From Laura Lake,
Your Guide to Marketing.
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We spend days sometimes weeks developing our "marketing message." Examining and experimenting with taglines and logos. It's also not unlikely to spend hours of overtime determining our company colors before we set out to launch. There is however an area that is almost always forgotten in the planning phase of a new company or the restructuring of an old company. That area is training staff to understand and reflect our message and brand.

Truth is marketing starts from the inside out. Do your employees believe in your product and the services that you offer? Are they standing 100% behind you in the mission of your brand? Are they living your brand? It is important that your employees are informed and involved in new initiatives and strategies that are taking place within your company. If your staff is unable or unwilling to support your marketing efforts it can have detrimental results. How can you begin your internal branding campaign within your company?

• Step 1: Synchronize Your Brand Personality, Values and Corporate Culture
  Your marketing team should be working closely with your Human Resources team to ensure that the common values of your company internally and externally are in sync.
• Step 2: Get Your Employees Behind Your Brand
  Align your criteria for recruiting and rewarding employees with the criteria of the brand value. Look for the right skills and aptitudes that will represent your brand promise effectively.
• Step 3: Reinforce and Repeatedly Explain Brand Values and Behaviors
  Use your internal communication to reinforce and explain the values and behaviors that reflect your brand promise. Continuously do this until they become second nature.

If you thought the process of involving your staff was not important take into account that your employees meet, greet, and assist your customers in many different ways. They are the face of your brand. Engage your staff right from the start and encourage individual input. Use your staff as a focus group - after all who knows your clientele better than they do? By doing this you will not only get support from your staff but you will be given insight and ideas that you otherwise may not have considered.