I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Microsoft was not designed as a communications tool. Yet, so many internal comms teams are told to use it. Now, I’m not suggesting that companies move away from Microsoft. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
By adopting a natively-integrated solution that is actually designed to meet the needs of internal comms teams. One that elevates and extends the power of the Microsoft Suite.
Before I explain six reasons to take this step, I want to first clarify the term “natively-integrated.”
“A native integration is when data seamlessly flows between software applications. These integrations are already baked into the software, so the setup process is more straightforward. You just need to allow permission between the apps you want to connect.”
Many of the internal comms tools available today claim to be “Microsoft-integrated” but there’s only one solution on the market that truly has a native integration with Microsoft. This one solution is Sparrow Connected.
The biggest advantage of an internal comms platform that is natively integrated with Microsoft is the seamless experience. Most internal comms solutions out there use iframes that are embedded into each channel. The user experience looks and feels clunky and forced.
At Sparrow Connected, our powerful seamless integration ensures that the content flows smoothly into the user experience. We have WebParts for SharePoint which are native to the platform, components for Microsoft Teams that are native to Microsoft Team, native integration with Exchange and outlook and so on.
A native integration with Microsoft unlocks a world of significant internal comms features that are otherwise very limited or completely unavailable on Microsoft alone. We take pride in the fact that we’ve developed our platform to add functionality above and beyond what Microsoft provides to meet the unique needs of communications professionals.
1. Gain insight on the quality of your content. We analyze the quality of your content. Detailed content analytics simply do not exist in the Microsoft platform on its own.
2. Publish content quickly and easily in multiple languages, on multiple channels, at specific times.
3. Remind and notify employees. Draw attention to published content with notifications and remind those who haven’t viewed content to take a look.
4. Target your audiences intelligently. Content can be targeted towards specific audiences for which the content is relevant. No more all-employee-emails unless needed means a lot less noise.
5. Encourage engagement and start conversations. Regardless of platform, regardless of language, post comments are consolidated so employees can fully engage with the conversation. Even those employees without a Microsoft license.
6. See how your content is performing. There is a famous quote by George Bernard Shaw, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” See what content employees engage with most, which channels make the most impact, and use this insight to adjust your strategy.
Internal comms deserves better. One of the biggest reasons to adopt a Microsoft-integrated internal comms platform (and the reason I started Sparrow Connected) is because internal communication professionals deserve better. I know that many internal comms teams today find themselves in a situation where they don’t have the tools they need to do their jobs well. They’re told to use Microsoft as it is, which just doesn’t cut it for a number of reasons that, as an internal communications professional, you already know all too well.
I also know that asking internal comms professionals to go to leadership to get budget for yet another piece of software above and beyond Microsoft that requires time and resources from IT to implement is a hard sell. But we are seeing internal comms teams have success getting budget approval for Sparrow Connected. Why?
Because it’s designed to integrate natively with Microsoft (not replace it) and it doesn’t require IT resources to implement or use. This is your chance to finally get the features and functionality you need to deliver relevant, effective communications and elevate your career.
Let us show you how Sparrow Connected extends Microsoft for internal communications. Book A Demo today!