Getting a seat at the leadership table: The power of data analysis

Internal communicators hoping to remain competitive in today’s data-driven world must replace guesswork with statistics. Alongside gut instinct, they need concrete information to both establish and maintain a robust internal communications strategy.

This is why possessing a solid grasp of data analytics has become so crucial for the profession. In addition to improved messaging, which boosts employee engagement, knowing how to interpret facts and figures can enhance credibility, identify weaknesses and contribute to more informed decision-making. Indeed, 8 in 10 business leaders now say data is critical to making decisions at their organization, according to a Salesforce survey of nearly 10,000 executives around the globe.

Internal alignment with corporate strategy is crucial to ensure that employees’ decisions are ultimately guided by the right purpose and shaped by the company’s current vision. When employees lose sight of the company’s deeper purpose and long-term goals, they can easily fall into a mundane routine without a greater vision to drive them forward to new developments and innovative procedures. As an IC professional, you’re well-positioned to communicate the ROI of internal comms to leadership. Ask leaders which business outcomes are most valuable to them and map your communications results to those. Your work has a measurable impact on engagement, culture and turnover.

Before internal communicators can even think about using data analytics to their advantage, however, they must have a system in place to collect data in a consistent manner. Without it, there’s nothing to examine or compare. As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Services such as PoliteMail — a platform more than 20% of S&P 100 companies rely on for assessing their internal communications — keep tabs on multiple metrics, from email open rates to how much time employees spend reading a message.

Other means of gathering information include tracking pageviews with services such as Google Analytics or surveying employees to keep a pulse on workforce morale. In some cases, observing what people are saying about your company across social media platforms with listening tools can also be beneficial.

Once a method for capturing statistics is in place, internal communicators can get to work. They can test subject lines to see which wording is most effective. More importantly, they can examine the content of messages and figure out ways to attract more eyeballs. This can mean testing out various aesthetics, call-to-action placements and images. They can monitor new initiatives to see if, and when, tweaks are necessary.

Benchmarking is another benefit of data analytics. The ability to compare your organization’s performance — whether between departments, against competitors or with firms in other sectors — is a great way to identify strengths and weaknesses of your business.

Your company’s email click-through rate, for example, might be increasing from quarter to quarter, but it’s difficult to know if it’s above or below industry standards without a reliable reference point. Understanding where you stand can help determine which aspects of your overall strategy may require a fresh approach. PoliteMail’s free annual benchmark report provides data analysis from 10 industry sectors across seven distribution group sizes is a great data set to begin with.

As more business leaders learn to harness the power of data, there’s less patience for staff members who can’t quantify the value they bring to the company. This is another way data analytics can serve internal communicators; rather than hoping your manager just takes your word for it, hard figures can do the talking for you.

Metrics showing, for instance, that more employees are reading corporate messages and doing what’s being asked of them are impossible to deny or explain away as someone’s biased opinion. Statistics detailing how your efforts are an asset to the company can enhance credibility, defend against budget cuts and advance your position within the organization.

Not everyone, of course, is comfortable with the thought of crunching numbers to unlock insights. Spreadsheets containing column after column of statistics can be intimidating, especially if you’ve spent your career in a creative field that doesn’t tend to involve math.

This is why 73% of companies plan to either continue or increase their investment in data training and development for their employees, according to figures from Salesforce. This is also why artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini, which can scan raw datasets for patterns or anomalies in seconds, are so attractive to white-collar workers everywhere.

But getting started doesn’t have to be a daunting endeavor. For internal communicators looking to better understand how data analytics can assist them in their jobs, PoliteMail’s Employee Communication Academy now offers a course dedicated to the topic. The thorough yet accessible program provides instruction on everything from sourcing data to selecting the right KPIs (key performance indicators) to building a persuasive presentation for senior leadership. Registration is free.

No longer a secret tool for digital startups on the cutting edge, data analytics has become a cornerstone of modern business. The process reveals, in no uncertain terms, what’s working and what’s not, allowing companies to adjust and innovate accordingly. By embracing the basics today, internal communicators will be better equipped to deploy winning strategies that will drive their company forward tomorrow.