Q&A: How can I market my in-house team?

I got an e-mail from a reader yesterday that asked me for advice on marketing her in-house design team. Unfortunately, she didn’t provide too many details on her exact situation, but thankfully there are a lot of ways to do this.

The first thing to keep in mind is that generally, in-house creative services will be cheaper to your in-house clients than if they use an external agency. Your department will also know your company’s product/services/brand better than any agency ever could, and the product you turn over to your client will most definitely reflect that. Turnover time on a given project will most always be quicker if clients go in-house, as opposed to using an agency.

Things like this are what you need to communicate to your in-house clients. I’ve found that putting notices on a company Intranet or newsletter work to let your company know your group’s talents, capabilities, and service offerings. If your company is big enough, you can even hold informational sessions (complete with short presentations and collateral material marketing your department) for the people in your company. Again, you can use this time to highlight your services, turnaround times, people, and past work.

Next (and this is something that works in companies large and small) is to network!

Get out of your department and meet people face to face. If you’re working on a project for someone, take the time to go to them instead of responding by phone or e-mail (if they’re in the same building). Not only does this give you a chance to ask a ton of questions (which will ultimately give you a better idea of their thoughts and goals on that particular project), but it will show the client that you’re a real person and not just a faceless person responding to them by phone or e-mail.