in internal communication channels, such as newsletters and social media platforms, to amplify its reach and impact further.

In addition, by soliciting insights from employees on topics such as time management, organizations can create content that offers practical value to their workforce. Sharing such insights across the organization can improve productivity while promoting a culture of continuous learning and development.

Communication Style According To Generation

Baby Boomers: Consider making the interview a monthly event that invites the team to take a small break to attend the event, as this generation prefers face-to-face communication. Offer the event company-wide to multiply its impact on those likely more perceptive through other content marketing means.

Gen X: The content gathered in the interview can be synthesized into an email newsletter or snippets of the interview transformed into physical, printed posters with poignant quotes if you are in the office. Does your company have its magazine? If a large percentage of your workforce is from this generation, it’s an idea to toy with. This can be an online magazine.

Millennials: Given that this generation prefers social media, be sure to divide the different parts of the interview into a series of social media posts across various platforms. Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok:

1. Leave no stone unturned.
2. Run an internal survey to discover platform preferences and streamline your efforts.
3. Consider producing content at scale for this.

Gen Z: The original interview recording can be assembled into social media posts across multiple platforms, including YouTube. Use video or reels and carousel posts, as video is most popular with this generation. If you're an on-site team, consider playing the edited video in break rooms or cafeterias.

2. The Idea: Empowering the Workforce

The Concept: Providing feedback and skills development opportunities to your employees.

How and why it works: Personalized performance reports can be a powerful tool for providing employee feedback. These reports can be generated based on employee performance metrics and provide insights into areas where employees excel and areas where they could improve. This type of feedback is particularly effective when paired with interactive training materials, which can provide employees with the tools and resources they need to improve their skills and knowledge.

In addition, companies can use content marketing techniques to provide ongoing learning and development opportunities to their employees. This can include everything from interactive e-learning modules to engaging video content, all designed to help employees improve their skills and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in their industry.

Communication Style According To Generation

Baby Boomers: Hold in-person meetings to explain the feedback and training materials. Provide hard copy reports and training materials.

Gen X: Provide feedback and training materials via email or intranet. Provide a mix of written and visual content.

Millennials: Use interactive e-learning modules and video content. Provide opportunities for collaboration and feedback.

Gen Z: Use short-form video content and gamified learning experiences. Emphasize the practical application of skills.

3. The Idea: Newsbeat

The Concept: Leveraging on company-wide triumphs

How and why it works: Leveraging company wins and newsworthy events can remind employees of the positive attributes that make the organization a great workplace. By highlighting these successes and achievements, organizations can create content that reinforces their company culture, values, and brand while fostering a sense of pride and engagement among their workforce.

To create such content, companies can use a variety of mediums, including internal communication channels such as newsletters, emails, and social media platforms. These channels can be used to showcase company wins and successes. But, creating value-added content for employees from company wins and newsworthy events involves going beyond just reporting the news.

For example, suppose the company secures a new client or partnership. In that case, the value-added content can focus on the impact of this achievement on the industry and the opportunities it presents for professional growth and development. This could include articles or interviews with industry experts discussing the significance of the partnership or tips and insights from senior leaders on how employees can leverage this achievement to further their careers.

Communication Style According To Generation

Baby Boomers: A monthly conference that invites employees to take some time out of their day to see what the company has been up to offers the face-to-face communication that baby boomers prefer. Make the conference participatory rather than a simple presentation to engage the team further and brainstorm new ideas to advance the company.

Gen X: If you make a report, pamphlet, or e-book for your baby boomers, condense it into a newsletter or add it to your online magazine, as in idea one. Invite your Gen X team members to read a blog post or news article, and if you don’t already have this as a tab on your website, be sure to start a news blog. 

Millennials: Newsworthy events can form an integral part of your social media strategy, appealing to millennials within the company. The table in this article shows how to adjust the content according to the different social media platforms. As in Idea 1, you can determine the preferred platforms of your workforce and concentrate on social media efforts where they will be more likely to be noticed.

Gen Z: Loop video presentations of the conference and the newsworthy events in prominent office areas. Be sure to use reels and videos across social media platforms popular with this generation.

While these are just a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing, there are many pillars of content that you can explore and help on hand to provide strategic ideas and implement them. The key is to leverage each concept and format it in several ways to appeal to every team member. In doing so, productivity, engagement, and revenue are all positively affected. 

Incorporating Diversity and Inclusion

Incorporating diversity and inclusion into endomarketing strategies is crucial to improving communication and engagement across different generations. Companies can create a more welcoming and supportive workplace culture by creating inclusive content that celebrates diversity.

One way to incorporate diversity and inclusion is by featuring employees from different backgrounds and experiences in company communications. This can include highlighting the accomplishments and successes of employees from diverse backgrounds, sharing their stories, and showcasing their contributions to the company. Companies can also ensure that their language and imagery are inclusive and free from bias, such as avoiding gendered pronouns and using images representing diverse people.

Measuring and Evaluating Effectiveness

Measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of endomarketing efforts is crucial to understanding what is working and what needs improvement. Several metrics can be used to assess the success of content marketing strategies. For example, engagement rates can be used to measure how many employees are interacting with company communications. Click-through rates can measure how many employees click on links within the content. 

Employee feedback, such as surveys or focus groups, can also provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of endomarketing strategies. You can get creative in the following ways:

1. Remember to consider the value of sitting down and talking with your employees. This leadership practice conveys genuine care for your employees, reinforcing their comfort within your company.
2. A ‘Suggestions Box’ that is permanently available. You can have sheets of printed questions next to the box for Boomers and Gen X, and stick to one question per sheet to encourage honesty — how many times have you participated in a survey and rushed through it because some of the questions were irrelevant to you?
3. Polls on social media channels such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
4. 'Open-Office Time.' Set aside some times each week when employees can come to you with their concerns (or praises!) and act on them. 

Conclusion

Endomarketing is a content marketing strategy focused internally in a company with its employees as the audience. The main objective is to increase employee productivity, engagement, and retention, improving revenue and preventing unnecessary financial losses. Considering that teams are comprised of different generations, it is sensible to design and execute your internal content marketing strategy via various methods to cater to each generation's communication preferences and styles, maximizing the impact. Measuring the success of endomarketing efforts can further enhance the effectiveness of this strategy. 

By implementing effective endomarketing strategies and considering the generational variations, companies can create a positive workplace culture whose knock-on effects can be seen in all areas of the company, from HR to accounts and from an operational and humanistic standpoint.

Sources

https://www.contactmonkey.com/blog/cost-of-employee-disengagement#:~:text=According%20to%20Gallup%2C%20employee%20disengagement,productivity%20and%2015%25%20lower%20profitability.

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321743/increase-productivity-lowest-possible-cost.aspx

https://www.castleberrymedia.co/en-blog-posts/how-can-large-b2b-corporations-leverage-their-content

https://www.colormatics.com/article/gen-z-attention-span/

https://sdgs.un.org/goals

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