Survey says: Print is back in a huge way—but for marketing, not internal communication

A recent "Publishing Characteristics Survey," done jointly by the Custom Content Council and McMurry, the publisher I work with, came out at least one finding that really struck me.

Companies are doing lots of four-color magazines these days—but 79 percent of those mags go to external audiences, vs. only 21 percent to internal ones.

In my survey report, in ContentWise (download it for free here), I wrote, "Employee communication is increasingly achieved by electronic communications."

Maybe I should have said, "halfheartedly attempted," instead.

These companies have decided that, to earn the attention and admiration of customers and potential customers, only gorgeous magazines, and all the editorial tools they offer, will do.

But employees, otherwise known as Our Greatest Assets? Ah, we'll post some slop on the intranet, and the pigs can come and get it.

Communicators, is that about the size of it?

Comments

[Peter Dean]

I can think of two reasons for the difference: 1. The internal audience can be pin-pointed electronically, whereas the external audience is largely unknown. 2. Internal communication needs to be near-instant whereas external has to have a long shelf-life. That says nothing about the quality or effectiveness of either form, of course.

[Ellen]

In addition to the timing, it may also be a function of the type of information being communicated. Companies do not (and probably should not) "market" to employees. As an employee, I normally want my information short and to the point--not glossy and usually not in a long, in-depth article. And don't forget that just because these publications are designed for external audiences doesn't mean employees aren't reading them, too.

[David Murray]

Peter, Ellen, you have a point, up to a point, about the need for immediacy and brevity in internal communication.

But one can't have much of a marriage if every communication comes by informational text message.

A rigorous employee communication program--that is, one that's trying to actually describe and nurture an organizational culture--will have some in-depth stuff (some of which is best delivered by a magazine):

Profiles of employees who exemplify the culture, interviews with executives whose intellects make the strategy, stories about crucial moments (and lessons learned) from the company's recent and distant past.

If all employees want is communication Pop Tarts, it's probably because you've never served them anything better.

Or, because they don't care a damn about the company, or its culture.

[Peter Dean]

If all that employee communications consists of is text messages it's clearly bound to fail. But you can make a very rich portal for employees electronically.

>>Because they don't care a damn about the company, or its culture.<<

And why should they? Companies have trampled all over this.

[David Murray]

Peter: Agreed that employees' lack of social connection to companies and their cultures is all the companies' fault. It's still a huge problem, however, that companies need to solve, for nothing less than the stability of the economy and society.