Evaluating, selecting and implementing an intranet software solution can involve a number of key internal stakeholders.  One stakeholder that is often overlooked or out of the loop is marketing.  We see numerous intranet projects pushed onto the IT department, without the engagement of other internal stakeholders to guide the selection, design, architecture and implementation of their new intranet. One such stakeholder that can have a real impact on employee adoption and employee engagement of your intranet is the marketing department.  The difference between a truly engaged marketing intranet and those left disengaged by marketing and other key internal stakeholders can mean the difference between success and failure.

Setting the Stage for Your Marketing Intranet

The first intranet essential that your marketing team can heavily influence and assist with is your intranet design.  Think about it, your marketing department is responsible for your public facing website, your sales collateral, your fancy product sheets and more.  Who better to lead the design for your intranet than marketing?  They know how to display and organize information so that it is eye catching and provokes action.  A true marketing intranet mimics the aesthetics of a public facing website, but delivers value to your audience, your employees.

Your Marketing Intranet Needs Impact Content

Again, consider who is responsible for writing the pages on your website, your sales emails, your campaigns and your product sheets; you got it, it’s marketing.  Your marketing department knows how to turn dull, tedious content into dynamic, impactful and entertaining pieces.  Just think of all the employee policy documents and company information that must reside on an intranet.  This content can be heavy and hard to digest.  Your marketing intranet doesn’t have to be as stuffy as the file cabinet these documents used to reside in; it can be well-organized and broken into task-based action categories. Marketing spends their day thinking like a customer, creating personas of what certain categories of customers look like and how they use your products.  The same can be done with your marketing intranet. Marketing can create personas for categories of employees, how they will interact with the intranet, what they care about and how they will use the tools.

Say ‘Yes’ to Social Collaboration for Your Marketing Intranet

With marketing having a primary focus for your company on social networking, they will be your best advocate for social collaboration tools within your intranet.  Marketing understands the power of social collaboration and will have valuable ideas and on how to empower and engage employee through social platforms. Involving social collaboration on your marketing intranet can yield great business benefits through brainstorming new ideas for your business, driving and growing company culture, and educating employees on new initiatives.  To the extent your employees get involved socially on your intranet will truly drive the value behind the life of your intranet.

Tapping Into Leadership Magic with Your Marketing Intranet

Leadership involvement is true magic for your intranet.  Marketing understands the value and importance of getting ‘influencers’, such as a famous brand spokesman, to endorse and actively use a product in order to attract customers that associate with the famous athlete, actor, singer, etc.  The same can be said for corporate leaders.  Employees can be influenced by how the executives endorse and use your corporate intranet. The marketing department can facilitate and encourage getting executives out there to collaborate and empower their employees through the intranet.  The intranet can also help demystify the typical executive, by showing that leaders are employees just like us. Your marketing intranet can really be a gateway for employees to feel like they have a channel and a voice that speaks directly to the leaders of the company.

Discover More Value In Your Intranet

Find out how to unleash the value in your intranet by downloading our complimentary eBook – Your Intranet Journey. This eBook helps you understand how involving the right internal stakeholders in your intranet selection and deployment can mean the difference between an engaging employee intranet and a shallow intranet platform.