February 27 is No Brainer Day, a fun holiday created to remind us that many of our problems have simpler solutions than we may realize. So today, I’ve got a no-brainer for the knowledge management community: If your KM program isn’t catching on like you want it to, it’s time to put on your marketing hat and promote KM like you would any product or service.

Communications are an important part of a KM rollout, but keeping awareness high over the long term is the tougher job. When your organization has made a big investment in KM tools and techniques, but only a fraction of employees take advantage of them, what you need is behavior change. And as you know, people don’t change their behaviors easily. They need to know exactly what, how, and why they should change. A good KM communication plan gives them that and more.

Organizations with formal KM communications plans significantly outperform their peers when it comes to building traction for KM and overcoming internal obstacles to adoption by employees. Yet, APQC research reveals that only one in four KM programs has a formal communication plan in place to raise awareness of KM's impact on business results.

Mirroring Marketing

Here’s one reason that creating a KM communication plan is a no-brainer: the model for how to do it is right in front of us. Look to how your organization uses marketing and public relations strategies to sell its products and services, both internally and externally, and mirror those strategies to promote your KM program to employees.

Here are five tricks to pull from the marketing department’s toolbox:

1. Customize your messaging for different audiences. Instead of writing a single, blanket marketing message for all employees, create distinct messages crafted to appeal to different audiences. Managers, for example, have different reasons to embrace KM than would a new hire. The manufacturing group might use KM to disseminate best practices and lessons learned, whereas the research and development team might rely on it to learn about past designs and competitive information. Divide your KM audience into groups by job type or interest, then craft targeted messages for each group based on what will interest them and how you want them to participate.
    
2. Create a clear call-to-action for each message. It’s great to raise general awareness of your KM program, but if you don’t invite the consumer of your message to take action, you’re missing an opportunity. Always include a link to more information or content, and invite your reader or listener to get involved, seek out information, or contribute something specific. Links make it easy for employees to engage with the KM program while it’s still top-of-mind.
    
3. Answer “What’s in it for me?” Many employees understand why KM can be great for an organization, but to get them involved, you need to explain how they’ll personally benefit, too. KM has different benefits for different people, so you’ll need to craft targeted messages for different audiences. For example, you might appeal to experts by explaining how transferring expertise to others lets those individuals take on more routine tasks, freeing the expert to focus on important projects. Or, for organizational newcomers, play up the opportunity for professional development and learning. [Note: If employees are prone to "knowledge hoarding" or fear that knowledge capture is an antecedent to layoffs, then you may have bigger cultural challenges to address. Check out Breaking the Barriers to Knowledge Sharing for tips to start alleviating these issues.]
    
4. Brand it. Most of us can recognize familiar brands with just a glance at a color scheme or logo. When you create a brand identity for your KM program, it becomes visually appealing and instantly recognizable. Your marketing approach gives your KM program its personality. Don’t be afraid to use humor and fun to grab people’s attention. Tell success stories about KM wins, use video, and bring in people from all levels – including organizational leaders – to give testimonials and kudos. Consistent branding and messaging reminds employees about the knowledge-sharing behaviors the organization expects them to exhibit and reinforces the value of KM.
    
5. Go beyond email. Many organizations blast out KM program information through email, corporate newsletters, or intranet announcements. These are important channels for reaching employees, but let’s be honest: We’ve all deleted mass emails without reading them. Cover more bases by diversifying the ways you get your message out. If there’s a big corporate meeting or event, be sure that KM is mentioned by organizational leaders. Integrate the KM message into onboarding and training. Host contests and events. Coffee and donuts are a sure way to draw people in for a KM demo, but a skit or scavenger hunt adds a new level of fun. Turn your network of highly engaged users into KM champions who spread the word.

Of course, an excellent marketing strategy for your KM program won’t get people involved if the program isn’t valuable to them. Make sure the message you’re promoting is backed by well-designed, high-quality tools and approaches. If you get the program basics right and use marketing tactics to get people engaged, jumping into KM and staying there ultimately should become a no-brainer for employees.