Inside every organization is an untapped PR advantage. However, knowing where to look – and, more importantly, how to unlock this advantage – is a skill that only the savviest marketers and PR professionals possess.
Journalists and their audiences are more skeptical than ever. They crave human voices with real world experience. These voices can share unique points of view over cut-and-paste corporate jargon and sales speeches.
In short, they want authenticity.
For marketing and communications leaders looking for more credible, authentic ways to share their brand’s story, your internal experts are often your best storytellers. These are the individuals who know the brand, its mission, values and products inside and out. Because of this, their experience can transform marketing messaging into credible insights. Those insights build trust over time with journalists and directly with target audiences.
Your Best Brand Ambassadors are Already in the Building
People – not products, services or goods – are often the greatest differentiator between one brand and its competitors. No one has better insights, deeper knowledge or a stronger passion for your company than the people who create and maintain it.
Instead of leaning into internal voices to serve as brand ambassadors, however, many marketing and communications leaders shy away from putting their best people front and center. This could be out of fear that internal experts will veer away from approved messaging. Alternatively, they may fear that introducing too many “voices” will create brand inconsistency. It is also possible that putting their best people out there could make them vulnerable to being recruited by a competitor.
Ironically, many of the reasons marketing and communications leaders have for keeping internal experts out of the public eye is exactly why they should have a platform.
Too much corporate communication sounds interchangeable: polished, carefully worded and, ultimately, forgettable. This leaves much to be desired by consumers and journalists alike. Instead, these audiences are eager to hear the unique stories happening within workplaces. They will often latch onto feel-good, human-interest angles that they themselves can relate to.
This human-led approach is what turns storylines from PR tactics to business assets – elevating the internal voices who have the expertise, personality and passion to be the bridge between corporate storylines and the real world.
Consider this recent story about a Costco cashier in The Wall Street Journal. The story “He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier. Now He’s a Millionaire,” is fundamentally about one employee’s personal finance journey. Through his experience, the story reinforces several of Costco’s brand messages: the value of its employee benefits, the potential for long-term careers within the company and the loyalty that comes from treating employees well.
That is the power of an employee-led story. The employee’s experience makes the message credible. Readers connect with the relatable experience. Meanwhile, the company’s values come through in the background.
Finding the Right Voice and Building Your Spokesperson Bench
The C-suite will always have an important role in communications strategies. But relying exclusively on senior executives can create unnecessary limitations for messaging. A CEO may be the right person for a major national interview or high-profile business story. However, they are unlikely to be the right fit, or have the availability, for every media opportunity.
This is why it’s important for marketing and communications leaders to look beyond titles and build strong benches of spokespeople who know the work firsthand, can spot industry trends before others, and have a genuine point of view on the topics they know best. These spokespeople, while having lower titles, are perfect for niche trade outlets or local opportunities, who bring unique value and help build momentum around larger storylines.
To find these people, look for employees who:
- Know the work: they have firsthand experience with the product, customer or problem.
- See what’s next: they notice trends and changes before they become obvious.
- Make it relatable: they can explain complex ideas in simple, accessible terms.
- Want to share: they have enthusiasm for what they do.
- Have a point of view: they offer perspectives, not just company messaging.
Experts with technical knowledge may be better suited for trade media opportunities, while employees who work closely with customers may be a better fit for human-interest stories. By carefully developing your bench, you’re building momentum around key storylines over time, reaching broad audiences while reinforcing the same messaging pillars.
Make it Easy for People to Say Yes
Many employees actually want the opportunity to champion their company and make their work more visible. Media opportunities aren’t avoided because the employee lacks expertise in their area, but because the employee is nervous about the process or saying the wrong thing. The more the process is demystified, the more comfortable employees will feel participating.
The goal isn’t to sound rehearsed or rigid, but to help spokespeople feel confident enough to share what they know. The more opportunities an employee has to practice their messaging in varied settings, the more empowered they will feel to tell their story. Oftentimes, once someone has a positive interview experience, they’re excited to participate in further interviews and media opportunities to continue building on their thought leadership profile.
Long-Term Benefits
As thought leadership continues to grow as a central way for companies to build credibility and connect with audiences, developing a diverse bench of internal experts is one of the most scalable investments a marketing or communications team can make.
The companies that consistently elevate knowledgeable employees do more than build trust, they strengthen relationships with journalists, create authentic content that competitors cannot easily replicate, and develop a stronger workforce that feels better connected to their organization’s mission. Those experts already exist within your organization. The companies that win are the ones that find those experts. They develop them and elevate their stories in real, authentic ways.
Looking for a partner to help you uncover your internal PR voices? Reach out to us today.
