Marketers understand the importance of quality communication. The success of every experience they craft hinges on key messages resonating with a core audience. Now, research suggests that how marketers communicate internally has a similar impact on brand reputation. 

This year, the Grammarly Business State of Business Communication report with The Harris Poll shows that one in five business leaders say the company’s brand perception deteriorated due to poor internal communication. The report also shows that marketers are struggling to build the cross-functional alignment necessary to maintain a consistent and cohesive brand presence across channels and stakeholders. 

Conversely, when teams communicate more effectively, data shows that cross-functional teams are more aligned and brand reputation improves. 

Internal communication issues jeopardize brand investment

Fundamental to building an exceptional brand experience is cohesive messaging across every external touch point. Every piece of communication—regardless of whether it’s sent out by marketing or a third-party representative—must meet company standards to reinforce company values and solidify differentiation in the market. 

A consistent brand presence is essential to meeting marketing objectives, yet businesses are increasingly blocked from achieving this standard due to a rising threat: poor internal communication. This year’s State of Business Communication report shows that the effectiveness of internal written communication is declining year-over-year. The rate of miscommunication has risen with 53% of knowledge workers reporting miscommunication on a daily basis. 

The result? Eroding brand perception and lost deals. One in five leaders says they’ve lost business deals due to poor communication, and 68% of those leaders indicate that deals lost cost them $10k or more.

Miscommunication impedes brand alignment, leading to costly rework

Effective cross-functional alignment is crucial for building and maintaining brand consistency across channels and stakeholders. Data from this year’s report shows that communication tends to break down more frequently when knowledge workers collaborate with other teams. The report shows that 66% of knowledge workers say they receive effective communication from their team members, but this number drops to 53% when they communicate with individuals outside of their team. 

Inconsistent communication across the organization drains valuable resources and wastes time. Considerable effort is put into clarifying misunderstood messages or reworking content that’s out of date, misinformed, or off-brand. The report shows that 42% of business leaders report missed deadlines, extended timelines, or increased time to resolution due to poor communication, and 43% report productivity declines—a 15% increase since last year. 

It’s clear that miscommunication impacts an organization’s ability to build a cohesive brand—and the risks are rising. 

Drive effective communication and reach marketing goals with augmented intelligence

Data from this year’s report shows that when communication across the organization is improved, marketing objectives are achievable. 50% of leaders said effective internal communication improved their brand perception.

The report also shows that marketers can achieve cross-functional alignment to drive consistent brand experiences by improving more nuanced elements of communication such as tone. The data shows that when individuals communicate with a positive tone, they are more likely to receive quicker responses from their teammates who are also more likely to produce higher-quality work. 

• 62% of knowledge workers said they were more likely to respond quickly if the tone of a message was positive (this jumped to 67% for fully-remote teams). 
• 48% were more likely to address the concern or do the work at a higher quality  (this jumps to 53% for fully-remote teams). 

Improving communication across the organization enables teams to work better together to get on the same page quicker and stay there.  

Effective organization-wide communication is within reach with augmented intelligence. Grammarly Business is the AI solution that works across stakeholders and platforms, ensuring that communication is consistent, clear, and written in a way that reflects the organization’s brand and values.

Learn more about the relationship between internal communication and brand perception by downloading the full report.