The key to marketing? Finding the right words

Employee benefits are great. Whether it is pensions, gym memberships, heath care, childcare or a cycle to work scheme – they can make a fantastic difference to your people and your organisation.

But, as the world moves faster, technology advances and workforces become more dispersed, how do you market your benefits to your people and make sure they can access them and that they’re continuing to perform for you?

We caught up with one of our Client Engagement Specialists this week to find out how organisations can make the most out of their employee benefits.

Vicki Turner is a Client Engagement Specialist at Bright Horizons. Vicki works closely with Bright Horizons clients and their employees to help them promote their Care Advantage programmes and their workplace nurseries and ensure families are aware of the support available.

“The key to marketing benefits is communication. Before we begin we always work in partnership with clients to understand their company culture, goals and objectives, and we ask ourselves ‘who are we communicating with and what are we trying to achieve’. To market benefits effectively, organisations must ask those two questions. It’s important to remember that our audiences are not just employees but working families – mothers, fathers, carers, partners, friends – all who are balancing work, families and more frequently caring for an adult or elder.”

With multiple audiences, Vicki explains that communication should not always be in the traditional sense of the word and there are many channels to use.

“Communication must be carefully tailored and can include traditional newsletters and posters. But we also appreciate that technology is an enabler and we have found that webinars can provide a great channel to speak to families and provide helpful information and guidance. They can be accessed remotely and can reach a large number of people – we’ve hosted some for our clients with many attendees located across the country. It’s fantastic to meet with employees and our clients in person too and roadshows are great in enabling us to talk to them about their benefits to make sure they understand what’s available. Sometimes there can be a registration process which might stop people using their benefits so this is a great time to help people register – saving them time in the office.”

Wellbeing is a phrase we’re all familiar with and is also at the top of agenda for organisations, says Vicki. Vicki explains that many organisations are seeking to engage with their employees and share best practice on work-life balance to help their employees maintain optimum performance levels.

Vicki adds “We also understand that the landscape is changing very fast and staying up to date on industry news is a priority for organisations and employees. We produce a quarterly newsletter that is sent to families and includes industry-wide news and legislative changes, in addition to our family and nursery news. This can be helpful if benefits are impacted by legislation or may change, such as childcare vouchers and the new Tax-Free Childcare. It’s also important to help people connect with others who might be sharing similar experiences, such as maternity and paternity and carers groups. Creating networks is great and you can also use these to help you to reach those employees who will receive the most support from the benefit.”

So the key to marketing? It’s definitely communication. Whether it’s a newsletter, roadshow, webinar or a face to face networking group, utilising the right channels can help you reach your audience, support your employees and maximise your benefits.

Ross Armour, Public Relations and Engagement Executive, Bright Horizons