From the Inside Out: How Award-Winning Employee Communications Power Better Customer Engagement

Great communication isn’t just about what you say; it’s about how clearly, consistently, and meaningfully your message connects.

That belief is at the heart of everything we do at Franklin Energy. And it’s why we’re proud to share that we’ve been named a winner in Ragan’s Employee Communications Awards for our internal newsletter, The Water Cooler.

Ragan Communications, a long-standing authority in the communications space, recognizes organizations that set the standard for keeping audiences informed, engaged, and aligned. Winning this award demonstrates what’s possible when strategy, creativity, and a deep understanding of the audience come together.

What Made The Water Cooler Stand Out

When we launched The Water Cooler, our goal was simple: cut through the noise and create a single, trusted source of truth for employees.

Like many organizations, we were battling information overload—too many emails, too many disconnected updates, and not enough engagement. So, we reimagined what internal communication could look like.

We leaned into a few key principles:

• Clarity over clutter: We used Smart Brevity principles to make content easy to scan and understand.
• Audience-first design: We structured content around what employees need to know and why it matters.
• Consistency and trust: We focused on building a recognizable, reliable channel employees could depend on.

The results spoke for themselves:

• An 18% increase in open rates
• A 25% increase in click-through rates
• Over 90% employee preference for the new format

More importantly, The Water Cooler became what it was always meant to be: a high-performing communication channel that keeps people connected and informed.

Why This Matters Beyond Internal Communications

Winning an award for internal communications is exciting—but the real story is bigger than that.

Because the same principles that drive employee engagement are the ones that drive customer engagement.

Think about it:

• Employees and customers are both busy, distracted audiences.
• Both need clear, relevant, and timely information.
• Both respond to personalization, simplicity, and trust.

That’s exactly where our marketing consulting services come in.

Turning Communication Strategy into Customer Impact

At Franklin Energy, we take the same proven communication strategies that made The Water Cooler successful and apply them to our clients’ energy efficiency programs.

Through our customer experience optimization (CXO) approach, we help organizations transform complex program journeys into seamless, intuitive experiences. By combining behavioral insights, customer data, and omnichannel strategies, we ensure every interaction is timely, relevant, and frictionless.

And with our propensity modeling, we go even deeper—using predictive analytics to identify which customers are most likely to engage and tailoring outreach accordingly. This targeted approach helps maximize participation, improve satisfaction, and drive stronger program performance.

In other words, we don’t just communicate; we connect the right message to the right audience at the right time.

See It in Action

Want to see how these strategies translate into real-world results for our clients?

Download our customer experience optimization case study to explore how we’re helping organizations increase participation, improve customer journeys, and maximize marketing ROI.