A big part of internal communications planning involves managing an editorial calendar and keeping engaging content ideas coming. For intranets, content is king! Thus, our Intranet Content Blog Series focuses on several practical content tips and ideas organizations can use to keep employees coming back to the intranet.
It’s a new year and what better time to start planning out this year’s intranet content calendar. In this post, learn how to engage employees with fun ideas that can spur fun, employee-sourced content. All you need is to provide a little bit of structure, incentive, and kindling for this engagement to take off.
Content ideas and tips to get employees engaged
- Communicate the program before launching. Bring it up during internal meetings and promote it in your company newsletters so people understand the program and know where to go. This is an effective way to gain momentum.
- Get the buy-in from your governance committee to ensure everyone is on board
- Have incentives in place so people can win prizes. Prizes are fun and it will spur engagement and help you recognize and congratulate winners
- Get all employees involved! Have employees vote on submissions through polling capabilities or the simple “Like” button.
- Media (such as posting photos) is your friend! The more interactive and media-rich the content, the better.
- Name the initiative: e.g. Company cook-offs, contests
- Plan out the full year and preview to employees next month’s theme to keep the momentum
Engaging intranet content ideas for every month
Planning takes up a lot of time, but we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of engaging intranet content ideas we’ve compiled for you throughout the year:
January: Share your New Year’s resolutions
They say social accountability is the best way to get people to modify their behavior. What better way than pressure to get people to commit than to share with all of your coworkers?
February: Encourage employees to share wedding and anniversary photos
February is Valentine’s month. Get to know coworkers a little bit better by sharing your significant others. Cute long-tenured couples can be celebrated with nostalgia and newlyweds can live in the limelight for a bit longer.
March: Promote volunteer opportunities
We put this intranet content idea here because March seems like a time when organizations need more volunteers. Many people want to help but don’t know where to go. Others want to rally their cause. It’s a perfect opportunity to bring people together for a great cause.
April: Best April Fools Jokes
It could be risky to introduce this content idea in an office setting. But admit it – it would be fun and you know engagement would be through the roof!
May: Share the cutest (or ugliest) pet photos and videos
May is National Pet Month. And you know there’s nothing else pet owners would rather talk about.
June: Appreciation for cancer fighters
Cancer Survivor Appreciation Day is June 7. We’ve all been affected one way or another and all have stories that deserve to be shared. Use this month for people to write short tributes and encouraging victories. Skip the votes and focus on bringing employees closer together.
July: Great company cook-off
Have you ever noticed that any food in the break room will get eaten no matter how disgusting it is? Let’s operationalize this behavior! People can cook, post, encourage people to come by their desk, and swap recipes. Or you can formalize company events around the content idea.
August: Most epic vacation videos or photos
By the end of August, many of us are physically back in the office but mentally still thinking about our vacation. Get everyone to share and make other employees jealous.
September: Kids first day of school photos
You let the pet people have their time earlier in the year, now you can encourage people to post those cute pictures of their kids!
October: Halloween Photos
This is one of the easiest to pull off. People are already dressing up and showing off their best costumes. Take advantage of this and use this content idea to drive intranet traffic.
November: Support for veterans
Veterans Day is in November and it’s a good time to appreciate everyone’s sacrifice. Encourage them to share a photo and a little write-up about what they’re comfortable sharing. Every participant deserves a prize for this one!
December: Looking back . . . share what are you most proud of accomplishing?
Here we would expect participation from everyone all the way to the top of the organization. And remember those New Year’s resolutions? Time to see if anyone delivered!
It’s really about engaging and connecting your coworkers
Want to swap some content ideas out? Try an office workspace decoration competition, a skills exchange program, gardening tips, an ugly sweater competition, or an outright fitness challenge. The ideas are endless. The important things are putting some structure to your intranet content planning and are using your intranet for its true purpose: connecting your coworkers.
Keep your organization engaged! Check out our intranet content blog series:
Create a “person on the street” videos for engagement
Creating a roadmap for your humans of New York-style videos
Using the intranet for digital coffee breaks
Intranet content CEO playbook
Essential content every intranet needs
Getting employees to complete their profiles
