INBOX INSIGHTS, August 21, 2024: Internal and External Audiences, Instagram for Influencers - Trust Insights Marketing Analytics Consulting

INBOX INSIGHTS: Internal and External Audiences, Instagram for Influencers (8/21) :: View in browser

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How to Balance Internal and External Audiences

When we think about our audience, we double down on the people outside our organization. We look at our buyers’ journey, we analyze every step of the funnel, and we cater to our ICPs. But what about your internal audience? Your campaigns and efforts need to resonate with your stakeholders, your investors, and your teams. Unless you’re creating in isolation, you’re missing out on leveraging your internal audience.

Let’s start with who makes up your audience:

External Audiences: This group includes your customers, potential clients, and the public. Your marketing is focused on awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty. You’re creating content about who you are and what problems you solve. This relationship can start as transactional. Ideally, it will grow into a long-term one. You’re building trust over time.
Internal Audiences: These are your employees, leadership, investors, and close partners. Your focus is on gathering feedback, meeting KPIs, and aligning with company goals. You’re communicating with this group, not to them. This relationship, like with your external audience, is built on trust. Open, frequent, and direct communication is key.

It’s easy to get caught up in chasing customers and growing sales. But if your internal team isn’t informed or engaged, it can cause confusion, poor execution, and low morale. This impacts the customer experience and your overall success.

On the flip side, a motivated, well-informed internal team becomes your biggest asset. They understand your mission and bring that energy into their work. They are more collaborative and will directly influence your external success.

Turn your employees into ambassadors

Your internal audiences are your best brand ambassadors when they’re engaged and informed. If they feel a sense of ownership and believe in your work, they’ll be more likely to promote your efforts. How do you do that? Keep messaging clear and consistent.

Internal communication isn’t just about sending out memos. It’s about transparency and consistency, especially when changes happen. Explain why decisions are being made, not just what those decisions are. If you’re asking for feedback and ideas, acknowledge it and use it. Communicate out when you’re incorporated. Give credit where credit is due. This builds trust and keeps everyone on the same page. And don’t forget to celebrate wins. Celebrating team successes boosts morale. It reminds people that their contributions matter.

Where does this go wrong?

In my unscientific opinion, poor communication is 100% of the problem. One of the biggest mistakes companies make is deprioritizing what their internal audience needs. If employees feel left in the dark, it leads to disengagement and frustration. Similarly, saying one thing to the public and another to employees damages credibility. Mixed messaging can mean game over for both audiences.

To mitigate alienating people, build a culture of communication. This includes internal and external communication. This starts with leadership and works its way down and out. Consider regular check-ins, feedback loops, and face-to-face meetings. If you’re relying solely on trading emails, you might be missing a lot of critical information.

So, how do you know if your internal communication efforts are working? Simple. Ask your employees. Talk to your internal audience to find out if they feel informed and if their needs are being met. Keeping your team engaged leads to better outcomes, both internally and externally.

Your internal and external audiences are equally important. When your team is aligned, motivated, and informed, they perform better. They deliver better customer experiences and execute more effectively. Striking a balance between your audiences is a must for successful marketing and your business as a whole.

How are you balancing your internal and external audiences? Reach out and tell me, or come join the conversation in our free Slack Group, Analytics for Marketers.

– Katie Robbert, CEO

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In this episode of In-Ear Insights, the Trust Insights podcast, Katie and Chris discuss how to use the power of Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) to achieve product market fit and accelerate your marketing success. You’ll learn practical strategies for leveraging ICPs to validate your product ideas, ensuring you are building solutions your target audience truly desires. Discover the dangers of relying solely on your intuition as a marketer and how ICPs can provide invaluable, unbiased feedback, leading to increased revenue and engagement. Don’t miss out on the insights shared in this episode as Katie and Chris delve into the future of marketing with AI.

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In this week’s Data Diaries, we dig into the second set of snapshots from Crowdtangle, the now-decommissioned data utility from Meta.

Crowdtangle was unique among data provider companies in that they provided large scale data exports. Though the services they’ve offered have diminished over time, they were still the best way to get high quality, high quantity data from Meta for Facebook and Instagram.

With last week’s cessation of service, every company wanting to do large-scale data analysis will need to find alternate solutions that will inevitably be less convenient, which is too bad. Our state of Instagram and state of Facebook reports will likely be suspended for a while until we determine whether it’s feasible to produce them with alternate data sources.

So with that, here’s our final (for now) state of Instagram analysis for influencers:

Over the past year and a half, influencer performance on Instagram declined an incredible 50%, from 0.6% at the beginning of 2023 to 0.4% as of last week. A portion of this may be due to algorithmic changes; Instagram’s Adam Mosseri made a number of announcements this year about removing the influence of accounts that primarily repost other, non-original content.

As we saw with brands, video really took off in 2024. It’s the dominant media type for both brands and influencers, which makes logical sense. Meta has been trying to chip away at TikTok’s influence for years, so letting video flourish would be the easiest way to do that.

The key takeaway right now is that whether you’re a brand or an influencer, Instagram is a video-first channel. If you want a chance at being favored by its recommendation engine, you need to be publishing video on it.

Here’s a roundup of who’s hiring, based on positions shared in the Analytics for Marketers Slack group and other communities.

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