5 Ways To Engage Staff In Marketing

Marketing is usually a functional area of a company that staff are interested in; it can be fun to see the creative process take shape and to see an integrated marketing program drive meaningful results for the organization. In the organizations we work with, we often involve staff in the marketing process, particularly, at key stages of developing the organization’s marketing program. Doing so, provides opportunities for capturing important insights, helps to galvanize employees and bridges the gap between marketing and other functions within the company.

There are many ways to involve your staff in marketing, here are 5 great examples:

Staff Interviews

When developing marketing strategy or a product launch strategy, gathering insights from staff can be pivotal in helping to determine position, messaging and tactics. Interviewing staff from different departments such as sales, R&D, customer service provides marketing with a range of perspectives.

Brainstorming

We’ve all used the saying ‘two heads are better than one’, imagine what can happen when you gather a room full of talented people? Marketing can often provide a number of situations in which brainstorm sessions can be used to bring staff together and engage them in the marketing process. Examples of brainstorm sessions might include product naming or features/content to include in the website redesign.

Contests

Another great way to involve staff is running a contest for the employee who comes up with the best event name or product name.

Silent Feedback

When a company undergoes a major marketing effort such as a re-brand or website re-design giving employees the opportunity to ‘vote’ on what design option they like best is another great way to involve the team. When taking this approach be sure to ask staff to not only select the design they like best but also what they like/don’t like about the others. The more comprehensive the feedback, the better.

Planning Survey

As you work on marketing plans for the upcoming year, send a short survey to key staff to gather their opinions on what other marketing activities they feel could be impactful for the firm. Whether or not you decide to pursue these activities, staff will appreciate the opportunity to provide their feedback and it may provide further thought for the future.

What ways have you involved your staff and how did you find the experience?