5 Ways to Create Captivating Internal Comms Content

Once upon a time internal communications was the lesser known (and lesser loved) cousin of HR and PR. Today, forward-thinking companies big and small know that great employee engagement can inspire, motivate and unite. But it’s not enough just to churn out any old content and cross your fingers for results.

It requires time, effort and expertise.

To help, here are five short cuts to creating internal communications content that will inspire your people – and make them want to share it.

1. Tell a story
Never underestimate the importance of including a human interest angle in your content. An anecdote or personal case study creates instant engagement and can help with understanding – but make sure it’s concise and relevant. If you go overboard it quickly gets boring.

2. Invite comments
So your content has created employee engagement. Hooray! Now what? Extend the value of your internal comms by inviting discussion and ideas with a comments box feature, an intranet forum or a group get-together. Include questions to spark further engagement and ask employees to share their ideas on how they can implement what they’ve learned.

3. Use the right tone of voice
Whatever kind of internal comms project you are working on, tone of voice should never be far from your mind. Of course, it depends on the type of business you work for. But it also depends on the type of content. Announcing serious changes or even redundancies requires a carefully considered tone of voice that will differ from the one you might use to share plans for the office Christmas party. It’s worth having tone of voice guidelines in place to help with this.

4. Try something new
Tried and tested approaches to internal comms and employee engagement, like newsletters are all well and good. But don’t be afraid to think of alternative ways to get through to your employees. Holding a corporate event? Capture some of the highlights and turn it into an internal blog post. Has one of your team just been on a course? Share their top five insights in an easy-to-understand ‘listicle’.

5. Write like a pro
Good internal comms content should flow easily and grab attention, deftly moving readers along. Use short, enticing headlines, snappy quotes, questions and calls to action. Take your time and read it out loud when you’re done – how does it sound? Make sure you have time to edit, at least twice. There’s no short cut to creating copy that generates that all important employee engagement. And if your internal comms content isn’t hitting the mark, it’s worth investing in the expertise of a professional freelance copywriter, who’ll be able to help with internal communications that really work for you.

 

Alex Genn

View posts by Alex Genn
I run a team of 25 senior-level copywriters and am myself a professional copywriter with over 15 years' experience.
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